Trent lott family tree

Mississippi’s Trent Lott came to Capitol Hill in 1968 to work as an administrative assistant for Representative William Colmer. When Colmer retired in 1972, Lott succeeded him and served eight terms in the House, including eight years as Republican Whip. Elected to the Senate in 1988, Lott became the Senate Republican Whip in 1993, the only person to hold this position in both houses of Congress. Known for his organizational skills and member-to-member negotiations, Lott is credited with modernizing the whip office, creating a model still in operation today. Senate Republicans chose him as floor leader in 1996 and he served five years as majority leader. Throughout his career, Lott actively forged bipartisan coalitions—with Democrats on the Hill and in the White House—and guided the Senate through the impeachment trial of President William Clinton in 1999 and the response to terrorist attacks in 2001.

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Major Works

• Herding Cats: A Life in Politics (2006)

Biography of Trent Lott

Trent Lott was born in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1941, and spent his childhood in Duck Hill, where his parents were sharecroppers. His family moved to Pascagoula, Mississippi, when Lott was in the sixth grade. Lott attended the University of Mississippi where he earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration in 1963. He married Patricia Thompson in 1964. He earned his law degree at Ole Miss in 1967. After passing the bar, he joined the firm of Bryan and Gordon as an associate in 1967.

He had a long career in federal politics both as a U.S. Senator (19 years) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (16 years). Lott was an administrative assistant to Representative William M. Colmer from 1968 to 1972. When Colmer retired, Lott won his former seat (1973). He was House Minority Whip from 1981 to 1989. In 1988, Lott won a seat formerly held by John Stennis in the U.S. Senate. In 1995, he became Senate Majority Whip and then Senate Majority Leader in 1

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