Trent Lott: Old-Fashioned Success Story

— -- In the 30 years since he first came to Washington, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has climbed the political ladder the old-fashioned way — rung by rung.

Lott was raised in the small town of Pascagoula, Miss., and attended the University of Mississippi. Although he wasn’t politically active at the school, that’s where he cultivated his people and alliance-building skills.

He joined the Sigma Nu fraternity, and was eventually elected president of the fraternity and the university’s interfraternity council. Ole Miss elects its cheerleaders, so Lott successfully waged a door-to-door campaign to win a spot on the squad.

After graduating in 1963, he enrolled in Ole Miss law school, which kept him out of the Vietnam War. The next year he married a hometown girl, Patricia.

After his law school graduation, Lott returned to Pascagoula and began working at a small law firm. Soon, he and his wife had their first child, Chester, and daughter Tyler came along a few years later. Because he was a new father, he obtained a hardship exemption that further kept him out of the war.

A New Life

Popular Reads

2 college students found dead after going missing while hiking, police say

• 1 day ago

'Inexplicable' order probed as cause of train crash that killed at least 69: Official

• 21 hours ago

Britt McHenry resigns from State Department after basketball game altercation

• Oct 23

Less than a year later, the Lott family moved to Washington because he accepted a job with a Democratic congressman from his home state. Patricia said they moved north “to stay a couple of years and see if we liked it.”

But when Lott’s boss, Rep. William Colmer, announced his retirement in 1972, Lott decided to try and stay a little longer — he switched parties and ran for the seat. His candidacy was boosted by Colmer’s endorsement, and Lott was swept into office with more than half of the votes, thanks partially to President Nixon’s landslide re-election.

Lott’s colleagues elected him to a series of leadership posts during his years in the House of Representatives. In 1980 they elected him minority whip — a position he held for eight years. His party also acknowledged his rising stature by naming him chairman of the Republican National Convention platform committees of 1980 and 1984.

Calculated Move