Is Frist Republicans' Rx?
The man likely to head the Republican Party in the U.S. Senate has a reputation as a moderate and an interesting biography. A key asset — and a potential liability — in his close relationship with the president.
Sen. Bill Frist, a heart surgeon turned politician, "will be less of a lightening rod" than outgoing GOP head Trent Lott, says CBS News Political Director Dotty Lynch.
Frist is "someone who Democrats see as real threat as spokesman," Lynch reports. "The irony is Democrats cheering Republican troubles may end up with someone more helpful to Republicans than was Lott."
The Nashville native is popular among his colleagues. Incoming Missouri Sen. Jim Talent said Frist "has tremendous integrity and ethic of hard work and the ability to lead. "
But some observers have said Frist could be undermined by the perception that he is too close to the White House.
In a rather extensive resume posted on the senator's website — which mentions, among other things, that he was voted "best boy" in his high school — Frist catalogues an impressive list of accomplishments.
Frist attended Princeton, focusing on health care policy, and then graduated with honors from Harvard Medical School. Next came a series of surgical training stints at hospitals in the United States and England.
The first practicing physician elected to the Senate since 1928, he holds board certifications in general surgery and heart surgery, has performed 200 heart and lung transplant operations and published more than 100 articles in medical journals. This is one area of his past that is unlikely to be examined closely, since the works bear names like "Effect of hypoxia on myocardial relaxation in isometric cat papillary muscle."
Frist has held licenses to practice medicine in Massachusetts, California, Tennessee and the District of Columbia, and has won numerous awards for his medical work and research.
First was first elected to represent Tennessee in 1994. In 2000, he was reelected by what his biography says was "the largest margin ever received by a candidate for statewide election in the history of Tennessee."
While considered a moderate, First holds a 100 percent rating in 2001 from the American Conservative Union — higher than Trent Lott's. He has a 10 percent rating from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action. Among the votes used to calculate those ratings were Frist's "nays" on taxpayer funding for needle exchanges and elements of campaign finance reform.
Frist supports President Bush's proposal to allow Social Security contributions to be diverted into individual retirement accounts.
He has voted to ban so-called partial birth abortion and abortions at military bases. He supports programs using public money for vouchers to private schools.
In the most recent Congress, he served on the budget, foreign relations and health, education, labor and pensions committees, and was ranking member on two subcommittees dealing with African affairs and public health. He is founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Science and Technology Caucus.
Frist served in a leadership position once before, becoming a deputy whip in 1999. In 2001 he was one of two Congressional representatives to the United Nations.
Away from Capitol Hill, Frist sits on dozens of committees and organizations, from the National Bipartisan Committee on the Future of Medicare to the American Running Association, Center for Excellence in Education, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), and the Council on Foreign Relations.
He's also been active in Republican politics outside of his Senate role. Frist was deputy director the 1992 Bush-Quayle campaign in Tennessee and was co-chair of the 2000 Republican convention. Since 2000, he has served as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Dozens of organizations have bestowed honors on Frist, from the Americans for Tax Reform's Hero of the Taxpayer Award to the Guardian of Small Business Award from the National Federation of Independent Business.
An active runner, Frist has participated in a number of marathons, including the Marine Corps Marathon and the New York City Marathon. He holds pilot licenses with commercial, instrument, and multi-engine ratings.
His first book, "Transplant: A Heart Surgeons's Account of the Life-and-Death Dramas of the New Medicine," was published in 1989.
He then coauthored Grand Rounds in Transplantation in 1995 and, in 1999, co-wrote "Tennessee Senators, 1911-2001: Portraits of Leadership in a Century of Change.
This year saw "When Every Moment Counts: What You Need to Know About Bioterrorism from the Senate's Only Doctor" hit the stands.
He and his wife Karyn live in Nashville. They have three sons: Harrison, Jonathan, and Bryan.
By Jarrett Murphy