October 25, 2005 | Events

Former Senate Leader Looks to Future

By Wendy Leopold

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Tom Daschle – former majority and minority leader of the U.S. Senate – will deliver the 16th annual Richard W. Leopold Lecture, Wednesday, Nov. 2, at Northwestern University.

The longtime Democratic Party leader will discuss “The American Journey: New Paths and Opportunities in a Changing World” at 7:30 p.m. in Room 107 of Harris Hall, 1881 Sheridan Road on the Evanston campus. His lecture is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.

In 1978, Dashle was elected to represent South Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving four terms there and quickly becoming a part of the Democratic leadership. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1985 and, in an unusual honor for a freshman senator, appointed to the powerful Senate Finance Committee.

Daschle became the first South Dakotan in history to hold a party leadership post when he was named co-chair in 1988 of the Democratic Policy Committee. In 1994, he became the second youngest person in history to lead his party in the Senate.

Daschle also served as a member of Senate committees on Agriculture, Veterans, Indian Affairs and Ethics. Defeated in a tightly contested and bitter race for the Senate in 2004, he now is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan research and educational institute.

The Leopold Lecture honors Richard W. Leopold who for more than 40 years, most of them at Northwestern, distinguished himself as a professor of history. Since 1990, the lectures have brought speakers with public affairs experience to campus. Past speakers include Arthur M. Schlessinger Jr., David Gergen, George McGovern, Les Aspin, Fareed Zakaria and McGeorge Bundy.

For further information, e-mail staciak@northwestern.edu or call (847) 467-3005.