Ben Sasse Bio
Benjamin Eric Sasse (born February 22, 1972) is an American politician and academic administrator. A Republican, he represented Nebraska in the United States Senate from 2015 until resigning in January 2023 to become president of the University of Florida. He is widely known as a prominent critic of Donald Trump and was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
Before entering politics, Sasse built an academic career that included teaching at the University of Texas and serving as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. He also led Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, where he was credited with stabilizing a struggling institution.
Early Life and Background
Benjamin Eric Sasse was born on February 22, 1972, in Plainview, Nebraska, the son of Gary Lynn Sasse, a high school teacher and football coach, and Linda Sasse. He grew up in Nebraska and graduated from Fremont Senior High School in 1990 as the valedictorian of his class.
He attended Harvard College, where he graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in government, including a junior year abroad at the University of Oxford in 1992. Sasse later earned a Master of Arts in liberal studies from St. John’s College in 1998, followed by a Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, and a PhD in history from Yale University, completing his doctorate in 2004.
His Yale dissertation, “The Anti-Madalyn Majority: Secular Left, Religious Right, and the Rise of Reagan’s America,” won the Theron Rockwell Field Prize and the George Washington Egleston Prize. In 2000, the Mustard Seed Foundation selected him as a Harvey Fellow.
Path to US Politics
Sasse began his professional life as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group from 1994 to 1995, then served as executive director of Christians United For Reformation. After earning his doctorate, he served as chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy and later as chief of staff to Representative Jeff Fortenberry.
In the George W. Bush administration, Sasse served as counselor and then assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, advising on health policy, food safety, and security. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2007 and served until January 2009.
In 2009, Sasse returned to the University of Texas as a fellow at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. In October 2009, he was named the 15th president of Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska, where he rebranded the school as Midland University, raised enrollment from 590 to 1,300, and stabilized its finances.
Ben Sasse Career
Early Career (1994–2009)
Sasse spent the first decade of his career moving between consulting, ministry, and government service. After leaving the Boston Consulting Group, he directed an evangelical organization that merged into the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, where he served as executive director in Anaheim, California.
He later held senior roles in the U.S. Department of Justice and the office of Representative Jeff Fortenberry, advised the Department of Homeland Security, and taught at the University of Texas. In 2007, President George W. Bush nominated him assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services, a position he held until the end of the Bush administration.
Breakthrough (2010–2014)
In October 2013, Sasse announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Mike Johanns. His early fundraising of nearly $815,000 in his first quarter broke Nebraska’s previous record for individual donors in a Senate race.
On May 13, 2014, Sasse won 92 of 93 counties and secured the Republican nomination with 49.4 percent of the vote. He went on to defeat Democratic nominee David Domina in the general election on November 4, 2014, winning 64.4 percent to 31.5 percent.
Republican Era (2015–2023)
Sasse was sworn in to the United States Senate on January 6, 2015. He served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and committees in the 117th Congress, focusing on health policy, national security, and constitutional reform.
He became one of the most prominent Republican critics of Donald Trump, beginning in early 2016 when he became the first sitting senator to announce he would not support Trump as the party’s nominee. Sasse voted to acquit Trump in his first impeachment trial in February 2020, then joined six other Republican senators in voting to convict Trump on February 13, 2021, following the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
In 2020, Sasse was re-elected to the Senate with 62.7 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic primary winner Chris Janicek and Preston Love Jr. He resigned from the Senate on January 8, 2023, to become the 13th president of the University of Florida.
Notable Events and Milestones
Sasse’s defining political moment came during the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, when he became the first Republican senator to publicly support impeachment and then voted to convict, citing the January 6 Capitol attack. He also drew national attention for his public criticisms of Trump dating back to the 2016 Republican primaries, even as he voted in line with Trump’s position 84.8 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Ben Sasse Career Wins
Benjamin Eric Sasse built his political record on two landslide Senate victories in Nebraska, leadership of a major public university, and authorship of three books on civic life and American identity.
Senate Election Highlights
Sasse first won the Nebraska U.S. Senate seat on November 4, 2014, defeating Democrat David Domina by a margin of 64.4 percent to 31.5 percent. He carried 92 of Nebraska’s 93 counties in the Republican primary earlier that year.
He was re-elected in 2020 with 62.7 percent of the vote, defeating Chris Janicek and Preston Love Jr. His two Senate victories made him one of the most popular Republican figures in recent Nebraska politics.
Other Wins and Achievements
As president of Midland University from 2010 to 2014, Sasse is credited with growing enrollment from 590 to 1,300 students and rescuing the school from the brink of bankruptcy. He is also the author of The Vanishing American Adult (2017), Them: Why We Hate Each Other – and How to Heal (2018), and co-editor of Here We Stand!: A Call from Confessing Evangelicals for a Modern Reformation.
| Position | Wins | Year |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senator (Nebraska) | 2 | 2014, 2020 |
Ben Sasse Family
Family Background and Education
Benjamin Eric Sasse was raised in Nebraska by his father, Gary Lynn Sasse, a high school teacher and football coach, and his mother, Linda Sasse. His grandfather, Elmer Sasse, worked as vice president of finance at Midland Lutheran College, where Benjamin later served as president.
Sasse was raised Lutheran and later became an elder in the United Reformed Churches in North America. He has also served on the board of trustees for Westminster Seminary California and is a member of Grace Church, a Presbyterian Church in America congregation in Fremont.
Personal Life
Sasse married Melissa McLeod in 1995. The couple has three children, including a son, Breck Sasse. During his Senate years, the family lived in Fremont, Nebraska, where their children were homeschooled, and later at the University of Florida campus in the Dasburg House.
On July 18, 2024, Sasse announced his resignation as president of the University of Florida, citing his wife’s epilepsy diagnosis and related health issues. On December 23, 2025, Sasse publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer.