Bernard “Bernie” Sanders is an American senator representing the state of Vermont and has been active in politics for many decades. Sanders was born on September 8, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Eli Sanders, was a Jewish immigrant who fled economic hardship and antisemitism, emigrating from Slopnice, Poland, to the United States in 1921. His mother, Dorothy Glassberg Sanders, was born in New York and was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia. The family lived in a three-room apartment in Brooklyn. Sanders lost his mother to heart disease around the time he finished high school, and his father passed away two years later.

After graduating from James Madison High School, Sanders attended Brooklyn College for one year before transferring to the University of Chicago, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1964. During his university years, he was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement, organizing with groups such as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). After graduation, he briefly worked on the Sha’ar Ha’amakim kibbutz in Israel. He later moved to Vermont, where he worked in carpentry, documentary filmmaking, and research.

Political Career and Legislative Work

Sanders began his political career in 1971 by joining the anti-Vietnam War Liberty Union Party. He ran unsuccessfully for various offices under this party but was elected Mayor of Burlington in 1981 as an independent candidate. During his tenure, he prioritized affordable housing, downtown revitalization, and programs for women and youth.

In 1990, Sanders was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont as an independent, becoming the first independent to enter Congress in four decades. He served in the House for 16 years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, and he was re-elected in 2012, 2018, and 2024. Throughout his career, he has focused on income inequality, health care reform, education rights, and climate change. He served as chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and has been a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Budget Committee.

Bernard Sanders (George Mason University Course Page)

In the legislative process, Sanders has frequently maintained an independent stance, casting dissenting votes from the Democratic Party on issues such as the USA PATRIOT Act, the Iraq War, and immigration reform. Nevertheless, he supported major legislative efforts such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In 2010, he attracted national attention with an eight-hour speech opposing the extension of Bush-era tax cuts.

Presidential Campaigns and Political Influence

Sanders first announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency as a Democrat in 2015 and competed in the 2016 primaries against Hillary Clinton. He made history by winning the New Hampshire primary with 60% of the vote, becoming the first Jewish and first non-Christian candidate to win a presidential primary in U.S. history. He also received one faithless elector’s vote in the Electoral College in 2016. He ran again in the 2020 election cycle but did not secure the nomination.