Patrick Joseph Leahy, is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2012 to 2015 and from 2021 to 2023. During his tenure he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee. Leahy is the third-longest-serving U.S. senator in history, with 48 years served, and is the longest-serving member of the United States Congress to solely serve as a U.S. senator.