Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced his candidacy for President on Wednesday. If elected, he would be both the first Jewish person and the oldest person to serve as President. At 73, he has served in Congress longer than any other independent in US history. He also describes himself as a “Democratic Socialist.” Here are five other things you should know about Bernie Sanders:
1) He got his start as a Civil Rights activist
In 1963, the then-22-year-old was a student at the University of Chicago. While there, he took part in the March on Washington and was an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
2) He became a committed socialist early in his career.
Sander’s father was an immigrant who came to the United States fleeing the Nazis. The rest of his family stayed behind in Europe — and most of them perished during the Holocaust. Sanders grew up in Brooklyn in a working class family, and he was sensitized to class distinctions at a young age. After he graduated from college, he stayed at an Israeli kibbutz.
3) He’s voted with the National Rifle Association.
Although Sanders generally disagrees with the NRA, he did vote for a bill that would prevent people from suing gun manufacturers or sellers for the misuse of their products. He also voted against the Brady Bill, which mandated federal background checks in people buying guns. Sanders believed that was something that could be handled at the state level.
4) He voted against the unemployment insurance & job creation act of 2010.
His main objection to the act was the rider that extended tax cuts for people making over $250,000 a year.
5) The President made a joke at his expense at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The President joked about people wanting a pot-smoking socialist in the White House and called a Sanders presidency a third Obama term.