Bob Corker

Bob Corker (born August 24, 1952, Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S.) is an American Republican politician who represented Tennessee in the U.S. Senate from 2007 to 2019.

Corker—who grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee—studied industrial management (B.S., 1974) at the University of Tennessee. He subsequently worked in construction, eventually starting his own company, which at one time had projects and holdings in 18 states. During that time Corker married, and he and his wife, Elizabeth, later had two children.

The intersection of construction work and government gave Corker an interest in politics, and in 1994 he mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate. He then served as a commissioner (1995–96) in the state’s Department of Finance and Administration. In 2001 he was elected mayor of Chattanooga, serving until 2005. The following year he ran for the U.S. Senate and narrowly won.

Corker entered the Senate in 2007, and his subsequent voting record typically fell in the moderate range of the legislative spectrum, as he frequently voted against the party leadership or more-conservative elements of the Republican conference. In 2015, for example, he was one of seven Republican senators who refused to sign a missive from Sen. Tom Cotton meant to thwart negotiations between Pres. Barack Obama’s administration and the government of Iran on matters pertaining to nuclear development. On numerous occasions Corker also clashed with senators from his own party, including Ted Cruz and John McCain, over what he characterized as political grandstanding or empty symbolism. His background in construction and development served Corker when he helped develop a reform program for housing finance in the wake of the subprime-mortgage crisis. He also took a strong interest in international affairs, introducing a bill to end modern slavery around the world.

Facing a difficult reelection race, Corker announced in 2017 that he would not seek a third term the following year. He subsequently became increasingly critical of Pres. Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, and the two men traded barbs on Twitter. Corker left office in January 2019.