Bob Corker

Robert Phillips Corker Jr. (born August 24, 1952) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Tennessee from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2015 to 2019.

In 1978, Corker founded a construction company, which he sold in 1990. This increased his net worth to $45 million. He ran in the 1994 United States Senate election in Tennessee but was defeated in the Republican primary by Bill Frist. In 1995, Corker was appointed by Governor Don Sundquist to be Commissioner of Finance and Administration for the State of Tennessee, following David Manning; he was succeeded by John Ferguson in 1996. He later acquired two of the largest real estate companies in Chattanooga, Tennessee, before being elected the 71st mayor of Chattanooga in March 2001; he served one term, until 2005.

Corker announced his candidacy for the 2006 United States Senate election in Tennessee after Frist announced his retirement. Corker narrowly defeated Democratic U.S. Representative Harold Ford Jr. in the general election, with 51% of the vote. In 2012 Corker was reelected, defeating Democrat Mark E. Clayton 65% to 30%. On September 26, 2017, Corker announced that he would not seek reelection in 2018; U.S. Representative and fellow Republican Marsha Blackburn was elected to succeed him.

Corker was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, the son of Jean J. (née Hutto) and Robert Phillips "Phil" Corker. His great-great-grandfather was U.S. Congressman Stephen A. Corker. His family moved to Tennessee when he was eleven.

Corker graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1970 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial management from the University of Tennessee in 1974. Corker is a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. Corker's roommate in the Sigma Chi fraternity was Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, whose brother is the former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam.

In an interview with Esquire, Corker said that he started working when he was 13, collecting trash and bagging ice. Later he worked at Western Auto and as a construction laborer. After graduating from college, he worked for four years as a construction superintendent. During this time he saved up $8,000, which he used to start a construction company, Bencor, in 1978. The company's first large contract was with Krystal restaurants, building drive-through windows. The construction company became successful, growing at 80 percent per year, according to Corker, and by the mid-1980s carried out projects in 18 states. He sold the company in 1990.

In 1999, Corker acquired two of the largest real estate companies in Chattanooga: real estate developer Osborne Building Corporation and property management firm Stone Fort Land Company. In 2006, he sold the properties and assets that had formed these companies to Chattanooga businessman Henry Luken.

In recognition of his business success, in 2005 the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga named him to their "Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame." Corker has said that he believes his business background has been valuable in his political career and that experience "gives [him] unique insights and allows [him] to weigh in, in valuable ways". As of 2008, Corker's assets were estimated at more than $19 million.

Corker first ran for the United States Senate in 1994, finishing second in the Republican primary to eventual winner Bill Frist. During the primary campaign, Frist's campaign manager attacked Corker, calling him "pond scum". Despite the rhetoric, Corker arrived in Nashville the morning after the primary to offer the Frist campaign his assistance. He went on to campaign for Frist in the general election.

From 1995 to 1996, Corker was the Commissioner of Finance and Administration for the State of Tennessee, an appointed position, working for Governor Don Sundquist. One of Corker's first acts as commissioner was to encourage Sundquist to reconsider suspending construction on Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in Nashville.

Corker was elected mayor of Chattanooga in March 2001 with 54% of the vote, and served from 2001 to 2005. While in office, he outlined a bold vision and enacted a series of changes that transformed the city. He was elected on an aggressive and specific platform, focused primarily on economy development, public safety, and education. Within six months in office, he had already implemented initiatives to address each area.

With a focus on bringing good paying jobs to the city, he developed, in conjunction with the state and county, Enterprise South, a 1,200-acre industrial park, which is now home to several industries, including Volkswagen Group of America's manufacturing headquarters. He also recognized the need for access to capital to assist start up and emerging businesses and created the Chattanooga Opportunity Fund, a $1.5 million fund established for investment in locally owned start-up companies, minority owned companies, and existing small businesses. Chattanooga has since been named one of the best cities for startups by Forbes and has developed a strong, locally focused financing ecosystem.

