Tom Corbett Bio
Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. (born June 17, 1949) is an American politician, lobbyist, and former prosecutor who served as the 46th governor of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015. A Republican, Corbett previously held two nonconsecutive terms as Pennsylvania Attorney General and earlier served as United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Born in Philadelphia, he built a career that spanned local, state, and federal law enforcement before transitioning to statewide elected office.
After losing his 2014 reelection bid, Corbett returned to private life and later registered as a lobbyist in 2021. He has also served as a Distinguished Executive in Residence at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University. His tenure as governor was marked by conservative fiscal policies, energy industry incentives, and persistently low public approval ratings.
Early Life and Background
Thomas Wingett Corbett Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 17, 1949. He is the son of Thomas W. Corbett and Mary Bernardine (Diskin) Corbett. Growing up in Pennsylvania, Corbett came of age during a period when public service and military service were common paths for young men in his community.
He attended Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. During his college years he met his future wife, Susan Manbeck. After graduating, Corbett spent one year as a ninth-grade teacher at Pine Grove Area School District before deciding to pursue a legal career.
Corbett went on to earn his Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law. He also served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 28th Infantry Division from 1971 to 1984, rising to the rank of captain. His military and teaching experiences shaped his early discipline and commitment to public service.
Path to US Politics
Corbett began his legal career in 1976 as an assistant district attorney in Allegheny County, serving the Pittsburgh area. After about three and a half years, he was hired in 1980 as an assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. This federal role gave him direct exposure to complex criminal cases and established his reputation as a tough prosecutor.
In 1983, Corbett transitioned to private practice as an associate partner at the Pittsburgh law firm Rose, Schmidt, Hasley & DiSalle. His first electoral victory came in 1988, when he won a seat as a township commissioner in Shaler Township, a Pittsburgh suburb. The following year, U.S. Senators John Heinz and Arlen Specter recommended him to President George H. W. Bush, who nominated him as United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Corbett served as U.S. Attorney until May 1993, when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton. He then returned to private practice and served as an adviser to gubernatorial candidate Tom Ridge. When Ridge won, Corbett joined several state commissions, including chairing the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, positioning himself for higher office.
Tom Corbett Career
Early Career (1976-1993)
Corbett’s prosecutorial foundation was built during his years as an assistant district attorney in Allegheny County and later as an assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Working alongside experienced federal prosecutors, he handled cases that ranged from organized crime to public corruption, earning respect within the legal community.
After a brief stint in private law practice in the mid-1980s, Corbett returned to public service in 1988 as a Shaler Township commissioner. His appointment as U.S. Attorney in 1989 marked his rise to the federal level. Although his tenure ended with a change in administration in 1993, his federal prosecution record made him a leading candidate for state-level law enforcement leadership.
Breakthrough (1995-2010)
In 1995, Governor Tom Ridge appointed Corbett to fill the remainder of Attorney General Ernie Preate’s term after Preate’s conviction. As a condition of his Senate confirmation, Corbett pledged not to seek election to the office in 1996, a customary practice for appointees in Pennsylvania. During this initial tenure, his office handled workplace substance abuse cases and consumer protection matters.
After leaving office in 1997, Corbett served as general counsel for Waste Management, Inc., and later opened his own practice. In 2004, he won election as Pennsylvania Attorney General, defeating Democrat Jim Eisenhower by roughly 110,000 votes. He was reelected in 2008 with the largest vote total of any Republican in the state’s history at that time, defeating Democrat John Morganelli.
As Attorney General, Corbett convened a 2009 grand jury investigating child sexual abuse allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The investigation produced a 40-count indictment in 2011 and ultimately contributed to Sandusky’s conviction in 2012. Corbett also joined a multistate lawsuit challenging the federal healthcare law in 2010, though he pledged to implement the law if elected governor.
Republican Era (2011-2015)
On November 2, 2010, Corbett won the gubernatorial election, defeating Democrat Dan Onorato by 357,975 votes, 54 percent to 46 percent. He was sworn in as Pennsylvania’s 46th governor on January 18, 2011, succeeding term-limited Democrat Ed Rendell. His administration pursued an aggressive conservative fiscal agenda, including tax cuts, reduced state spending, and deep cuts to higher education funding in his first budget.
During his term, Corbett signed the Marcellus Shale Law in 2012, which imposed an impact fee on natural gas drillers while pre-empting many local zoning restrictions. He also pursued the privatization of Pennsylvania’s state-run wine and spirits stores and offered Shell Oil more than $1.6 billion in tax incentives to build a polymer plant in Beaver County. Despite these efforts, his tenure was defined by lagging job growth, with Pennsylvania ranking 47th nationally between 2011 and mid-2014.
Corbett launched his reelection campaign on November 8, 2013, but faced historically low approval ratings, including a 2013 Franklin & Marshall College poll that found just 17 percent of voters rated his performance as excellent or good. On November 4, 2014, he lost to Democrat Tom Wolf by 344,844 votes, 55 percent to 45 percent, becoming the first Pennsylvania incumbent governor to lose a reelection bid under the 1968 constitution.
Notable Events and Milestones
One of the defining moments of Corbett’s career was the 2009 grand jury investigation into Jerry Sandusky, which led to a landmark child abuse conviction in 2012. His signature legislative achievement was the 2012 Marcellus Shale Law, which reshaped natural gas regulation across Pennsylvania. His 2014 defeat made him the first sitting Pennsylvania governor to lose a reelection bid in 160 years.
Tom Corbett Career Wins
Tom Corbett’s electoral victories include winning a Shaler Township commissioner seat in 1988, twice winning election as Pennsylvania Attorney General in 2004 and 2008, and capturing the governorship in 2010. His 2008 attorney general victory set a record at the time for the largest vote total ever received by a Republican in Pennsylvania. He is the second Pennsylvania attorney general to be elected governor.
Attorney General and Gubernatorial Highlights
Corbett first won statewide office in 2004, defeating Democrat Jim Eisenhower by nearly 110,000 votes. In 2008, he secured a second term against Democrat John Morganelli, drawing the largest Republican vote total in state history at that point. In 2010, he won the governorship by more than 357,000 votes over Democrat Dan Onorato.
Other Wins and Achievements
Corbett’s appointment as United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania in 1989 and his tenure as chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency reflect his standing within the legal and law enforcement community. His convening of the Sandusky grand jury stands as one of the most consequential prosecutions in Pennsylvania history.
| Position | Wins | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania Attorney General | Elected (1st term) | 2004 |
| Pennsylvania Attorney General | Elected (2nd term) | 2008 |
| Governor of Pennsylvania | Elected | 2010 |
Tom Corbett Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Tom Corbett was born to Thomas W. Corbett and Mary Bernardine (Diskin) Corbett in Philadelphia. He met his future wife, Susan Manbeck, while they were both students at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania. Susan Corbett has worked as a teacher, a legal secretary, and later in arts administration, including roles at Carnegie Museums, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures, and the Gettysburg Foundation.
Personal Life
Tom Corbett married Susan Manbeck in 1972, and the couple has two children, a son named Tom and a daughter named Katherine. After leaving the governor’s office in January 2015, Corbett returned to private life. He registered as a lobbyist in October 2021 and currently serves as a Distinguished Executive in Residence at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.