Best-known as the Texas Representative who first won election as a Democrat, resigned and then won re-election as a Republican, Phil Gramm became a consistent player in economic issues during his nearly 15 years in the House of Representatives and Senate. Gramm, who has been described as a man "who carries his own garment bag and does his own thinking," was a presidential hopeful in 1996.

His most remembered work in Congress includes:

• the Gramm-Latta Budgets which reduced federal spending, rebuilt national defense and mandated the Reagan tax cuts,
• the Gramm-Rudman Act, which placed the first binding constraints on federal spending,
• his service as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the successful effort to restore a Republican majority in the Senate in 1994,
• the Gramm-Leach Act that assures financial services are more affordable and accessible than ever before,
• legislation that dedicates the full gasoline tax to road construction,
• efforts to double Border Patrols, and
• the defeat of the Clinton Health Care Bill.

Gramm is married to Dr. Wendy Lee Gramm, former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush.