Tennessee's Jim Sasser, former U.S. senator and ambassador to China, dead at 87

Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Jim Sasser, who represented Tennessee for 18 years as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate and was the ambassador to China, died early Tuesday evening at his home in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sasser was born in Memphis on Sept. 30, 1936, and earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1961.

He met his wife, Mary, while an undergraduate at Vanderbilt, and they eventually had two children, Gray and Elizabeth.

Sasser also was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve for six years.

He joined the Nashville law firm Goodpasture, Carpenter, Woods and Sasser after earning his law degree and stayed with the law firm until 1972.

Sasser was a lifelong Democrat who was a regional youth director for Sen. Estes Kefauver 's 1960 campaign and managed Sen. Al Gore Sr.'s unsuccessful bid for re-election in 1970.

Sasser said his political activities during his early adulthood made him more open to running for political office.

He successfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Senate in 1976 and defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Brock, who beat Gore in the 1970 election for the seat.

Sasser held the seat for 18 years before losing to challenger and Republican Bill Frist in 1994.

He is the last Democrat to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Senate.

President Bill Clinton appointed Sasser the nation's ambassador to China in 1995 and he remained at the post until he was replaced by fellow Tennessean Adm. Joseph Prueher in 1999.

Sasser is survived by his wife and son Gray, who served one term as chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party from 2007 to 2009.

His cause of death was not announced.