Patrick Leahy

Patrick Joseph Leahy ( LAY-hee; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2012 to 2015 and again from 2021 to 2023. Leahy was the first Democrat ever elected to the U.S. Senate from Vermont and the third-longest-serving U.S. senator in history at 48 years. During his tenure he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee. Leahy became the most senior senator in 2012 and in 2022 he became the most senior member of either house of Congress. At the time of his retirement, Leahy was the dean of Vermont's congressional delegation, Vermont's longest-serving U.S. senator. Leahy was succeeded by Peter Welch, who became the second Democrat to represent Vermont in the Senate. Leahy's signature legislation is the Leahy Law forbidding the United States from funding foreign military units which violate human rights. Leahy was the presiding officer at Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, becoming the first senator to preside over a former president's impeachment trial. In 2023, Burlington International Airport was renamed after him.