Jim Jeffords

James Merrill Jeffords (May 11, 1934 – August 18, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. senator from Vermont.

Jeffords attended the public schools of Rutland, and graduated from Rutland High School in 1952.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial administration from Yale University in 1956.

Jeffords was a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps in college, and after graduating he received his commission in the United States Navy.

He then received training as a surface warfare officer, followed by assignment to USS McNair.

He served for three years, and was aboard McNair when it became the first ship to enter the Suez Canal following the 1956 Suez Crisis.

He was also aboard McNair as it took part in the U.S. response to the 1958 Lebanon crisis.

In the 1960s, he served as Shrewsbury's Grand Juror, Town Agent and Zoning Administrator, in addition to serving as chairman of the town's Republican committee.

He also served as Rutland County's chairman of the Board of Property Tax Appeals.

Jeffords married Elizabeth "Liz" Daley twice, first in 1961, which ended with a June 1978 divorce.

He graduated from Yale University, served for three years in the United States Navy, and then attended Harvard Law School, from which he received his degree in 1962.

Jeffords practiced law in southern Vermont and became a resident of Shrewsbury, where he was active in local politics and government as a Republican, including serving as chairman of the town's Republican committee.

After leaving active duty, Jeffords attended Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1962.

During 1962 and 1963 he was a law clerk for Ernest W. Gibson Jr., Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.

A longtime resident of Shrewsbury, Jeffords practiced law in Rutland and became active in politics and government as a Republican.

Jeffords won a seat in the Vermont Senate in 1966.

He served one term in the Vermont Senate (1967–1969), and two as Attorney General of Vermont (1969–1973).

During his 1967 to 1969 term, Jeffords served on the General and Judiciary Committees.

He lost the 1972 Republican primary for Governor of Vermont, but won the election for Vermont's lone seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1974.

Prior to serving in the Senate, he served as the U.S. representative for VT's at-large congressional district from 1975 to 1989.

The son of Olin M. Jeffords, who served as Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, James Jeffords was born in Rutland, Vermont.

He served in the House from 1975 to 1989; in 1988 he was the successful Republican nominee for the United States Senate seat held by the retiring Robert Stafford.

On August 26, 1986, they married again.

Sworn into the Senate in 1989, he served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become an independent and began caucusing with the Democrats.

Jeffords served in the Senate from 1989 until 2007, winning reelection in 1994 and 2000.

After completing his active duty obligation, Jeffords served in the United States Navy Reserve until retiring as a captain in 1990.

In 2001, he left the Republican Party to become an independent, and began to caucus with the Senate's Democrats.

His switch changed control of the Senate from Republican to Democratic, the first time a switch had ever changed party control.

During his Senate career, Jeffords served as chairman of the Public Works and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees.

Jeffords did not run for reelection in 2006 and retired at the end of his term.

He was succeeded by Bernie Sanders.

Jeffords retired from the Senate in 2007.

Jeffords retired to Shrewsbury in 2007.

After the death of his wife, he moved to the Washington, D.C. area to live closer to his children.

Liz Jeffords died on the morning of April 13, 2007, after a long struggle with ovarian cancer.

Jeffords and his wife had two children, Leonard and Laura, both of whom live and work in the Washington, D.C., area.

After his wife's death, Jeffords resided in Washington, D.C., a move he made in order to live near his son and daughter.

He died in 2014 from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease, and was buried in Shrewsbury.

Jeffords was born in Rutland, Vermont, the son of Marion (née Hausman) and Olin Merrill Jeffords, who served as Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.

According to Jeffords, his mother was a relative of French architect Georges-Eugène Haussmann.