Paul Wellstone

Paul Wellstone (1944-2002), Democratic member of the United States Senate from Minnesota (1991-2002). Born in Washington, D.C., Wellstone earned a bachelor’s degree in 1965 and a Ph.D. degree in 1969 from the University of North Carolina. From 1969 to 1990 he taught political science at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. In 1982 Wellstone made an unsuccessful bid to become the Minnesota state auditor. Wellstone announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 1990. Wellstone won 60 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican Rudy Boschwitz in a close contest. Wellstone was reelected in 1996.

In Congress Wellstone was known for his liberal positions, often championing legislation that helped working-class families. He supported the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which allowed workers to take time off to deal with family concerns such as illness and childbirth. He also cowrote the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which required insurance companies to provide mental health benefits in similar ways to benefits for physical illness. He opposed the welfare reform bills passed in 1996 and a resolution in 2002 authorizing the president to use military force against Iraq. In 2002 Wellstone was killed in an airplane crash while campaigning for reelection.