Governor Evan Bayh

EVAN BAYH was born on his family’s farm near Terre Haute. Seven years later the family moved to Washington, D.C., after Bayh’s father, Birch Bayh, won election to the U.S. Senate. Evan Bayh earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in business economics from Indiana University in 1978 and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1981. He served as law clerk for a federal trial court judge after graduating, and then entered a private law practice in Indianapolis. He was elected secretary of state in 1986 and governor in November 1988—becoming the youngest governor in the United States in 1989. He went on to win reelection in 1992 by the largest margin in state history. In 1998, Bay was elected to the U.S. Senate seat previously held by his father, winning reelection in 2004. In the Senate, Bayh organized a group called the New Democrat Coalition, which seeks common ground with Republicans, and in 2001 he became chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council.