Andrew Lamar Alexander (born July 3, 1940) is the junior United States Senator from Tennessee and a member of the Republican Party. He had previously been the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987 and a Cabinet secretary under President George H.W. Bush.

Political career
Alexander was the Republican candidate for governor of Tennessee in the election of 1974 facing Democrat Ray Blanton, a former congressman and candidate for Senate two years earlier. Blanton attacked Alexander for his service under Nixon, who had resigned in disgrace several months earlier. He also portrayed Alexander as being too distant from average Tennesseeans, even though Alexander was the son of teachers.

The Tennessee State Constitution had been amended in early 1978 to allow a governor to succeed himself, but Blanton didn't run for reelection that year. Alexander ran again, and made a name for himself by walking across the state (1,000 miles) wearing a red and black plaid shirt. He defeated Knoxville banker Jake Butcher in November.

Alexander made history by becoming the first person reelected to a 2nd 4-year term by defeating Knoxville mayor Randy Tyree in the 1982 election. Opting out of the 1984 U.S. Senate contest for the open seat of retiring Majority Leader Howard Baker, Alexander was constitutionally ineligible for a 3rd term and stepped down from the governorship in January 1987. Moving with his family to Australia for a time, he would soon return to Tennessee and became the president of the University of Tennessee (1988–1991), and United States Secretary of Education (1991–1993). He helped found a company that is now the nation's largest provider of worksite day care. He taught about the American character as a faculty member at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Return to Senate
Vowing to never again return to elective office, he was persuaded by the White House to run for the open seat of retiring Senator Fred Thompson in 2002. Seen as a moderate, his candidacy was vigorously opposed by conservatives who supported Congressman Ed Bryant, who had become one of the House managers during the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Alexander was well-funded and was armed by more prominent endorsements and eked out a closer-than-expected win over Bryant in the primary. Democrats had high hopes of recovering the seat with their candidate, Nashville Congressman Bob Clement, a member of a prominent political family, and despite grumblings by conservatives to defect to the moderately liberal Clement, Alexander was successful in defeating Clement in the general election that year. With his election to the U.S. Senate, he became the first Tennessean to be popularly elected both governor and senator. At 62, Alexander also became the oldest elected freshman U.S. Senator from Tennessee since Democrat Lawrence Tyson in 1924.

Senator Alexander chairs the subcommittees on Children and Families, on Energy, on African Affairs, as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Caucus.