Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. was born in Memphis, Tennessee on May 11, 1970. He currently serves as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee.  During his tenure in congress Ford represented the state’s 9th congressional district from 1997 until 2007. This district included most of Memphis.  Bucking tradition, Ford did not seek reelection to his House seat in 2006 and instead unsuccessfully sought the Senate seat that was being vacated by the retiring senator Bill Frist.  Ford was the only African American member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats.

After the 2002 mid term elections resulted in Democrats losing Congressional seats, Ford announced his desire to be House Minority Whip based on Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s charge that the democratic leadership was less than competent.  Ford was unsuccessful in his election bid, but surprised many politicians and pundits on both sides of the political aisle with the amount of support he garnered. A few observers suggested that he might become the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004.  However, given the fact that he was only thirty-four years old, he was ineligible for the office. Ford would be four months shy of thirty-five on Inauguration Day (January 20, 2005).

In Congress, Ford had a moderate voting record.  He supported a restriction of benefits for same-sex couples, as well as the Federal Marriage Amendment (which would ban same-sex marriage).  He was one of the stronger Democratic voices (along with Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut) in support of the Iraq War and was critical of Senate Democrats who attempted to filibuster the Supreme Court nomination of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Moreover, he was one of the few Democrats who voted in support of the 2006 Bankruptcy Bill.  He also supported limitations on abortion, defining himself as a “pro-life” candidate.  However, he also opposed President George W. Bush’s energy proposals