Editor’s Note: As the old adage goes, no man is an island. While it may seem like the movers and shakers on Capitol Hill are multitaskers of mythical status to be everywhere and know everything at once, they actually have had a lot experiences, mentors, and staffers to get them where they are today. The “Behind Every Congressman” series attempts to shine the spotlight on the people and circumstances that have brought members of Congress to where they are now.
Family
Charles Schumer grew up in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a pair of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He attended public high school there where he received accolades for good grades, graduating valedictorian and competing on the high school quiz show, It’s Academic.
He went on to attend Harvard, and as an undergraduate campaigned for Eugene McCarthy in 1968. He went on to get a law degree from Harvard Law School and passed the bar in New York, although he never ended up practicing.
He married his wife Iris Weinshall on top of the first World Trade Center tower in 1980. She went on to serve as the New York City Commissioner of Transportation. His daughter, Jessica Schumer, is a senior policy advisor at the White House.
Early Career Connections
Schumer immediately got involved in politics, running for the New York State Assembly immediately after graduating law school. At the age of 23, he was the youngest person to be elected to the New York legislature since Theodore Roosevelt.
In 1980, he ran for a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for New York’s 16th District, which covered Brooklyn and Queens at the time. In 1982 redistricting forced Schumer to run against his mentor, longtime Brooklyn Congressman Steve Solarz. Schumer won by changing his campaign strategy from focusing on families to reaching out to Wall Street bankers and lawyers that resided in the district and had the means to give campaign donations.
Political Influencers
Schumer ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998, beating out the popular Geraldine Ferraro in the Democratic primaries. He ended up winning the general election with 55 percent of the vote, unseating three term Republican incumbent Al D’Amato.
Extremely popular in his home state, Schumer makes a point of visiting all 62 districts in the state every year, and has done so for the 12 years he has been in the Senate.
In Washington, Schumer has developed a reputation of being a darling of the press. Bob Dole once said that “the most dangerous place in Washington is between Charles Schumer and a television camera” while President Obama make Schumer the subject of a joke in his 2008 speech at the annual Al Smith Dinner, saying Schumer brought the press corps to events as “loved ones.”
Politically, Schumer has developed a reputation in the Senate as someone willing to work across party lines to pass legislation on a bipartisan basis. This past year he was a key part of the “Gang of Eight,” working closely along side Republican Senator John McCain. Despite working hard for bipartisan deals, Schumer is personally one of the most liberal members of the Senate, staunchly pro-choice, pro gay marriage, and pro gun control. He has served has chairman of the powerful Senate Rules Committee since 2009.
Chuck Schumer is also famous for living in a rented house on Capitol Hill with fellow Democrats Dick Durbin, George Miller, and Bill Delahunt. Described as being worse than the “most rundown frat house on campus,” the shared home has served as the inspiration for the Amazon original series “Alpha House.” According to a number of interviews, Schumer is described as being the messiest of the roommates, sleeping on a cot on the floor next to the kitchen, and using the couch as his personal closet.
Business and Lobbying Ties
Due to his strong ties with New York City, Schumer enjoys a close relationship with Wall Street. Since first taking office, Goldman Sachs has been the number one contributor to Schumer, donating nearly half a million dollars in the past two decades. For the 2012 election cycle Schumer’s main donors were Washington area law firms and lobby houses, like Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison, Paulson and Co. Ernst and Young, and Deloitte.
Schumer’s financial dependence on Wall Street has made him one of the biggest advocates for deregulation of the investments industry. Following the 2008 market collapse, Schumer was one of the chief architects of the $700 billion bank bailout and essentially saved Wall Street. He has received some criticism from both sides of the aisle when it comes to his policies dealing with Wall Street. In most circumstances he supports the finance industry, but during times of crisis he tends to side with populist outrage on the side of the investors.
Current Team
Schumer’s Chief of Staff is also his longest serving advisor, Mike Lynch, who first worked as Schumer’s field organizer in his bid for the Senate in 1998. He is a Virginia native, having grown up in Vienna and attended James Madison University. He is married to Brooke Jamison, the legislative director for the other senator from New York, Kristin Gillibrand. Legislative Director Heather McHugh is a native of Long Island, who counts the University of Richmond as her alma mater. She’s spent the past seven years working on the Hill, previously serving for the current and former DCCC chairs, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Steve Israel of New York. Josh Malosky rounds out Schumer’s staff, serving as his communications director.
[Image via POLITICO]
