Former U.S. Sen. John C. Danforth is a partner with the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP.
In 2004, Danforth represented the United States as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations where he focused on ending the North/South civil war in Sudan, a 20-year conflict that killed two million people and displaced five million others. President Bush appointed Danforth as special envoy to Sudan in 2001. A peace agreement between the two sides was ultimately signed in Nairboi, Kenya, on Jan. 9, 2005.
Danforth represented the state of Missouri in the United States Senate for 18 years. Prior to his retirement from the Senate at the end of 1994, Danforth served on three key committees: the Committee on Finance; Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and the Select Committee on Intelligence. His major legislative initiatives were in the areas of international trade, telecommunications, health care, research & development, transportation and civil rights.
Currently, Danforth is chairman of the Danforth Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on strengthening the St. Louis metropolitan area. He also chaired St. Louis 2004, a 12-county, citizen-based effort to revitalize the region through improvements in economic growth, capital projects and health care.
Additionally, Danforth serves on the boards of Cerner Corporation and Greenhill and Co.
In September, 1999, Danforth was appointed special counsel by then-Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate the federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. After interviewing over 1,000 witnesses and examining over 2.3 million pages of documents along with thousands of pounds of physical evidence, it was concluded that government agents were not responsible for the devastation at Waco.
Danforth began his political career in 1968, when he was elected Attorney General of Missouri, his first race for public office. He was re-elected to the post in 1972. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1976 and re-elected in 1982 and 1988.
Danforth graduated with honors from Princeton University in 1958. In 1963, he received a bachelor of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a bachelor of laws degree from Yale Law School. Before seeking public office, Danforth practiced law in New York City and St. Louis.
Danforth and his wife, the former Sally Dobson of St. Louis, live in St. Louis County. They have five children and 13 grandchildren.