Seeking to enhance the city's ability to recruit companies reliant on high-level technology, Corker pushed to make Chattanooga the first city with a direct fiber optic connection to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the world's fastest computers, which helped both businesses and government advance technology use in the city.

He also laid out and executed a digital vision for the city during his tenure. He launched MetroNet with a goal of providing super-speed Gigabit Ethernet (Gig-E) connection to the Internet for businesses in the downtown and Southside. After piloting the project in City Hall and realizing the magnitude of the opportunity, he asked the Electric Power Board (EPB), the city-owned utility, to take on the task. As a result of Corker's vision and EPB's execution, Chattanooga has since been dubbed the "Gig City" and became the most connected city in the Western Hemisphere, offering Internet speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second to every home and business in EPB's 600-square mile service area.

He implemented a merit-based bonus system for teachers. The system, established in 2002, awarded teachers and principals bonuses for improving student performance at Chattanooga's lowest performing schools. Two years after its implementation, a study published in The Tennessean showed that the percentage of third graders reading at or above grade level had increased from 53% to 74%. However, a report by the think tank Education Sector suggested that specific teacher training had at least as much to do with the student improvement.

In 2004, Corker announced that he would seek the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by incumbent Republican Senator Bill Frist, who had announced that he would not run for reelection. In the Republican primary, Corker faced two former congressmen, Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary. Both of his opponents ran as strong conservatives, denouncing Corker as a moderate, and even a leftist. In the course of his campaign, Corker spent $4.2 million on television advertising, especially in the western portion of the state, where he was relatively unknown. In the August primary, he won with 48% of the vote; Bryant got 34% and Hilleary got 17%.

In the general election campaign, Corker's Democratic opponent, Harold Ford, Jr., challenged him to seven televised debates across the state. In response, Corker said he would debate Ford, though he did not agree to seven debates. The two candidates eventually participated in three televised debates: in Memphis on October 7, in Chattanooga on October 10, and in Nashville on October 28.

The race between Ford and Corker was described as "among the most competitive and nasty" in the country. In October 2006, as polls indicated that Ford maintained a slight lead over Corker, the Republican National Committee ran a controversial television advertisement attacking Ford. In the 30-second ad, sound bites of "people in the street" pronouncing Ford wrong for Tennessee were interspersed with two shots of a white woman animatedly recalling meeting Ford—who is African-American and was unmarried at the time—at "the Playboy party". The ad concludes with this woman leeringly inviting Ford to phone her. Corker denounced the ad and asked that it be taken off the air. Corker won the election by less than three percentage points. He was the only non-incumbent Republican to be elected to the U.S. Senate in the 110th Congress. Corker was sworn in as Senator on January 4, 2007.

In November 2012, Corker won his re-election bid with 65% of the vote. Corker faced the conservative Democrat Mark E. Clayton, from Davidson County, near Nashville, who received 30% of the general election vote. Clayton was disavowed by his own party, the leadership of which urged Democrats to write in a candidate of their choice in the race against Corker; the reason given by the party was Clayton's association with a hate group, an apparent reference to the fact that Clayton was vice president of the interest group Public Advocate of the United States, based in Washington, D.C.

Corker was one of the original members of the Gang of 10, now consisting of twenty members, which is a bipartisan coalition seeking comprehensive energy reform. The group pushed for a bill that encouraged state-by-state decisions on offshore drilling and authorized billions of dollars for conservation and alternative energy.

Bob Corker is considered a moderate conservative. Corker scored 80% on American Conservative Union's 2017 Ratings of Congress. According to National Journal's 2009 Vote Ratings, he was ranked as the 34th most conservative member of the Senate.

Social issues: 29% Liberal / 70% Conservative

Foreign-policy: 41% Liberal / 56% Conservative

Americans for Democratic Action: 10% (Liberal Score)

National Taxpayers Union: 83% (Grade: B; Rank: 24)