U.S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan served as a Congressman and Senator for North Dakota for 30 years before retiring from the U.S. Senate in 2011. He served in the Senate Leadership for 16 years, first as Assistant Democratic Floor Leader and then as Chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. He was Chairman of Senate Committees and Subcommittees on the issues of Energy, Aviation, Appropriations, Water Policy and Indian Affairs.
Senator Dorgan is now active in his post Senate life teaching, speaking, consulting, writing and much more. Senator Dorgan serves as Co-Chair, along with Congressman Phil English, of the Washington DC Law Firm Arent Fox’s Government Relations practice. He is a recognized leader in the fields of energy policy, economic issues, aviation policy, Indian issues, trade policy, health care and more.
He has also served has an Adjunct and Visiting Professor at Georgetown University lecturing on energy, economic policy and political affairs and Senior Fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington DC think tank focusing primarily on energy issues. And he worked with the Aspen Institute’s The Center for Native American Youth as chair of their program to assist Native American Children with an emphasis on teen suicide prevention.
The Senator is the author of five books. The first, a New York Times Bestseller book “Take this Job and Ship It,” and a second book released in 2009, “Reckless… How Debt, Deregulation and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America (And How We Can Fix It).” He co-authored a novel “Blowout” that was published in 2012, and in July of 2013 he released a second book in this “eco-thriller” series titled “Gridlock.” In 2019, he published The Girl in the Photograph: The True Story of a Native American Child, Lost and Found in America.
Senator Dorgan has a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of North Dakota, and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Denver. He is married to Kim Dorgan and has four children: Scott, Shelly (deceased), Brendon, and Haley.