John Boozman (10 December 1950-) was a US Senator from Arkansas (R) from 3 January 2011, succeeding Blanche Lincoln. He previously served as a member of the US House of Representatives from Arkansas' 3rd district from 20 November 2001 to 3 January 2011, succeeding Asa Hutchinson and preceding Steve Womack.
Biography[]
John Boozman was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on 11 December 1950, the brother of State Senator Fay Boozman. He played football for the Arkansas Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas, and he later graduated from the Southern College of Optometry. In 1977, he founded a private optometry clinic and worked as a volunteer optometrist for poor families, and he won a 2002 special election to the US House of Representatives after Asa Hutchinson became the new head of the DEA. He served as assistant majority whip and served on the Republican Policy Committee, and he advocated drug policy issues. Boozman then chaired the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, expanding services for unemployed veterans. In 2010, he defeated Senator Blanche Lincoln to take over her US Senate seat, the first Republican to be elected to the seat since Reconstruction. He opposed Obamacare, opposed background checks for gun buyers, defended discrimination in employment, opposed same-sex marriage, supported the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Donald Trump demanding that he withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.