His brother, Donald L. Gephardt, was the Dean of The College of Fine and Performing Arts at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

He was stuck in low double digits in polls, but began moving ahead in Iowa in late December 1987 after running an ad that criticized trade barriers by Korea and Japan as unfair.

[citation needed] He won the Iowa caucuses and South Dakota primary in February while finishing a strong second in New Hampshire, making him a serious contender for the nomination.

[15] Gephardt's early victories did not translate into support in other states, though, and he was not able to raise adequate funds to compete in the Southern primaries.

Dukakis considered selecting Gephardt as his vice presidential running mate but instead chose Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

In the 2002 Congressional midterm elections, Gephardt campaigned on the economy and Social Security, but the continuing resonance of the September 11 attacks, the momentum for military action against Iraq, and President George W. Bush's popularity lead to Republican gains, with the Democrats losing four House seats.

His leadership position was contested by the centrist Martin Frost, the outgoing Democratic Caucus Chair, and the liberal Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Whip, who was elected as Gephardt's successor.

He promoted a form of universal health care, and was backed by 21 labor unions, but did not have enough support to receive the AFL–CIO's endorsement.

[26] Throughout early 2003, Gephardt was ahead in polling for the Iowa caucus, but by August Dean had taken the lead, his campaign fueled by antiwar activists.

On March 7, 2004, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, also seen as a strong contender for the position, endorsed Gephardt for Vice President.

He was initially extremely critical of the U.S. Supreme Court landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

[33]In 1987, when Gephardt decided to run for president, he announced that he would no longer support legislation to restrict abortion rights.

Although he once chaired the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, Gephardt in his later years in Congress distanced himself from the organization, finding his pro-labor views at odds with the DLC's pro-business positions.

[35] Gephardt also joined the international law firm DLA Piper as strategic advisor in the government affairs practice group from June 2005 to December 2009.

[36] In his new role as a Washington lobbyist, Gephardt, on behalf of the Republic of Turkey, has been actively lobbying against the House resolution condemning the Armenian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire.

A collection of Gephardt's congressional documents, dating from 1994 to 2004, was processed from 2006 to 2007 by the Missouri Historical Society for academic use, with a grant through the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

In 2009, Gephardt advised UnitedHealth Group, one of America's largest private insurers, in waging a strong campaign against a public option for national health care.

In addition to a large lobbying contract with the Medicines Company,[46] he serves as chair of the Council for American Medical Innovation (CAMI), formed by and affiliated with PhRMA.

In this capacity he hired his own firm to lobby for the organization, to push to extend patents and block generic drugs from the market.

[47] In 2016, Gephardt also co-founded a Direct primary care group called SolidaritUS Health, with the goal of increasing the accessibility of quality healthcare to working families.

In July 2011, Spirit Aerosystems walked out of negotiations with the union that represents its engineering, technical and professional workforce.

Key provisions in the contract include increased pay, workers being allowed to keep their current health plans, and removal of mandatory overtime requirements.

Kerry Healey, launched the Council for Responsible Social Media, a project of nonprofit organization Issue One, which he had already been involved with as a member of its ReFormers Caucus.

Gephardt and Healey serve as co-chairs of the project, which focuses on addressing the harmful influence social media can have on children, communities, and national security.

[54] In May 2024, Gephardt gave the commencement address and received an honorary degree at Iona University in New Rochelle, New York.