Alex Sanders was born, raised and educated in South Carolina. After serving in the U.S. Army, he earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of South Carolina. He later earned a master’s degree in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia. He practiced law, served in the Legislature, and taught law at the University of South Carolina and the Harvard Law School. He was chief justice of the South Carolina Court of Appeals and president of the College of Charleston. In 2002 he was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate. He has been the subject of a number of profiles by national media including Harper’s Magazine, the American Lawyer, the New Yorker, 60 Minutes and Meet the Press. He was a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He will conduct a study group on “Civil Rights, the South and the Media: 1945 to Now.”
The Reporters
January 1, 2005
Alex Sanders, fall 2004 fellow, writes about his run for the Senate, as a Democratic nominee from South Carolina to succeed J. Strom Thurmond, and recounts his experience – mostly positive – with handling the press. The paper also draws some larger conclusions about the relationship of reporters and politicians, and the implications for democracy.
