Former Senators Jones & Strange Discuss What’s at Stake in 2024
Rotarian Doug Jones with President Bruce Rogers, Luther Strange and Past President Jon Blankenship
This week the Rotary Club of Birmingham (RCB) welcomed Rotarian Doug Jones, former U.S. Senator from Alabama and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, and Luther Strange, former U.S. Senator from Alabama and former Alabama Attorney General, for a discussion facilitated by Past President Jon Blankenship. The two men shared their takes on the current election season and the state of politics in Alabama and the U.S. today, as well as engaging stories from their careers and insights into how to improve civility and functionality throughout the government.
Bio for Luther Strange
Luther Strange has served as United States Senator (2017-2018) and Alabama Attorney General (2011-2017). As Alabama Attorney General, Strange earned national recognition for his work, having led a number of successful lawsuits defending the rule of law against federal government overreach and serving as the chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association. During his tenure, he successfully argued an important First Amendment case before the United States Supreme Court. Attorney General Strange served as coordinating counsel for the five Gulf Coast states in the historic Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, winning a landmark settlement and saving Alabama’s citizens millions in outside legal fees by trying the case himself. His office was also responsible for successfully fighting public corruption in the state, including in his own party, having secured the conviction and removal from office of the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives. In the U.S. Senate, Senator Strange voted to confirm Justice Gorsuch and dozens of conservative judges, supported the biggest tax reform in recent history, and worked to remove burdensome regulations. He served on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Armed Services; Budget; and Energy and Natural Resources committees. Prior to entering public service, Strange was a successful attorney and businessman in Birmingham, Alabama. Strange was a Founding Director of Oakworth Capital Bank in Birmingham, AL where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors. An Eagle Scout at age 13, Strange is a recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Eagle Scout Award by the Boy Scouts of America. He received both his BA and JD from Tulane University and is a member of the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame. He is an Adjunct Professor at Vanderbilt Law School and the University of Alabama School of Law. He now leads his own law practice, advising clients on matters of law and public policy.
Bio for Doug Jones
A celebrated prosecutor who brought long-overdue justice to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Senator Doug Jones has built his career on fighting “impossible” battles. In 2017, he shocked the political establishment by winning a special election to fill a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama – the first Democrat to do so in 25 years in the state. As a member of the Banking and Housing Committee, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the Armed Services Committee, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and the Committee on Aging, he quickly built a reputation as a well-regarded and effective legislator. He passed more than two dozen bipartisan bills into law in just three years, including legislation to end the military widow’s tax, provide permanent funding for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), shed light on Civil Rights-era cold cases, and expand access to broadband in rural communities. He was also one of the principal architects of the anti-money laundering legislation passed by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020.
As the only state-wide federally elected Democrat in the Deep South during his term, Jones gave hope for the first time in a generation to an overlooked – but growing – demographic of Americans. Despite the perceived political risks, Jones was unapologetic in addressing the toughest issues of the day, including using his maiden speech on the Senate floor to call for gun policy reforms. Often under tremendous pressure to take politically motivated votes, Jones frequently bucked the pundits to vote his conscience, whether it was voting to convict President Trump in his first impeachment trial or voting against the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He also established the annual tradition of a bipartisan reading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail in the Senate chamber, and has been an outspoken Southern voice in support of racial justice and equity.
In 2019, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce honored Senator Jones as one of only two senators to win both the Jefferson-Hamilton Award for Bipartisanship and the Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America award. The Chamber also presented him with the “Spirit of Enterprise” award for his pro-business record. Senator Jones also earned a number of other top national awards, including from The Rural Health Champion Award, The National Emergency Management Agency’s Legislative Award, The Military Officer’s Association and was honored by the League of Southeastern Credit Unions as its Federal Lawmaker of the Year in 2018.
Senator Jones graduated from the University of Alabama and Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. He began his career in 1979 as staff counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Howell Heflin (D-AL). Following his stint in Washington, Senator Jones served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1980-1984. He left government service in 1984 and was in the private practice of law in Birmingham, Alabama, until President Bill Clinton nominated him to the position of United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate in November 1997 and he served as U.S. Attorney until June 2001. It was while serving in that position that Senator Jones successfully prosecuted two of the four men responsible for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four young girls, finally bringing full justice and closure nearly 40 years after the attack. His book, Bending Toward Justice: The Birmingham Church Bombing that Changed the Course of Civil Rights, provides a look behind the scenes of that landmark prosecution. Along with taking on the Ku Klux Klan, he indicted domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph and prosecuted other criminals who sought to use fear, hatred, and violence to inhibit the rights of others.
Between his time as U.S. Attorney and his election to the Senate, Senator Jones was in the private practice of law, handling white collar, False Claims Act, and security fraud class actions. He has represented multinational corporations, small businesses, and individuals in high-stakes civil and criminal litigation.
In early 2022, Jones was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as White House Nomination Advisor for Legislative Affairs with the goal of guiding the historic selection, nomination, and ultimately successful confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States. In this role, Jones assisted the President in vetting potential nominees, prepped the nominee for her meeting on Capitol Hill and her confirmation hearing and accompanied Judge Jackson in calling upon his former Congressional colleagues with whom he maintains strong ties, meeting with 97 of the 100 Senators. In doing so he helped garner the necessary bipartisan support needed to secure Justice Jackson’s confirmation to the Bench.
Senator Jones currently serves as Counsel at the DC law firm of ArentFox Schiff and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at The Center for American Progress, focusing his work on issues democracy, racial justice and equality and voting rights. In the spring of 2021 he served as a Fellow at the Institute of Politics and Public Service at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and is currently a member of the Institute’s Board of Advisors. He was the Rapport Visiting Professor at Boston College School of Law in the spring of 2022 and a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago in the fall of 2022. He is a frequent guest on national television and radio news programs and podcasts and is involved in a variety of political and civic organizations.
Senator Jones and his wife live in Birmingham, Alabama. They have raised three children and have two grandchildren.