Lincoln Davenport Chafee (born March 26, 1953) is a United States Senator from Rhode Island.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Chafee attended Warwick Public Schools and Phillips Andover Academy. He earned a degree in Classics from Brown University in 1975, where he was captain of the wrestling team. After Brown, he attended the Montana State University horseshoeing school in Bozeman. For the next seven years he worked as a blacksmith at harness racetracks in the United States and Canada. One of the horses he shoed, Overburden, set the track record at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Alberta.

After serving for several years on the city council, Lincoln was elected mayor of Warwick in 1992, a post he held until his appointment to the Senate.

Lincoln got his seat when his father, John Chafee, died suddenly in October 1999, and Lincoln was appointed to succeed him. He was elected for a six year term of his own in 2000. Though a Republican, Lincoln Chafee is fairly liberal. Many have speculated that Chafee might have become an independent or even joined the Democratic Party if the Democrats had been in control of the Senate or within one seat of control after the 2002 or 2004 elections. There is still speculation that Chafee might switch parties or become an independent if he continues to have conflicts with the Republican leadership, or if the Democratic Party regains control of the Senate.

Chafee, known for often disagreeing with the Republican party leadership, cast his ballot for former President George H. W. Bush over George W. Bush in the 2004 election. He also expressed concern about the 2004 Republican platform and the direction of the party.[1] He described the younger Bush's Presidency as "an agenda of energizing the far-right-wing base, which is divisive".[2] Soon thereafter, he rejected Democratic overtures to leave the Republican Party, after appeals from other Republican Senators to remain in their caucus.[3]

External links

• Official website