DeMint represented South Carolina in the U.S. House (1999-2005) and U.S. Senate (2005-2013). Known for policy entrepreneurship, he authored leading conservative reforms to health care, education, taxes, and entitlements. DeMint garnered national acclaim from conservatives for leading efforts to ban congressional earmarks, which had been the source of billions of dollars of wasteful spending for decades and led to corruption and widespread abuse. He also successfully led the fight to stop the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill in 2007. He is the Founder of the Senate Conservatives Fund, which played a major role in the election of many of the Senate’s leading conservatives like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Pat Toomey, Ben Sasse, and Tom Cotton. He also served as the President of The Heritage Foundation for four years, taking the organization to new heights of influence. Under DeMint’s direction, Heritage played a major role in the Trump transition, with the policy series “Mandate for Leadership” used as the basis for the President’s first budget and numerous other administration reforms. During DeMint’s tenure, Heritage partnered with the Federalist Society to create a list of possible Supreme Court judicial nominations that culminated in the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch. He is the author of the books Now or Never: Saving America from Economic Collapse (Center Street, 2012); The Great American Awakening: Two Years that Changed America, Washington and Me (B&H, 2011); and Saving Freedom: We Can Stop America’s Slide into Socialism (Fidelis, 2009). His first book, with co-author J. David Woodard, is Why We Whisper: Restoring Our Right to Say It’s Wrong (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007). His latest book, Falling in Love with America Again (Center Street, 2014) debuted at #1 on The Washington Post bestseller list. DeMint and his wife, Debbie, have four children who now are grown and married.