Richard Blumenthal
A relentless legal advocate turned senator, he has built a decades-long public career on holding corporations and government agencies accountable to consumers.
Born 1946 (age 80)·American lawyer and politician·Birthday: February 13·Baby Boomers
Biography
Richard Blumenthal’s public life has been defined by the role of the prosecutor, whether in the courtroom or the Senate chamber. After graduating from Yale Law School and a clerkship, he cut his teeth as a U.S. Attorney before embarking on a record-setting 20-year tenure as Connecticut's Attorney General. In that role, he became a national figure, leading multi-state lawsuits against tobacco companies, pharmaceutical giants, and polluters, recovering billions of dollars. His move to the U.S. Senate in 2011 didn't soften his approach; it amplified it. Blumenthal carved out a niche as a dogged questioner in hearings, focusing on consumer protection, veterans' affairs, and gun safety. His style is methodical, often leveraging his legal expertise to dissect corporate statements or agency failures line by line. While his early career was marked by a misstatement about his military service during Vietnam—a controversy he apologized for—his subsequent work has been characterized by a persistent, detail-oriented drive to use the law as a tool for public good.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Richard was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 70
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 80
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Served as Connecticut's Attorney General for 20 years (1991-2011), becoming the longest-serving attorney general in the state's history.
- As a U.S. Senator, was a leading advocate for the 2016 Chemical Safety Act, which overhauled the nation's toxic substances law.
- Played a key role in the multi-state litigation against tobacco companies in the 1990s that resulted in the landmark Master Settlement Agreement.
- Successfully pushed for the FAA to mandate longer rest periods for airline pilots to combat fatigue, a rule enacted in 2011.
Did You Know?
He was a captain in the United States Marine Corps Reserve but did not serve in Vietnam, a point he later misspoke about.
As a young man, he was a reporter for *The Washington Post*.
He is married to Cynthia M. Blumenthal, a cousin of former Secretary of State and Treasury Michael Blumenthal.
He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun.
“I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone.”
