Bernie Sanders is popular as the longest-serving independent in U.S. Congressional history. He is an American politician serving as the junior U. S. senator from Vermont since 2007. Bernie Sanders is currently serving his second term in the U.S. Senate after winning re-election in 2012 with 71 percent of the votes. Since his first election to the House of Representatives in 1990, he has caucused with the Democratic Party.

Bernie Sanders Biography

He was born Bernard Sanders on September 8, 1941, and was raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Sanders attended James Madison High School Brooklyn. He was raised as an American Jew. He, however, describes himself as “not particularly religious” and “not actively involved” with organized religion.

Sanders studied at Brooklyn College for a year between 1959–60, before transferring to the University of Chicago. While a student he was an active organizer of nonviolent student protests during the civil rights movement.

Sanders attended the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. That summer, he was convicted of resisting arrest during a demonstration against segregation in Chicago’s public schools. He was also active in several “peace and antiwar” movements. Bernie Sanders lost his first election in which he finished last out of three candidates for the student body presidency. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1964 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.

Bernie Sanders’ Parents

Senator Sanders’ parents were Elias Ben Yehuda Sanders and Dorothy “Dora” Sanders (née Glassberg). His father was born in Poland to a Jewish family. At the age of 17 Bernie Sanders’ father, Elias immigrated to the United States, where he worked as a paint salesman. His mother, Dorothy was born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland and Russia.

Sanders became interested in politics at an early age. Adolf Hitler’s election in 1932 was followed by the Holocaust of over 6 million Jews. Several of Sanders’s relatives were killed in the then German-occupied Poland, including his father’s half-brother who was killed in 1942. This tragedy in the history of the world gave Sanders an understanding of how important politics is.

His father died in August 1962, at the age of 57. His mother died not long after his high school graduation at the age of 46.

Sanders’ Political Career

After settling in Vermont in 1968, Sanders ran unsuccessfully for governor and U.S. senator in the early to mid-1970s. In 1981, he ran for Mayor of Burlington Vermont as an independent and he won. He was re-elected as Mayor three more times after that, defeating both Democratic and Republican candidates and he served till 1989.

In 1987, U.S. News & World Report ranked Sanders as one of America’s best mayors. However, Sanders chose not to seek reelection in 1989. He lectured in political science at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government that year and at Hamilton College.

In 1990 Sanders was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. That victory made him the first independent candidate to be elected to Congress since Frazier Reams in 1950. He served in the role of Congressman till 2007. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2007 and in 2012, he was reelected with 71% popular votes.

In April 2015, Sanders announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Though considered a long shot, Sanders won 23 primaries and approximately 43% of pledged delegates to Hillary Clinton’s 55%. In July 2016, Sanders formally endorsed his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, in her general election campaign against Republican candidate Donald Trump.

However, even after Sanders had quite an impressive Democratic presidential primary run, he still hasn’t officially joined the Democratic Party. According to him, he would finish his term as an Independent since he was elected an independent.

Net worth

Bernie Sanders has built political prominence as a U.S. senator and presidential candidate, however, little is known about his wealth all these years in elected office. Though Bernie has not given an official announcement on the total value of his holdings, an analysis of his personal asset disclosure forms, his salary as a U.S. senator and properties and assets shared with his wife brings his net worth around $800 000.

Car

In 2016, a set of photographs were misleadingly used to suggest that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had purchased a luxury automobile with campaign funds. The first picture which circulated online supposedly showed Senator Sanders driving what looked like an expensive Audi R8 behind a motorcade of his campaign vehicles.

It was alleged that Senator Sanders had purchased the $172 000 worth of cars with campaign donations.

A second picture that was actually real was taken from Sander’s official government page and depicted the senator standing next to a Tesla electric vehicle at a charging station. The claims were later dismissed as first the photograph was only a blurry image of a man who bore a resemblance to Senator Sanders driving an expensive sports car.

House

In 2017, Bernie and his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders bought a $600,000 vacation home on Vermont’s Lake Champlain Islands. According to Sander’s wife, they were impressed with the North Hero community and have suggested them to friends who were looking for a beautiful place to stay or have dinner. The beachfront residence in North Hero, Vermont, was the newest addition to the couple’s collection of homes in Burlington, Vermont, and Washington.

Senator Sanders had run his progressive presidential campaign against income inequality, targeting the one percent richest Americans. On the basis of that, he came under intense criticism when he made the purchase of his third home. But most of the people who criticized him failed to acknowledge the fact that he had to sell a family lake house in Maine which had been passed down from his wife’s family to acquire the new home.

Bernie Sanders Height

Senator Bernie Sanders is 6ft tall, about 1.83m. His eye color is brown and his hair color is white.

Senator Sanders is married to Jane O’Meara Sanders. They have three children: Levi, Heather, Carina, and David, and seven grandchildren. The Sanders family resides in Burlington, Vermont.