Editing Tom Daschle (section)

==Early life and education==
Daschle was born in [[Aberdeen, South Dakota|Aberdeen]], [[South Dakota]], the son of Elizabeth B. (née Meier) and Sebastian C. Daschle, both of German descent. His paternal grandparents were [[Volga Germans]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Reitwiesner|first=William|title=The Ancestors of Tom Daschle|url=http://www.wargs.com/political/daschle.html|access-date=November 6, 2007}}</ref> He grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family,  the eldest of four brothers.{{refn|group=Note|name=Bottum|As a result of [[Tom Daschle#Views on abortion|controversy surrounding Daschle's views on abortion]], he was ordered by his bishop in 2003 to stop identifying as Catholic.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bottum|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Bottum (author)|title=Tom Daschle's Duty to Be Morally Coherent|magazine=The Weekly Standard|year=2003|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/559jrrei.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030419034343/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/559jrrei.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 19, 2003|access-date=February 11, 2009}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Famous Germans from Russia|url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~steeles/gerrus|access-date =November 6, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305213055/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~steeles/gerrus|archive-date=March 5, 2008}}</ref>

He attended [[Central High School (Aberdeen, South Dakota)|Central High School]] in Aberdeen before becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college when he earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] from the [[South Dakota State University#Political Science Department|Department of Political Science]] at [[South Dakota State University]] in 1969.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lancaster |first1=John |title=Soft-Spoken Daschle Wields Hefty Clout |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/04/08/soft-spoken-daschle-wields-hefty-clout/d022615c-4ac3-410e-8d68-4711069b0ca9/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=8 April 2001}}</ref> While attending South Dakota State University, Daschle became a brother of [[Alpha Phi Omega]]. From 1969 to 1972, Daschle served in the [[United States Air Force]] as an [[intelligence officer]] with the [[Strategic Air Command]].<ref name=senatebio>"[https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/common/generic/Sitter_Daschle.htm Senator Thomas A. Daschle]", [[United States Senate]]; retrieved February 3, 2009.</ref>

In the mid-1970s Daschle was an aide to Senator [[James Abourezk]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}