Tim Kaine Biography Quotes 4 Report mistakes
| 4 Quotes | |
| Born as | Timothy Michael Kaine |
| Occup. | Politician |
| From | USA |
| Born | February 26, 1958 Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States |
| Age | 67 years |
Timothy Michael Kaine was born on February 26, 1958, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up in the Kansas City suburbs of Overland Park, Kansas. His mother, Mary Kathleen, was a teacher, and his father, Albert A. Kaine Jr., ran a small ironworking and welding business. Raised in a Catholic household, he attended the Jesuit-run Rockhurst High School, an experience that later shaped his views on service and ethics. Kaine earned a degree in economics from the University of Missouri in 1979 and went on to Harvard Law School. During law school he took a formative year off to work with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras, where he taught and assisted in community projects and became fluent in Spanish. The experience deepened his embrace of Catholic social teaching and left him with a lifelong commitment to public service and bilingual outreach.
Legal Career and Entry into Public Service
After receiving his J.D. from Harvard in 1983, Kaine moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he built a legal career focused on civil rights and fair housing. He handled cases involving discrimination and landlord-tenant disputes and taught legal ethics as an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. His work in neighborhoods across Richmond brought him into close contact with grassroots leaders and residents, and he developed a reputation for pragmatism, patient listening, and skill at bridging racial and socioeconomic divides.
Richmond Leadership
Kaine won a seat on the Richmond City Council in 1994, campaigning on safer neighborhoods, fair housing enforcement, and fiscal discipline. In 1998 his colleagues selected him as mayor, a post he held until 2001. In a city still reckoning with segregation-era legacies, he worked to expand opportunities and increase trust in local government. He sought practical solutions to everyday problems, from blight and code enforcement to economic development, and emphasized honesty in public life. These years helped define the collaborative style he would maintain throughout his career.
Statewide Office in Virginia
In 2001 Kaine was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia, serving alongside Governor Mark Warner. The Warner-Kaine administration focused on stabilizing state finances, promoting business growth, and improving public education. Kaine was widely viewed as a steady partner who could negotiate with both parties on budget and tax issues, and he traveled extensively to build ties across the Commonwealth.
Governor of Virginia
Kaine was elected governor in 2005 and served from 2006 to 2010. His tenure included significant challenges, notably the aftermath of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. He pressed for mental health and background check improvements and sought ways to strengthen campus security and information-sharing among agencies. He also advanced early-childhood education, helped usher in a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, and managed deep fiscal pressures during the Great Recession, balancing budgets while trying to protect core services. Personally opposed to the death penalty but committed to executing the law, he reviewed each capital case carefully, granting clemency in limited instances and allowing others to proceed after due process.
National Party Leadership
After his governorship, Kaine was tapped by President Barack Obama to chair the Democratic National Committee in 2009. As DNC chair through 2011, he worked closely with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden during a period that included major legislative fights over economic recovery and health care. He succeeded Howard Dean and was later followed by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, reflecting continuity and transition within national party leadership. The role broadened Kaine's national profile and campaign experience while keeping him tethered to Virginia politics.
U.S. Senate Career
Kaine won election to the U.S. Senate in 2012, succeeding Jim Webb, and took office in 2013. Serving alongside fellow Virginia senator Mark Warner, he became known for pragmatic, detail-oriented work and bipartisan outreach. His committee assignments have included Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Budget, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He has been a prominent voice on war powers and the constitutional balance between Congress and the presidency, pressing to replace or update Authorizations for Use of Military Force and to ensure thorough debate before the deployment of American forces. He has supported NATO, shipbuilding and military readiness important to Hampton Roads, and measures aiding veterans and military families.
On domestic policy, Kaine has backed comprehensive immigration reform and delivered the first Senate floor speech entirely in Spanish to support it. He has pursued legislation on workforce development, career and technical education, opioid addiction treatment, affordable housing, and infrastructure, including stable funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. He has consistently presented himself as a bridge-builder willing to negotiate across party lines to reach workable solutions.
2016 Vice Presidential Campaign
In 2016 Hillary Clinton selected Kaine as her vice presidential running mate, citing his executive experience, national security interests, and record of governing from the center-left. Kaine debated Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence and campaigned extensively across battleground states. Although the Clinton-Kaine ticket won the national popular vote, Donald Trump and Pence prevailed in the Electoral College. Kaine returned to the Senate after the campaign and continued his committee work and advocacy on foreign affairs and domestic priorities. He was reelected to the Senate in 2018 and later announced his intention to seek another term ahead of the 2024 election cycle.
Personal Life and Influences
Kaine married Anne Holton, whom he met in law school, and the couple settled in Richmond. Holton is a public servant and educator who served as a juvenile and domestic relations court judge and later as Virginia's Secretary of Education under Governor Terry McAuliffe. Her father, A. Linwood Holton Jr., was a reform-minded Republican governor of Virginia known for advancing school integration; his example influenced Kaine's own emphasis on education and equal opportunity. Tim and Anne Holton Kaine have three children and have remained deeply involved in their church and community life. Kaine's bilingualism and his Jesuit-rooted outlook on ethics and service continue to inform his approach to politics.
Legacy and Ongoing Work
Over decades in public life, Kaine has built a record defined by steadiness, competence, and care for the institutions of government. From City Hall in Richmond to the Governor's Mansion, from the DNC to the U.S. Senate, he has often operated at the juncture of policy detail and coalition-building. His relationships with figures such as Mark Warner, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and other national and Virginia leaders have positioned him as both a partner and a problem-solver. Whether on foreign policy oversight, education, infrastructure, or the day-to-day concerns of Virginians, Tim Kaine's career reflects an ethic of measured leadership grounded in law, faith, and a belief that public service is, at heart, practical work carried out with humility and persistence.
Our collection contains 4 quotes who is written by Tim, under the main topics: Overcoming Obstacles - Equality - Pride.