Chuck Schumer started his political career immediately after graduating from Harvard Law School. At the young age of 24, he was elected to the New York State Assembly. Since then, he has steadily progressed from the ranks to become one of the most powerful individuals in the Democratic Party. In 1998, he made the political establishment sit up and take notice of his abilities as he managed to defeat 3-term incumbent Republican Al D’Amato to become a U.S. Senator. Over the years, Schumer has established a stronghold over his seat and won the last re-election in 2016 with 70% of the vote. In 2017, he was appointed the Senate Minority Leader.
Sun Sign
Sagittarius
Manager
Not Applicable
Girlfriend / Spouse
Chuck Schumer has dated –
- Iris Weinshall (1980-Present) – In September 1980, Schumer got married to Iris Weinshall. The wedding ceremony was held at Windows on the World at the top of the north tower of the World Trade Center. Over the course of their marriage, Weinshall has given birth to 2 children – Alison and Jessica.
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Prominent Nose
Best Known For
Being a member of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate. He has served as the Senate Minority Leader since 2017, the position to which he was elected unanimously. He has held his seat in the Senate since 1998.
First TV Show
In 1995, Chuck Schumer made his first TV show appearance on the News talk show, Charlie Rose.
Personal Trainer
When the U.S. Senate is in session, he regularly works out at 7 in the morning at the Senate gym. He prefers to spend most of the time on the stationary bike to keep himself fit. He also uses his time in the gym to forge close ties with the Republican senators, which helps him in cutting deals with his opposition senators as well.
Chuck Schumer Facts
- While studying in public schools in Brooklyn, he managed to score a perfect SAT score of 1600.
- He became interested in politics while he was studying at Harvard College. He also campaigned for Eugene McCarthy in 1968 supporting his presidential campaign.
- In the early months of 1975, he managed to pass the New York state bar. However, he never pursued a career in law and instead decided to focus on his political career.
- In 1974, he was elected to the New York State Assembly. He was elected to the seat previously held by his mentor, Stephen Solarz. He served 3 terms in the state assembly.
- In 1980, Chuck Schumer got elected to the United States House of Representative from the 16th District. He managed to get re-elected to the U.S. Congress 8 times from Queens and Brooklyn based district.
- He decided to run for the U.S. Senate and managed to get more than double of the votes garnered by his nearest rival in the Democratic Senate primary. In the general election, he managed to defeat 3-term incumbent Republican Al D’Amato by a margin of 10%.
- Schumer’s love for media publicity is well-known and he has close allies in the leading media houses. He often schedules press briefings on Sunday on legislative as well as non-legislative matters.
- He visits all the 62 counties in New York every year. He has been successfully doing it since he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He is the first Senator from New York to do so.
- He has a history of intervening on the behalf of the New Yorkers whenever the local job creation has been at stake. In one case, he advocated that New York state redirect federal stimulus dollars to improve roads as Canon Inc. had threatened to relocate their corporate headquarters in Long Island because of poor roads.
- In May 2001, he collaborated with Republican Senator John McCain to introduce a new legislation that would make it difficult for large pharmaceuticals to keep cheaper generic drugs off the market. The related legislation was passed by the U.S. Senate in July 2002.
- He was one of the few senior Democratic leaders to openly criticize the nuclear deal with Iran which was spearheaded by . The deal led to the lifting of economic sanctions against Iran and the middle eastern country also got $1.8 billion in cash from the U.S. government.
- Along with California Senator Dianne Feinstein, he was the author of 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which remained in effect till 2004. The ban extended to semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and handguns with certain features and Schumer tried hard to extend it in 2004 but was unsuccessful.
- Along with Republican Senator of South Carolina, he has been a vocal critic of the trade imbalance between the United States and China. He had urged Bush and Obama administration to take action against China’s currency manipulation.
- Although he has been a fierce critic of U.S. President , he praised Trump’s decision to open the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. He had co-sponsored a legislation to take a similar action almost 2 decades earlier.
- Early in his political career, he wasn’t a supporter of the same-sex marriages and even voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996. However, he has changed his stand and has called for the reversal of DOMA.
- He released his book, Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time, in January 2007. In the book, he discussed strategies that Democrats can use to win middle-class voters.
- When he was elected as minority leader by Senate Democratic caucus in November 2016, he became the first New Yorker to be appointed to the prestigious position. He was also the first Jewish leader to be appointed to such a position.
- Visit his official website @ schumer.senate.gov.
- Follow Chuck Schumer on , , and .
Featured Image by United States Senate / / CC BY 2.0
Facts of Charles Ellis Schumer
- Gender Male
- full nameCharles Ellis Schumer
- nicknamesChuck
- birthplaceNew York City, New York, United States
- Date of Birth November 23, 1950
- Age 73 years 11 months
- Horoscope Sagittarius
- Lucky Number 4
- Lucky Stone Turquoise
- Lucky Color Orange
- Best Match for Marriage Leo, Aquarius
- ethnicity / ethnic backgroundJewish
- nationalityAmerican
- religionJudaism
- net worth$1.5 million
- professionPolitician
- weight73 kg or 161 lbs
- height5 ft 9 in or 175 cm
- hair colorGray
- eye colorBlue
- body type / buildAverage
- high schoolJames Madison High School
- collegeHarvard College
- motherSelma Schumer
- fatherAbraham Schumer
- brothersRobert Schumer
- sistersFran Schumer