Path to Power
Blunt grew up on a dairy farm near Springfield. He was surrounded by politics at an early age; his father beat Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill’s mother for a job as state representative.
He graduated from Southwest Baptist University in 1970 and earned his master's degree from Southwest Missouri State University in 1972.
He started teaching history and government to high school and college students while also working for ex-attorney general John Ashcroft’s (R) unsuccessful 1972 Congressional campaign. Blunt reportedly turned up at Ashcroft’s office to volunteer with a pick-up truck. Ashcroft asked if the truck had gas and then enlisted him as his driver.
In 1973, Missouri Gov. Christopher Bond (R) appointed the 23-year-old Blunt to serve as Greene County clerk.
Blunt stayed involved with state politics, running (and losing) a race for lieutenant governor in 1980. In 1984, he was the first Republican in half a century to be elected Secretary of State. He was re-elected in 1988.
Blunt lost the primary for Missouri governor in 1992 and retreated to become president of Southwest Baptist University, his alma mater.
In 1996, he ran for an open House seat and won with 65 percent of the vote. He has won re-election easily since then.
Once in Washington, Blunt immediately put his political skills to good use. He considered running for freshman class president, but DeLay suggested that he seek the freshman spot on the Republican Steering Committee instead.
He won the position, which he used to make friends by promoting freshmen to good committee slots.
In 1999, DeLay singled Blunt out as a rising star and made him his Chief Deputy Whip, where he was required to count votes and reach out to lobbyists. Blunt said he didn’t realize he was being considered for the job until he read it in the newspaper.
As the Republicans’ official K Street liaison, Blunt helped transform the lobbying community into a vote-winning force for House Republicans. In one instance, he gathered 200 lobbyists for a meeting with top Republicans to discuss the party’s agenda.
That year, Blunt was also appointed to the 10-person presidential exploratory committee for then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
In 2000, Blunt officially launched his campaign for Majority Whip. When then-Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) announced that he would retire in 2002, DeLay began running for that position, and Blunt ran to replace DeLay. He was elected handily, despite an early challenge from Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.).
Blunt immediately named Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) his deputy, which struck many insiders as surprising. Cantor had served only one term.
As Whip, Blunt built a network of whips, organizations and lobbyists that allowed him to deliver over 50 consecutive victories on tough issues like taxes, trade bills and tort reform.
But some Republicans have argued that he was not a consistently effective vote rustler. In 2003, the House GOP leadership was forced to pull a bill that would have allowed businesses to offer workers comp time instead of overtime pay because they didn’t have the votes.
In 2003, Blunt got in trouble when the Washington Post reported that he had included a clause in a homeland security bill that would have benefited Philip Morris. The measure was particularly problematic because Blunt was dating a Philip Morris lobbyist at the time; they’ve since married and adopted a daughter from Russia.
Still, Blunt seemed the inevitable choice for Majority Leader when his close ally DeLay was forced to temporarily step down in 2005 after being indicted on charges of money laundering in Texas. When DeLay permanently resigned after former aides were connected to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, Blunt became acting Majority Leader and was then elected to the permanent job in 2005.
Blunt convinced then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to allow him to serve as Majority Leader while simultaneously maintaining the Whip post.
But holding both positions at once was almost impossible, especially when the House tried to pass a slew of bills in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. During the next several months, Republicans faced an increasingly aggressive Democratic minority critical of the administration’s handling of Katrina.
When Rep. John Boehner (R-Oh.) launched a spirited counter-campaign for the majority leader post, supporters moved to him. Blunt lost on the second ballot, accepting as a consolation prize his old job as minority whip.
Blunt used his leadership role to attack Democrats for their criticisms of President George W. Bush and management of the House. In 2007, he accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of taking advantage of her position by requesting a large Air Force jet to take her back to California.
Two days after the 2008 election, Blunt stepped down from his Minority Whip post, saying he could “best contribute to our efforts to regain the majority and advance the interests of the American people in a different role in the 111th Congress”.
He is considering a run for the Senate.
