Editing Ted Stevens (section)

===Committees and leadership positions===
[[File:Ted Stevens as Assistant Minority Leader, 1977.jpeg|upright|thumb|left|alt=Stevens in 1977 as Assistant Minority Leader. He is seated on some steps, looking up, with black hair and glasses, wearing a Senator's usual suit and tie. He is holding a sheet of paper.|Stevens in 1977 as Assistant Minority Leader.]]
Stevens served as the Assistant Republican Leader ([[Whip (politics)|Whip]]) from 1977 to 1985. Stevens served as Acting Minority Leader during [[Howard Baker]]'s 1980 run for president during the [[1980 Republican Party presidential primaries|1980 Republican primaries]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/110745483/|title=The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky|website=Newspapers.com|date=November 2, 1979|access-date=10 May 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312060714/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/110745483/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1994, after the Republicans took control of the Senate, Stevens was appointed chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration|Senate Rules Committee]]. Stevens became the Senate's president pro tempore when Republicans regained control of the chamber as a result of the 2002 mid-term elections, during which the previous most senior Republican senator and former president pro tempore [[Strom Thurmond]] retired.

After [[Howard Baker]] retired in 1984, Stevens sought the position of Republican (and then-Majority) leader, running against [[Bob Dole]], [[Richard Lugar|Dick Lugar]], [[James A. McClure|Jim McClure]] and [[Pete Domenici]]. As Republican whip, Stevens was theoretically the favorite to succeed Baker, but lost to Dole in a fourth ballot, by a vote of 28–25.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/republican/dole/political.career/|agency=CNN|title=Political Races|access-date=May 25, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609175523/http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/republican/dole/political.career/|archive-date=June 9, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Byrd-stevens-supp-mark-web.jpg|thumb|right|Stevens with U.S. Senator [[Robert Byrd]] in 2003]]
Stevens chaired the [[United States Senate Committee on Appropriations|Senate Appropriations Committee]] from 1997 to 2005, except for the 18 months when Democrats controlled the chamber. The chairmanship gave Stevens considerable influence among fellow Senators, who relied on him for home-state project funds. Even before becoming chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Stevens secured large sums of federal money for the State of Alaska.<ref name="hurt">{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/29/stevens.history/|title=Stevens' Senate career hurt by 'bridge to nowhere'|first=Ed|last=Hornick|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=2022-09-01|archive-date=August 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831234209/https://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/29/stevens.history/|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to Republican Party rules that limited committee chairmanships to six years, Stevens gave up the Appropriations gavel at the start of the [[109th United States Congress|109th Congress]], in January 2005. He was succeeded by [[Thad Cochran]] of Mississippi.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Appropriations Committee |first=U.S. Senate |date=January 3, 2005|title=U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations |url=http://appropriations.senate.gov/ |access-date=September 5, 2022 |website=U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for the 109th Congress |archive-date=2016-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210082930/http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-19 |title=Departing Appropriations Chairmen Set to Reap Omnibus Bounty |url=https://www.rollcall.com/2018/03/19/departing-appropriations-chairmen-set-to-reap-omnibus-bounty/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Roll Call |language=en |archive-date=June 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621082240/https://rollcall.com/2018/03/19/departing-appropriations-chairmen-set-to-reap-omnibus-bounty/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Conglomerate Blog: Business, Law, Economics & Society |url=https://www.theconglomerate.org/2006/07/index.html |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=www.theconglomerate.org |archive-date=May 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525153008/https://www.theconglomerate.org/2006/07/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Stevens chaired the [[United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation]] during the 109th Congress, becoming the committee's ranking member after the Democrats regained control of the Senate for the 110th Congress. He resigned his ranking-member position on the committee due to his indictment.<ref name="cqpolitics">{{cite web|url=http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002929015 |title=Stevens Surrenders Committee Posts |publisher=Cqpolitics.com |author=Kathleen Hunter |access-date=October 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030021522/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002929015 |archive-date=October 30, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

At various times, Stevens also served as chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs|Senate Governmental Affairs Committee]], the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics|Senate Ethics Committee]], the Arms Control Observer Group, and the Joint Committee on the [[Library of Congress]].

Due to Stevens's long tenure and that of the state's sole congressman, [[Don Young]], Alaska was considered to have clout in national politics well beyond its small population (the state was long the smallest in population and is currently 48th, ahead of only [[Wyoming]] and [[Vermont]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=US States - Ranked by Population 2023 |url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/states |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=worldpopulationreview.com |archive-date=March 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324055635/https://worldpopulationreview.com/states |url-status=live }}</ref>

Stevens was strongly considered for [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] in the [[Presidency of George H.W. Bush|H.W. Bush Administration (1989–1993)]], a position which ultimately went to [[Dick Cheney]].<ref name="riseandfall"/>