Daniel Morey
From Usgs
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| United States Representative | ||||
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| In Office: 2001 - 2011; 2013 - 2014; 2016 - Present | ||||
| Preceded by | Zach Wamp | |||
| Succeeded by | Incumbent | |||
| Senator from the Southeast | ||||
| In Office: 2011 - 2013 Served alongside: Alyssa Richards | ||||
| Preceded by | Hiroko Fox | |||
| Succeeded by | Harmon C. Dooley | |||
| Born | September 28, 1959 Chattanooga, TN | |||
| Political Party | Republican | |||
| Spouse | Rebecca Morey (1979-2016), deceased Elisabeth Morey (2018-Present) | |||
| Religion | Episcopalian | |||
Daniel James Morey is an American politician. He's the current Representative for Tennessee's 3rd District, former House Minority Leader and former Senator for the Southeast Region.
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Early Life and Military Career
Daniel, the patriarch of the Morey family, was born in 1959 in Chattanooga, Tennessee as second son to a U.S. war veteran and a secondary school teacher.
Family Background
His father, General James W. Morey, served in both Korea and Vietnam, being awarded several medals including the Congressional Medal of Honor for his outstanding bravery during the Vietnam War.
Marion Morey, his mother, was born in Germany but emigrated with her parents to the United States in 1947. She was an activist for the women's rights movement and supported female candidates for office in Tennessee. She also served two terms as Mayor of Chattanooga.
His older brother, Francis S. Morey, joined the U.S. Air Force after High School and later worked as an attorney after graduating from law school.He is married and currently lives in Louisiana practicing law and aiming for a run to become State Senator in the Louisiana Senate.
Ava Morey, his younger sister, studied Law and Political Science at the University of Tennessee and Yale University. Returning home to Tennessee Ava began her political career as elected member to the Tennessee State Legislative. In 1987 she divorced her husband, an abusive war veteran and moved to Oak Ridge, TN together with her two children. She practiced law for her brother's law firm until 2007 when she was elected Mayor of Oak Ridge a position she still holds today.
In the broader family, Daniel Morey's grandfather was Governor of Tennessee and several of his ancestors held political offices in Tennessee ever since 1860. The early Morey clan's success was made during the Civil War as strong supporters of secession. Following the Civil War the Moreys were a strong Southern Democratic family until post WW2 when the entire family became Republican. In the 50s and 60s the Morey family was the only Republican political dynasty in Tennessee to hold offices in Tennessee and Washington without interruption. Since the 70s the Morey family has continually gained more and more political strength outside of Tennessee. The Morey family is the only family in Tennessee to have strong political influence sine 1860.
Military Service and Law Career
After finishing high-school he served in the United States Navy from 1977 to 1980 being stationed in Europe holding the rank of Lieutenant, although he later retired. It is here that he met his wife Rebecca, who he married in 1979.
After returning home to Tennessee Daniel started his studies of Law at the Tennessee State University and graduated in 1986. While his wife had completed her degree in medicine and had her own clinical practice Daniel joined a law firm in Chattanooga, TN and quickly rose to become a partner. In 1994 he opened his own law firm, Morey & Kaiser together with his old friend Jonathan Kaiser.
Political Career
In 2000 Daniel decided to give back something to his beloved home and successfully campaigned for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district seat. From Jan. 2001 until early 2011 he served as member of the United States House of Representatives before being assigned by the Governor to serve as Senator of the Southeast. In the 2000 election Mr. Morey beat his Democratic opponent Andrew Miller, receiving 66.45% of the votes. The only time Mr. Morey received less than 60% of the votes was in 2002 when he was again challenged by Andrew Miller and was only able to gather 59.64%.
He served as United States Senator from 2011 until 2013 winning his election in 2012 by a clear margin. The 2012 campaign was a campaign of experience and a consistent conservative record. The Democratic party chose with Cassandra Calhoun the best they had to offer and while Ms. Calhoun was considered to be a rather conservative Democrat Mr. Morey could convince 55.9% of the voters that he is is the candidate with the right experience and the truly conservative record.
Cancer
In 2013 his wife was diagnosed with cancer and Daniel resigned from the Senate to help his wife overcome the struggle with cancer. After her victory over the disease Daniel and Rebecca returned to Tennessee and Daniel once again picked up Tennessee's 3rd district seat to serve the people of Tennessee and was elected House Minority Leader after Senator Buford T. Justice's appointment to the United States Senate.
In late 2014 Daniel himself got diagnosed with cancer and had to resign his seat once more. He was replaced by Danny Pennypacker as Minority Leader.
Post-Cancer-Career
In December of 2015 Daniel had won the battle against cancer and in January of 2016 announced his intentions to serve as Representative for Tennessee's third district once more. In a special election he returned to the House and was re-elected in 2016 with 77.90% of the votes. Since then he is a member of the United States House of Representatives again.
Personal Life
Daniel Morey got married to Rebecca Morey in 1979, both being very young.
Both Mrs. and Mr. Morey were diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and 2014. While she seemed to have won the battle, Mrs. Morey died on October 19th, 2016. He however achieved to overcome the disease.
Daniel and Rebecca Morey have three children. Madeleine Mary (born Nov. 21, 1984) is the oldest. After High School Madeleine enrolled at Yale University in 2002 to begin her medical studies. Since 2008 she practiced medicine as partner in her mothers private practice in Chattanooga and took over the practice after her mothers retirement in 2013. Madeleine married the German lawyer Andreas Schott in 2011 and has one daughter with him. Her husband Andreas currently work as Junior Partner in Daniel Morey's law firm "Morey & Kaiser" in Chattanooga, TN. Madeleine's family currently lives in the outskirts of Chattanooga. Madeleine is, other than her parents, rather shy and introverted and does not enjoy public appearances with her father.Currently she serves as member of the board of the "Rebecca Morey Fund".
Isabel Hazel (born Apr. 14, 1987) studied at Vanderbilt University from 2005 until 2009 and holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Political Science. In 2011 she graduated Yale University with a Master's degree in Political Science. Isabel is the most extroverted of the three Morey children and greatly enjoys public appearances with her father. From 2011 until 2013 she worked for the New York Times and since 2013 is the owner and publisher of the Chattanooga Free Times Press. She also writes articles for several national and international papers and magazines. Isabel Morey currently lives in New York City where she is lecturing in Journalism and Political Science at Columbia University. Since 2017 she belongs to the White House Press Corps.
The youngest of the three children is Mr. Morey's only son Matthew Daniel (born Jun. 2, 1989) studied Law at Yale University graduating in 2013. Matthew is the newest Senior Partner in his father's law firm "Morey & Kaiser" and lived in Boston where he lead the New England office of "Morey & Kaiser". In 2015 he was moved back to Tennessee and was elected Mayor of Murfreesboro, the youngest in the cities history.
One of Mr. Morey's closest friends has always been Elisabeth Arden, who he met in 1984. Although their friendship was very strong, they lost contact when she moved to Germany in 1995. Although she moved back to the United States in 2008, they didn't meet again until 2016. It was then when they discovered very strong romantic feelings for each other, and decided to marry in 2018.
Research on Cancer
Daniel also chairs a national fund to fund research on cancer and to help citizens struggling with the disease. The Fund has recently been renamed to be called "The Rebecca Morey Fund", named after Mr. Morey's first wife who died of cancer, and has an annual budget of some $4 million, $2 million out of this budget are direct donations made by Daniel Morey. Daniel enjoys hunting, golf, cigars, traveling, horses, writing, religion, history and baseball.
