Representative Bob Barr

Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from 1995 to 2003, representing Georgia’s 7th congressional district as a Republican. He later became the Libertarian Party’s nominee in the 2008 United States presidential election and served as president of the National Rifle Association (NRA) from 2024 to 2025.

Barr was born in a military family, spending much of his childhood overseas. He holds degrees from the University of Southern California, George Washington University, and Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to entering politics he worked as a CIA analyst and attorney, before serving as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia from 1986 to 1990.

Early Life

Barr was born in Iowa City, Iowa. His father, Robert Laurence Barr, was a career military officer who had graduated from West Point, and was stationed in various locations around the world while pursuing his career in civil engineering. The second of six children, Bob Jr. lived as a boy in Malaysia, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Baghdad, and finally Tehran, Iran, where he graduated from Community High School in 1966.

He returned to the United States for college, attending the University of Southern California, where he joined the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity in 1967. During college, Barr’s mother introduced him to the work of writer Ayn Rand, which fostered a newfound appreciation for conservatism and prompted Barr to join the Young Trojan Republican Club. He completed his B.A., cum laude, from USC in 1970.

Barr continued in graduate school, earning a master’s degree in International Affairs from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in 1972. He next earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977. From 1971 to 1978, Barr worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as an analyst of Latin American issues.

Congressional Career

Barr sought the Republican Party nomination for U.S. Senate in 1992, but lost the primary election to Paul Coverdell. The primary was very close, with Barr losing by fewer than 1,600 votes in a runoff election.

Barr was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as a Republican, upsetting six-term Democrat Buddy Darden, to represent Georgia’s 7th congressional district. Barr was one of 73 Republican freshmen ushered into Congress in that election, which became known as the “Republican Revolution” because it resulted in the first Republican House majority in 40 years.

Barr was later re-elected three times, serving from 1995 to 2003. While in Congress, Barr served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as vice-chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Veteran’s Affairs.

During his tenure, Barr was regarded as one of the most conservative members of Congress. However, his criticism of the Bush administration’s policies on privacy and other civil liberties after the 9/11 attacks was unusual among House Republicans, earning him labels such as “Maverick” and “Libertarian.”

Role in Clinton Impeachment

Barr is best known for his role as one of the House managers during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. In November 1997, Barr first introduced a resolution directing the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment inquiry against Clinton — months before the Monica Lewinsky scandal came to light. Foremost among the concerns Barr cited at the time was apparent obstruction of Justice Department investigations into Clinton campaign fundraising from foreign sources. After the Lewinsky scandal broke, Barr was the first lawmaker in either chamber to call for Clinton’s resignation.

Political Positions in Congress

Barr was a staunch proponent of gun rights, and opposed efforts to restrict the ownership of guns. He wrote and sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted in 1996. He voted for the first USA PATRIOT Act, but only after his amendments adding “sunset clauses” were added to the final bill. He later publicly regretted his Patriot Act vote. In 2002, Barr voted for the Iraq Resolution, but has since called for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Barr was originally a strong supporter of the war on drugs, reflecting his previous experience as an Anti-Drug Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Justice. He advocated complete federal prohibition of medical marijuana and in 1998 successfully blocked implementation of Initiative 59 in Washington, D.C. He later reversed his position on medical marijuana, joining the Marijuana Policy Project as a lobbyist in 2007.

Congressional Defeat

Georgia’s congressional districts were reorganized by the Democratic-controlled Georgia legislature ahead of the 2002 elections, drawing Barr into the same district as fellow Republican John Linder. Barr was soundly defeated by a 2-to-1 margin in the Republican primary.

Criticism of Bush Administration

Since leaving Congress in 2003, Barr became a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act. In 2005, Barr helped found Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, a bipartisan group dedicated to eliminating aspects of the Patriot Act that could potentially affect law-abiding citizens rather than terrorists. He was also a vocal opponent of President George W. Bush’s claim of authorization to wiretap transnational phone calls without individual judicial license.

In the 2004 presidential election, Barr left the Republican Party and publicly endorsed the Libertarian Party presidential nominee Michael Badnarik. In 2006, he joined the Libertarian Party as a regional representative, then serving on the Libertarian National Committee.

2008 Presidential Campaign

In 2008, Barr ran for president as the Libertarian Party nominee. Following his announcement, Rasmussen Reports had Barr polling at 6% nationwide. On May 25, 2008, Barr became the 2008 Libertarian presidential nominee after six rounds of voting at the convention, with Wayne Allyn Root as his running mate. Barr appeared on the ballot in 45 states. On November 4, 2008, Barr received 523,686 votes, or 0.4% of the national vote.

Return to Republican Party

Barr announced his return to the Republican Party in 2011. He held a news conference on March 28, 2013, announcing his upcoming run for his old congressional seat, the 11th, after his successor Phil Gingrey gave it up to run for the Senate. Barr placed second in his six-way House primary with 26% of the vote and lost the runoff to Barry Loudermilk by a nearly 2:1 margin.

Political Associations

Barr sat on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association of America from 2001 to 2007. He became president of the NRA in May 2024. He is also a commentator on political and social issues and chairman of the American Conservative Union Foundation’s ‘21st Century Center for Privacy and Freedom.’

Barr is one of the four founders of the American Freedom Agenda, a coalition established to restore checks and balances and civil liberties protections. He is also chairman of the board of directors of Liberty Guard, an organization dedicated to protecting and defending individual liberty.

Other Activities

In early 2008, Barr became an adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University. He wrote The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton (published in 2004). In 2008, Barr hosted a political talk radio show on Radio America called Bob Barr’s Laws of the Universe. He appeared in the mock documentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.