As one of America’s most influential politicians and capable legislators, Jeff Merkley is from Oregon and did not just stumble into politics. He had an interest in the industry and with a degree in International Relations and a Masters degree in Public Administration, Merkley was well on his way to becoming a successful political figure.
Although he began his career with the U.S. Secretary of Defense and then worked on other projects, he went fully into politics when he became a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing the 47th District of the House of Representatives, where he served as a minority leader, and later, when the Democrats gained a majority, became the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Merkley later headed for the Senate House after defeating an incumbent senator, and in addition to passing several bills, he also saw to it that a number of bills were amended.
Jeff Merkley Biography (Education)
The American political personality was born Jeffrey Alan Merkley on October 24, 1956, the son of Betty Lou Merkley and Darrell Philip Merkley in Myrtle Creek, a town in Oregon, the northwestern state of the United States of America.
He received his elementary education in Roseburg, Oregon before his family moved to Portland, one of Oregon’s largest cities, where he enrolled in David Douglas High School. He later became president of the school’s student union.
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After graduating high school, he applied to top universities and was eventually accepted by Stanford and Yale, but he chose Stanford University where he studied International Relations, and graduated in 1979. He went to the University of Princeton, where he earned a master’s degree in public administration and politics.
Jeff Merkley began his career when he was selected to work directly in the Washington office of the Department of Defense. He then worked as an analyst in the Congressional Budget Office before moving to Portland to serve as Director of the Habitat of Humanity for three years.
Jeff Merkley began his journey into politics in 1998 when he ran for and won the Oregon House of Representatives under the Democratic Party. After several years he was elected minority leader in the House of Representatives. But after the next election in 2006, his party collected enough seats and became the majority in the House of Representatives. This made Jeff the speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.
During his tenure as House Speaker, he helped pass several bills, including the one granting immunity to gay marriages. Merkley ran for the United States Senate after winning five more candidates in his party’s primaries. He won the incumbent senator with a narrow victory, making him the first politician in Oregon to recall an incumbent senator since 1968.
In the Senate, he can look back on a successful career as a senator and was the brains behind the passage of several bills, including the Merkley Breastfeeding Amendment. The bill was added to the health care reforms of the United States, and President Barack Obama incorporated it into the bill. Jeff Merkley was also behind the passage of the “Wall Street Reform Bill” and he was the only Democratic Party senator to insist that Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, not be confirmed as a member of the Senate Banking Committee. Merkley brought about the change that ended the “Liars Loans”, and in addition, he passed a bill that will reform the delay process in the Senate, and as a result, he was able to push through a bill that will increase the independence of the United States in the energy and oil sectors.
His Family
Jeff Merkley’s family is not large, his parents Betty Lou Merkley and Darrell Philip Merkley had only two children, Merkley, and his sister. Although he is a bona fide citizen of the United States of America, his heritage has been traced back to Australia, the country of birth of his paternal grandmother.
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Tragedy struck his family in 2015 when his cousin Rebecka Ann Carnes was killed in a shootout at Umpqua Community College.
Jeffrey Merkley is married to Mary Soderberg, an American nurse. Their union was blessed with two children, a son and daughter named Jonathan and Brynne, respectively.
Other Interesting Facts About The Politician
1. During his high school days, Merkley spent a whole summer vacation in Ghana because he wanted a change of environment.
2. The politician has the famous record of standing on the podium of the US Senate for 15 hours and 28 minutes when he spoke out against the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch before the Supreme Court.
3. In 2016 Merkley is said to have been the only senator in the US who supported Bernie Sanders.
