Whitehouse is a classic liberal with a heart for public service, who hails from a family with a generations-long public service tradition.
He believes that fixing health care is a top US priority, as are shoring up the Social Security system and repairing Medicare's prescription drug program. He's adamant about ending Bush underfunding of the No Child Left Behind Act.
He also supports shoring up the Social Security system, fixing Medicare's new prescription drug plan, and strongly supports full funding of the No Child Left Behind Act, so that public schools aren't forced to eliminate arts, music, science and honors programs.
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Committee on the Budget
- Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Select Committee on Intelligence
- Special Committee on Aging
- Clerk to a judge on the Virginia Supreme Court, 1982-83
- Assistant in state Attorney General's office, 1985-90
- Executive Counsel, then Director of Policy to Governor Bruce Sundlan, 1990-94
- Appointed by President Clinton to be US Attorney for Rhode Island, 1994-98
- Elected state Attorney General, 1998-2002
- Defeated in 2002 run for Rhode Island Governor
- Joined Providence law firm of Edwards & Angell in 2002, but left after a few years to run for the US Senate in 2006.
As US Attorney, he argued 9 cases before the US Court of Appeals, and commenced investigation into municipal corruption.
As Attorney General, he argued several cases before the US Supreme Court, and founded the Rhode Island Quality Institute for health care. He also successfully prosecuted certain manufacturers of lead paint.
- Birth - October 20, 1955 in Providence, RI to Charles and Mary Whitehouse. (See below.)
- Education - St. Paul's, a New Hampshire boarding school. B.A. in Art History, 1978, Yale University. J.D., 1982, University of Virginia.
- Family - Married since 1986 to Sandra Thornton. Two teenage children, Molly and Alexander. Two dogs, Otto and Ogden.
- Faith - Raised Episcopalian. Worships at the Central Congregational Church in Providence.
Dr. Whitehouse, who has twin sister, hails from a wealthy Newport, Rhode Island family, and is the great-grandaughter of Sir Henry Thornton, founder of the Canadian National Railway.
In 1994, Charles defeated the Disney company's plan to build a theme park in Prince William County, Va. Charles' Yale roommate was John Chafee, father of Senator Lincoln Chafee.
He's grandson of Mary Alexander Whitehouse, one of the first women members of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art board, and of Sheldon Whitehouse, career diplomat. Whitehouse descends from Charles Crocker, one of California's "Big Four" that built the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s.
On His Love of Public Service
"A bad day in public service is better than a good day in the private sector."
--- The Providence Journal, August 3, 2006
On the Patriot Act
"The PATRIOT Act is riddled with excessive provisions, and the Senate appears to have made a concerted effort to deal with some of those, but instead of the bill that the Senate Judiciary Committee worked on, they've tried to railroad this other bill through. I think it's very excessive in dealing with the difficult question of balance between liberty and security that America constantly has to face."
--- Interview with MyDD liberal community blog on December 19, 2005
On Tax Reductions for the Wealthiest Americans
"I support rolling back the tax reductions that went to America's wealthiest individuals. I think it's unfair that the administration seeks to reduce Social Security benefits for the middle class and at the same time gives huge tax refunds to the wealthiest and most successful Americans -- and all this at a time when the gap between America's richest and poorest is at its greatest since the stock market crash of the 1930s."
--- Interview with ePluribus Media on August 12, 2005
On Bush Administration Abuse of Power
"I think that the abuse of power and the extreme levels of the Abramoff scandal, at the slightly less extreme but perhaps even more damaging levels of putting incompetent people like 'Heckuva Job Brownie' into significant leadership positions at FEMA, and further into the corruption, for instance, at the EPA of its mission to protect the environment by stuffing polluting industry lobbyists into key decision-making positions. I don't know that we've seen anything like it in America before."
--- Interview with MyDD liberal community blog on December 19, 2005
