Tennessee senator and ambassador to China Jim Sasser has died

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jim Sasser, who served 18 years in the U.S. Senate and six years as ambassador to China, has died. He was 87.

Gray Sasser, his son, said his father died Tuesday evening at his home in Chapel Hill, N.C., of an apparent heart attack.

Sasser, a Democrat, represented Tennessee in the Senate from 1977 to 1995. President Bill Clinton then appointed him ambassador to China, a post he held until 2001.

Sasser was elected to the Senate by defeating Republican Bill Brock in 1976, and worked his way up the party leadership, serving as chairman of the budget committee from 1989 to 1992. He had a chance of becoming Senate majority leader before he was defeated for re-election in 1994 by Republican Bill Frist, who at the time was a political unknown making his first run for public office.

After he retired as ambassador, Sasser became a consultant.

Gray Sasser and his sister Elizabeth Sasser said of their father in a written statement, “He believed in the nobility of public service and the transformational power of government.”

He was proudest of his “quiet achievements” for ordinary Tennesseans, like helping with a disability claim or VA benefits.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-parsely-url=«https%3A%2F%2Fapi.parsely.com%2Fv2%2Frelated%3Fapikey%3Dapnews.com%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fapnews.com%2Farticle%2Fjim-sasser-died-obituary-tennessee-f12eaea7e3884c53ac6b49701a80764a%26limit%3D9%26respect_empty_results%3D1%26sort%3D_score%26pub_date_start%3D2024-07-28%26exclude%3Dsection%3APress%20Releases%26exclude%3Dtags%3ACelebrity%20Birthdays» data-parsely-title=«Related Stories» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»>