What You Didn't Know About Sen. Kent Conrad
By Allegra Hartley
Posted 11/10/06
- Kent Conrad was born in Bismarck, N.D., on March 12, 1948. He is a fifth-generation North Dakotan.
- He was orphaned at age 5 when his parents were killed in a car accident that he, his brother, and his grandmother survived.
- He spent several years in high school at Wheelus Air Force Base in Tripoli, Libya.
- He wanted to enlist in the military after high school, but his brother, Roan, persuaded him to go to college.
- He spent his first year of college at the University of Missouri and received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1971. He earned an M.B.A. from George Washington University in 1975.
- He met his wife, Lucy Calautti, when she was a campaign manager for then Rep. Byron Dorgan. She is now a lobbyist for Major League Baseball. They both have children from previous marriages.
- His was North Dakota's tax commissioner before being elected to the Senate in 1986.
- After his 1986 relocation to Washington, D.C., his car was stolen and his home burglarized three times. In 1992, his wife was mugged outside their Capitol Hill home, dragged two blocks down the street, and thrown into oncoming traffic.
- He planned to retire in 1992 after he was unable to keep his campaign promise to lower the federal budget deficit. Instead, he ran for North Dakota's other Senate seat in a special election to replace Sen. Quentin Burdick, who had died in office. He held two Senate seats for a few hours on Dec. 14, 1992.
- He is the only Unitarian in the Senate.
Sources:
Sen. Kent Conrad (N.D.)
Almanac of American Politics
Bismarck Tribune
Roll Call
National Journal
CQ