Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren, legal scholar and Democratic U.S. senator from Massachusetts, is known for her progressive policies on economic and social issues. Prior to serving in the Senate, she was an adviser for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2010–11). On February 9, 2019, she announced her candidacy for president of the United States.

Elizabeth Warren, née Elizabeth Herring, was born in Oklahoma City on June 22, 1949. She grew up in Norman, Oklahoma, where her father worked mainly as a maintenance man and her mother did catalog-order work. After her father suffered a heart attack, she helped support her family by waiting tables.

Prior to serving as a U.S. senator, Elizabeth Warren practiced and taught law. In 1976 she earned a law degree from Rutgers University and began practicing out of her living room. An expert on bankruptcy law, she taught law at several universities, including Harvard Law School, where she was a tenured professor from 1993 to 2013.

In 2008 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked Elizabeth Warren to chair the Congressional Oversight Panel, created to oversee implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Pres. Barack Obama appointed her to a position in his administration in 2010. In 2011 she began seeking the Democratic nomination for Ted Kennedy’s former U.S. Senate seat.

Elizabeth Warren was elected U.S. senator from Massachusetts, defeating incumbent Republican Scott Brown, on November 6, 2012. She took office on January 3, 2013, as the first female senator from Massachusetts.