Richard Blumenthal is an American politician who serves in the U.S Senate as the senior senator from Connecticut. Blumenthal is an experienced attorney, having served as the Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011.
The Early Years of Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal was born on February 13, 1946, in Brooklyn. Both of Blumenthal’s parents were raised in a Jewish Family. Fred, Richard’s father, emigrated alone from Germany at the age of 17. Richard Blumenthal attended Riverdale County School in the Bronx for his high school education before joining the Harvard University for his undergraduate studies. At Harvard, Blumenthal was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and served as the editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson. Blumenthal then joined the University of Cambridge after obtaining a Fiske Fellowship that allowed the future politician to study at Trinity College for a year. Richard then joined the prestigious Yale Law School to obtain his Juris Doctor, which he did in 1973.
The Career of Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal began his political career as an assistant to various high power public faces including Sen. Abraham A. Ribicoff. Blumenthal became United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut in 1977 and was able to prosecute many major cases involving drug traffickers, organized crime, and environmental pollution. In 1990, Blumenthal was elected as Connecticut’s Attorney General. Richard was awarded the Raymond E. Baldwin Award for Public Service by the Quinnipiac University for his services as an Attorney General.
Following Senator Chris Dodd’s announcement regarding his retirement from the Senate, Richard Blumenthal told the Associated Press that he would run in the election for Dodd’s seat. Blumenthal’s announcement was received warmly by the White House with both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden expressing their best wishes. Despite being labeled as a frontrunner, in the beginning, Blumenthal’s chances of getting elected got grimmer after resurfacing of some of his old videos.
Ultimately, Blumenthal won the seat by defeating former WWE CEO Linda McMahon on November 2, 2010. Blumenthal was able to secure his seat at the Senate in the 2016 elections with 63% of the vote against Republican candidate Dan Carter.
Mr. President: Your bullying hasn’t worked before and it won’t work now. No one is above the law.
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) August 7, 2017
Alongside Rep. John Conyers Jr., Richard Blumenthal led a group of 196 congressmen in the filing of a federal lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating the emoluments clause of the US Constitution. In a hypothetical 2020 U.S. Presidential election match-up, Blumenthal came ahead of President Donald Trump with a 42-39% vote distribution. This has caused Richard to be one of the most viable candidates for the Democratic Party in the upcoming elections. Blumenthal also compared Trump Administration’s family separating policy at the U.S.-Mexico border to ‘kidnapping’.
On this, Trump officials & I agree: they failed. pic.twitter.com/1Ts3Hpiq6X
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) August 1, 2018
Personal Life and Net Worth
Richard Blumenthal is married to Cynthia Malkin since 1982. The couple has four children together. Richard Blumenthal has an estimated net worth of around $80 million dollars.
Interesting Facts
- Blumenthal was the classmate of Hillary and Bill Clinton during his time at Yale Law School.
- Richard Blumenthal is the first person in Connecticut to obtain more than a million votes in a statewide election.
- He is the second richest Senator in the U.S. Senate.
- Richard Blumenthal has an “F” rating from the NRA.
