Sam Nunn

Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr. (born September 8, 1938) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia (1972–1997) as a member of the Democratic Party. While in the Senate, Nunn was involved in the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which aims to dismantle weapons of mass destruction, originally in the former Soviet Union. Nunn was also involved in the Goldwater–Nichols Act, which reformed the Department of Defense. After leaving Congress, Nunn co-founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan global security organization focused on reducing nuclear, biological, and emerging technology threats imperiling humanity, for which he is the co-chair. His political experience and credentials on national defense reportedly earned him consideration as a potential running mate for presidential candidates John Kerry and Barack Obama after they became their party's nominees.