John C. Danforth

John Claggett Danforth (born September 5, 1936) is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, and Episcopal priest who served as the attorney general of Missouri from 1969 to 1976 and as a United States senator from 1976 to 1995. A member of the Republican Party, he later served as special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1999 to 2000 and as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2004 to 2005. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Danforth graduated from Princeton University and Yale University. George H. W. Bush considered selecting him as a vice-presidential running mate in 1988,[1] and Bush's son, George W. Bush, considered doing the same in 2000.[2] Danforth was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Dorothy (Claggett) and Donald Danforth.[3] He is the grandson of William H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina. Danforth's brother, William Henry Danforth, was former chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. Danforth attended St. Louis Country Day School. He graduated from Princeton University in 1958 with an A.B. in religion after completing his senior thesis, "Christ and Meaning: An Interpretation of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christology."[4] He received degrees from Yale Law School and Yale Divinity School in 1963. Danforth practiced law at the New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell from 1964 to 1966. He was a partner at the law firm of Bryan, Cave, McPheeters and McRoberts in St. Louis from 1966 to 1968.[5]