Sununu, John E. (John Edward), 1964-

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John Edward Sununu (born September 10, 1964) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's 1st congressional district from 1997 to 2003 and as U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 2003 to 2009. He is the only Salvadoran American ever elected to the U.S. Congress.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he graduated from Salem High School in Salem, New Hampshire before earning a B.S. and M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1987 and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. After graduating, he worked in the high-tech industry, at one time for the company of Dean Kamen and as a management consultant for PRTM. In 1996, Sununu was elected to the U.S. House. During his time in the House, Sununu had one of the House's most conservative voting records, opposing abortion and increased minimum wages while favoring school vouchers and the death penalty.

In 2002, Sununu was elected to the U.S. Senate seat from New Hampshire, defeating incumbent Senator Bob Smith in the Republican primary and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in the general election. According to a Washington Post study, Sununu voted with the Republican Party's position 84% of the time as a Senator. However, he broke with his party on prominent issues, joining Democrats in filibusters of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Bush Administration's 2003 energy bill. Sununu strongly supported greater access to firearms, voting against the proposed renewal of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 2004. In 2006, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He strongly opposed amnesty for illegal aliens, voting against the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill in July 2007. Sununu called for a tougher federal regulator for government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and with Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), he filed a dramatic overhaul of regulation of the insurance industry. A long proponent of technology, in January 2007, Sununu called for a permanent ban on taxes of Internet connections and online sales. In a 2008 rematch with Shaheen, she defeated Sununu 52% to 45%.

Sununu currently sits on the Board of Managers of ConvergEx Holdings, a holding company for BNY ConvergEx Group, an affiliate of Bank of New York Mellon, which holds a 33.8% stake in BNY ConvergEx Group. On July 7, 2010, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP announced that Sununu was joining the firm as an adjunct senior policy advisor. He was appointed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to serve on the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) for the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. Sununu is a regular op-ed contributor to the Boston Globe. On January 30, 2019, Lloyd's of London announced Sununu had been appointed to its governing council.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Tom McCall Forum Collection, 1982-2007 Pacific University Archives
referencedIn James A. Baker III Oral History collection, 1991-2016 Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
referencedIn Harvard University Archives Photograph Collection: Portraits, ca. 1852-ca. 2004 Harvard University Archives.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Baker, James Addison, 1930- person
associatedWith Boston Globe. corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Harvard College, Harvard Business School corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Massachusetts Institute of Technology corporateBody
childOf Sununu, John H. (John Henry), 1939- person
associatedWith Tom McCall Forum corporateBody
memberOf United States. Congress. House corporateBody
memberOf United States. Congress. Senate corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Salem NH US
Boston MA US
Cambridge MA US
Subject
Occupation
Management Consultant
Newspaper Columnist
Policy Advisor
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Senators, U.S. Congress
Activity

Person

Birth 1964-09-10

Male

Americans

English

Information

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