Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

Lott Cashes in Chips

Former minority leader quits 5 years before his term ends

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 19, 2007 4:48 PM CST

(Newser) – Minority whip Trent Lott retired from the Senate last night, five years before his term’s end. He revealed his departure 16 minutes before the chamber’s 12:05 a.m. closing. The 35-year Congressional career ended with “characteristic flair,” the AP reports—Lott quoting his high school motto from the Senate floor: “The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fail.”

Lott was obligated to resign at least one day before the Senate's holiday recess, but waited until such a late hour so he could vote on end-of-term bills. The former majority and minority leader from Mississippi, said to keep a bullwhip in his office, saw his tenure tarnished in 2002 after nostalgic remarks about Strom Thurmond’s segregationist presidential run.

U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., announces his retirement from Congress, during a news conference in Jackson, Miss., Monday, Nov. 26, 2007. Lott, who is capping off a 35-year in the House and Senate, will... (Associated Press)

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., announces his retirement from Congress, during a news conference in Jackson, Miss., on Monday, Nov. 26, 2007. Lott, who is capping off a 35 years in the House and Senate, will... (Associated Press)

(FILE PHOTO) U.S. Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott As A Cheerleader (Getty Images)

In a 1997 file photo "The Singing Senators," left to right, Sen. Trent Lott (KRT Photos)

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., speaks during a news conference in Pascagoula, Miss., Monday, Nov. 26, 2007. Lott, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, announced Monday he will retire from the Senate before January,... (Associated Press)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

GOP Feuds Over Senate Losses

DeMint's tactics cost party a majority, senators complain

(NEWSER) - While their counterparts in the House are celebrating a historic win, Senate Republicans are pointing fingers over their failure to recapture the chamber. Some prominent senators and party operatives blame Sarah Palin and South Carolina's Jim DeMint for helping candidates too conservative to win gain the GOP nominations in Colorado, Delaware, and Nevada. "If you think what happened in Delaware is ‘a win’ for the Republican Party then we don’t have a snowball’s chance to win the White House," says Sen. Lindsay Graham. More»

Flip-Flopping Steele Backed Lott in '02

RNC chair didn't call for resignation over racial comments

(NEWSER) - If Michael Steele truly thinks Harry Reid’s current situation is similar to Trent Lott’s, he should be pushing for Reid to stay as Senate majority leader. But since he’s not, he’s flip-flopping, Mike Allen writes in Politico . In 2002, Maryland's newly elected lieutenant governor weighed in on Lott’s plight, and suggested he just needed to “apologize a little bit more.” More»

Reid Won't Be Ousted Over 'Negro' Remark

GOP critics are conducting a partisan witchhunt, advisers say

(NEWSER) - Harry Reid won’t heed Republican calls to step down as majority leader following the revelation that he used some decidedly politically incorrect language to talk about Barack Obama. Reid feels he’s shored up support on the left, senior advisers tell Politico , meaning he can depict the attack launched by Michael Steele, John Cornyn, and Jon Kyl as a “political pile-on.” More»

It's Not Reid Who Needs to Apologize—It's Steele

Comparing majority leader to Trent Lott is offensive

(NEWSER) - OK, using the term Negro was seriously last century, writes Sandy Banks, but Harry Reid didn't say anything bigoted or anything African Americans don't know to be true when he essentially said if "you're black, it is easier in this country to be light-skinned." He apologized for offending African Americans, but Banks, writing in the Los Angeles Times , wonders what she should be offended about. His only crime is being "indelicate and impolitic." More»

RNC's Steele to Reid: Step Down

Romer on Wall Street bonuses: 'For heaven's sake, people'

(NEWSER) - Harry Reid has put his foot squarely in his mouth with quotes about President Obama's lack of "Negro dialect," and Michael Steele would like him to take it out long enough to say, "I quit." "Remember this is a leader who only a few weeks ago was using the context of slavery to talk about health care," the RNC chair told Fox News Sunday, adding that Mitch McConnell would be ousted in a heartbeat had he uttered the offending quotes. DNC chair Tim Kaine defended Reid's apology, and said, "I don’t think this will affect Senator Reid’s leadership at all." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial: More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Lott Cashes in Chips

Former minority leader quits 5 years before his term ends

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Trent Lott • Strom Thurmond • bull whip

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

GOP Feuds Over Senate Losses

DeMint's tactics cost party a majority, senators complain

Flip-Flopping Steele Backed Lott in '02

RNC chair didn't call for resignation over racial comments

Reid Won't Be Ousted Over 'Negro' Remark

GOP critics are conducting a partisan witchhunt, advisers say

It's Not Reid Who Needs to Apologize—It's Steele

Comparing majority leader to Trent Lott is offensive

RNC's Steele to Reid: Step Down

Romer on Wall Street bonuses: 'For heaven's sake, people'

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?

Lott Cashes in Chips

Former minority leader quits 5 years before his term ends

Bookmark & Share

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Trent Lott • Strom Thurmond • bull whip

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

GOP Feuds Over Senate Losses

DeMint's tactics cost party a majority, senators complain

Flip-Flopping Steele Backed Lott in '02

RNC chair didn't call for resignation over racial comments

Reid Won't Be Ousted Over 'Negro' Remark

GOP critics are conducting a partisan witchhunt, advisers say

It's Not Reid Who Needs to Apologize—It's Steele

Comparing majority leader to Trent Lott is offensive

RNC's Steele to Reid: Step Down

Romer on Wall Street bonuses: 'For heaven's sake, people'

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?