Chris Dodd

official U.S. Senate portrait of Chris Dodd

Birth Name: Christopher John Dodd

Place of Birth: Willimantic, Connecticut, U.S.

Date of Birth: May 27, 1944

Ethnicity: Irish

Chris Dodd is an American politician, lobbyist, and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut, from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1981, a U.S. Senator from Connecticut, from January 3, 1981 to January 3, 2011, General Chair of the Democratic National Committee, from January 21, 1995 to January 21, 1997, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, from March 17, 2011 to September 5, 2017.

He was a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 2008.

Chris is the son of Grace Mary (Murphy) and Thomas J. Dodd (Thomas Joseph Dodd), who himself was a Democratic Party politician, and was also a Member of the U.S. Representatives from Connecticut, from January 3, 1953 to January 3, 1957, and a U.S. Senator from Connecticut, from January 3, 1959 to January 3, 1971. His brother, Thomas J. Dodd, Jr., is a diplomat and academic, who was U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay, from September 23, 1993 to September 1, 1997, and U.S. Ambdassor to Costa Rica, from November 26, 1997 to March 1, 2001. His niece is businessperson and politician Helena Foulkes.

Chris is married to senate aide and banking official Jackie Marie (Clegg), with whom he has two children.

All four of Chris’s grandparents were born in Connecticut, all of them to Irish parents.

Chris’s paternal grandfather was Thomas Joseph Dodd (the son of Thomas Dodd and Catherine Doyle). Chris’s grandfather Thomas was a building contractor. His own parents were farmers in the Housatonic river valley, with large commercial tobacco leaf farms located near Kent and New Milford, Connecticut.

Chris’s paternal grandmother was Abigail Margaret O’Sullivan (the daughter of Jeremiah/James O’Sullivan and Bridgit Mahoney).

Chris’s maternal grandfather was John H. Murphy (the son of Thomas Murphy and Catherine Daley).

Chris’s maternal grandmother was Helena I. Higgins (the daughter of William Higgins and Mary T. McDonald).

Sources: Genealogy of Chris Dodd – http://www.wargs.com

Genealogy of Chris Dodd (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com