Editing Tom Daschle (section)

===Party leadership===
In 1994, he was chosen by his colleagues to succeed the retiring Senator [[George J. Mitchell|George Mitchell]] as Democratic minority leader. In the history of the Senate, only [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] had served fewer years before being elected to lead his party. In addition to the minority leader's post, Daschle served as a member of the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry]]. South Dakotans reelected Daschle to the Senate by overwhelming margins [[1998 United States Senate election in South Dakota|in 1998]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

At various points in his career, he served on the [[U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs|Veterans Affairs]], [[U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs|Indian Affairs]], [[U.S. Senate Committee on Finance|Finance]], and [[United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics|Ethics]] Committees.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

When the [[107th United States Congress|107th Congress]] commenced on January 3, 2001, the Senate was evenly divided—that is, there were 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans. Outgoing Vice President [[Al Gore]] acted in his [[United States Constitution|constitutional]] capacity as [[ex officio]] [[President of the Senate#United States|President of the Senate]], and used his tie-breaking vote to give the Democrats the majority in that chamber. For the next 17 days, Daschle served as [[Senate Majority Leader]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Upon the commencement of the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]] on January 20, 2001, [[Dick Cheney]] became president of the senate, thereby returning Democrats to the minority in that body; Daschle reverted to the position of [[Senate Minority Leader]]. However, on June 6, 2001, Senator [[Jim Jeffords]] of [[Vermont]] announced that he was leaving the Senate Republican [[caucus]] to become an independent and to caucus with Democrats;<ref>Entry for [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000072 James Merrill Jeffords] in the ''Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress''. (Accessed January 30, 2009.)</ref> this once again returned control of the body to the Democrats and Daschle again became majority leader.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

{{external media| float = left | video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?179312-1/like-time ''Booknotes'' interview with Daschle on ''Like No Other Time'', November 30, 2003], [[C-SPAN]]}}
Democratic losses in the November 2002 elections returned the party to the minority in the senate in January 2003, and Daschle once more reverted to being minority leader.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Daschle recounted his senate experiences from 2001 to 2003 in his first book, ''Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever'', published in 2003.<ref>Tom Daschle and Michael D'Orso, ''Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever'', Crown, 2003. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-4955-4}}</ref> With Charles Robbins, he has also written the book ''The U.S. Senate'', part of the ''Fundamentals of American Government'' series.<ref name="Okla Hall">{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Dennie |title=Book review: 'The U.S. Senate' by Tom Daschle with Charles Robbins |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/books/2013/03/31/book-review-the-us-senate-by-tom-daschle-with-charles-robbins/60992093007/ |access-date=February 28, 2022 |work=The Oklahoman |date=March 31, 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Congressman Tim Johnson Senator Tom Daschle US Capitol 1988.jpg|thumb|right|US Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Congressman Tim Johnson (D-SD) Constituent Service Meeting]]