Rick Santorum biography

A skilled and spirited partisan politician, Santorum became famous for his blunt and aggressive style in Congress, described as "confrontational, partisan, 'in your face' style of politics and government."

Political Views

Santorum garnered attention far beyond the borders of his Pennsylvania constituency for his vigorous advocacy of socially conservative views. "I'm out front on a lot of issues that matter to people of faith," he said. A conservative Catholic, Santorum became one of Washington's most prominent traditionalist voices on issues such as abortion, sexual morality, evolution and euthanasia.

He introduced legislation that sought to attach to President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind education bill the teaching of "intelligent design" as an alternative to Darwinian evolution in science classes. He sought to prevent the husband of a brain-damaged Florida woman named Terri Schiavo from removing her from life support, and he adopted staunchly pro-life positions on all debates over abortion.

Controversies

Santorum became the center of an odd national controversy in 2003 after he was quoted in an interview comparing consensual homosexual relationships to abusive "man on child, man on dog" sex. Liberals and gay rights activists reacted with outrage; nationally syndicated sex advice columnist Dan Savage took revenge by encouraging his readers to come up with a new definition for the word "santorum."

Their graphic and scatological neologism, promoted via one of the first successful "Google bombs" to game the search algorithm, remains the top-ranking result when one enters "Santorum" into the influential search engine. When Santorum began considering a presidential run in 2012, some commentators suggested that he had no chance to win, solely due to this "Google problem."

During his second term in the United States Senate, Santorum became embroiled in a new controversy over his legal residence. Though officially residing in (and thus representing) Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, Santorum and his family spent most of their time in Leesburg, Virginia. His five eldest children were enrolled in a cyber school paid for at taxpayers' expense; in 2004, the school board determined the children were not legal residents of the Penn Hills district and asked Santorum to repay the district for the cost of their education. This fight dragged on through 2006, opening the senator up to charges that he had abandoned his constituency and thus damaging Santorum's reelection chances.

Recent Career

In 2006, a year in which Democrats nationwide made sweeping gains in congressional elections, Rick Santorum failed in his reelection campaign to Democrat Bob Casey, losing by a wide margin of 59-41 percent. In the wake of that loss, Santorum kept a relatively low profile on a national political scene; he ruled out a presidential run in 2008 and also bowed out of the 2010 race for Pennsylvania's other seat in the United States Senate. Instead, Santorum resumed his work as a lawyer and also became a contributor to the conservative Fox News cable network.