Richard Thorndike

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Current revision as of 16:32, 1 March 2009

Richard Langdon A. Thorndike III
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 11th district
In Office: January 3, 2009 - Present
Preceded by	Thomas M. Davis(R)
Succeeded by	Incumbent
29th Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives
In Office: 2011 - Present
Preceded by	Andrew Seong (R)
Succeeded by	Incumbent
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Preceded by	{{{Predecessor3}}}
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Born	April 5, 1971 New York City, New York
Political Party	Republican
Spouse	Patricia Thorndike née Quincy (from 1993)
Children	Richard (1994), Elisha and Sophie (1998)
Profession	Hedge Fund Manager, Business Consultant
Religion	Roman Catholic

Richard Langdon Aeneas Thorndike III (born April 5, 1971 in New York City, New York), is an American politician of the Republican Party who is currently serving as the U.S. Representative of Virginia's 11th congressional district in the 111th Congress, which includes portions of Fairfax and Prince William County.

Early life and education

Richard Thorndike III was born to industrial manager Richard Thorndike III and literature professor Phoebe Marie Thorndike in New York City. Spending his kindergarten to junior high school years the the Collegiate School in New York City, he transferred to the Roman Catholic college preparatory boarding school Centerbury School in New Milford, Connecticut after class 8. While at the Collegiate School, Thorndike was a member of the Junior Varsity Wrestling team. At Canterbury School, he joined the Ice Hockey team, playing as a defenseman and enforcer and getting into the Varsity team quickly. Graduating from Canterbury in 1988, he got accepted at Harvard University, pursuing an undergraduate degree in economics and public policy. Already a student with a defined political viewpoint in High School, Thorndike joined the Harvard Republican Club and wrote for the Harvard Salient, Harvard's biweekly conservative magazine, as well as being a member of the secret Sigma Chi fraternity. Writing his bachelor thesis on "Financial and fiscal impacts of sell-and-lease-back finance-leasing on American real estate market", he graduated magna cum laude, immediately taking up graduate work for a Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He graduated from Harvard in 1994, again magna cum laude.

Career before politics

Thorndike was hired as a Portfolio Manager at SAC Capital Advisors during a campus recruitment, and moved to New York City to work with the firm. In 1997, he was promoted to Senior Investment manager. Thorndike left the firm in 1999, after being offered a position as Partner of McKinsey & Company. Because of his work, the family moved to London, United Kingdom for a year from June 1999 to June 2000. While his family moved back to the US, to Burke, Virginia where Mrs. Thorndike is working as a management consultant and senior partner of Thorndike, Bell & Partners, Thorndike took residence in Zürich, Switzerland for a 6-month project. Moving back to the US, Thorndike decided to limit his need for long international travel and founded Thorndike Invest, a now successful multi-million dollar hedge funds that he has lead until after his election to Congress in 2008.

Political career

Thorndike ran for representative of Virginia's 11th congressional district for the first time in 2008, after incumbent representative Thomas M. Davis (R) announced his intent to retire. The 11th district, traditionally slightly Republican leaning but more Democratic in recent years, elected him with 58.5% of the vote over Democratic challenger Gerry Connolly (38%), libertarian Juliett Brown (2,5%) and green Sue Sandsight-Tree-Burnstein (1%).

In 2010, he was reelected with 59.21% of the vote, against Democrat Albert Munn (40%), Libertarian Party candidate Juliett Brown (0.70%) and Green Brinston G. Withwater-Twentystone (0.09%). In 2012, Thorndike won re-election against Bill Johnsten (D) with 63% of the popular vote, spending a total of $2,405,775.43 against his opponent's $105,232.

Personal life

In 1993 at age 22, he married Patricia Lillian Marie Quincy, a daughter of the late Charles Abbot Increase Quincy, CEO and majority owner of Quincy Defense. Together, they have 3 children. In 1994, his first son, Richard Langdon Aeneas Thorndike, IV., was born. In 1998, the twins Elisha Juliet and Sophie Andrea Thorndike were born.