1. He was born Max Sieben Enke on Dec. 11, 1941, in Helena, Mont. He spent his earliest years in California, where his father taught economics at Stanford University. When his parents separated, his mother returned to Helena with Max and his sister, Karen, to be near her family and the 75,000-acre Sieben Ranch, founded by her grandfather. His mother's second husband, John Baucus, later adopted the two children.
2. Max Baucus attended Stanford, his mother's alma mater, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1964 and a law degree in 1967.
3. Between his junior and senior years in college, he hitchhiked in various locations around the world, an experience that he says led to his interest in public service.
4. Admitted to the Montana Bar Association in 1969, he worked as a lawyer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, before returning to Montana in 1971.
5. He served one year in the Montana House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974.
6. He was elected to the Senate in 1978 and has been re-elected five times.
7. His hobbies include running, hunting, hiking, and fishing.
8. During his 1996 campaign, he walked the entire 820-mile length of Montana.
9. He had a son, Zeno, with his first wife, journalist Ann Geracimos. The couple divorced in 1982. He met his second wife, Wanda Minge, while she was working for Arkansas Democratic Sen. Dale Bumpers. Their 25-year marriage ended in divorce in 2009.
10. In October 2009, he cast his 11,000th Senate vote. He was only the 22nd senator in history to reach that mark.
- See who gives the most to Baucus's campaigns.
- See which industries give the most to Congress.
Sources:
- baucus.senate.gov
- bioguide.congress.gov
- Time
- Chicago Tribune
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