Congressman who served from 1997 to 2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party from Tennessee's 9th congressional district, centered in Memphis.

[3] He also regularly appeared on television on politically related programs on NBC's Meet the Press, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC.

He and his wife live in New York City and have a daughter, Georgia Walker,[citation needed] and a son, Harold Eugene III.

Ford arranged his schedule for his last semester of law school so he would not have Monday or Friday classes[15] and would be able to fly home to Memphis for an extended weekend each week to continue his campaign.

Several economists, notably Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, point to the repeal of Glass–Steagall as helping to create the conditions of the 2007 financial crisis.

[21] Although his name was mentioned as a possible Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2004,[22] he was ineligible for the office due to his age (four months shy of thirty-five on Inauguration Day 2005).

Like many Democrats, Ford believed Schmidt's remarks (which she later withdrew) were an unwarranted "cheap shot" against Murtha, a veteran of the Marine Corps.

[25] He opposed President George W. Bush's energy proposals (including oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), demonstrated support for adoption rights of same-sex couples, is in favor of federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, supported universal healthcare coverage, opposed the death penalty and indicated a willingness to reform drug policy.

Instead, he supported fellow Congressman Bob Clement who would lose to former Republican Governor Lamar Alexander in the general election.

His younger brother, Jake Ford, ran for the 9th district seat as an Independent, but lost to Democrat Steve Cohen.

On April 6, 2005, during an interview on C-SPAN's call-in show Washington Journal, Ford confirmed that he would be running for the United States Senate.

After the primary, Ford's supporters held a large victory celebration at Nashville's LP Field, now Nissan Stadium.

[31] A television ad that received more attention featured satirical "man‑on‑the‑street" interviews purporting to support Ford, including one in which a blond white woman (implied to be nude) talks about meeting Ford at "the Playboy party"; she returns at the end of the ad to wink and whisper in a seductive tone, "Harold, call me."

In January 2006, NBC's Meet the Press extended an open invitation for the candidates to debate on the nationally televised show.

[36][37] Instead, Ford has said that he "hopes to spend a lot of time at home, perhaps do some teaching and work with Governor Bredesen on some issues in Tennessee.

[39] In March 2007, Ford joined the financial services firm Merrill Lynch as a vice chairman and senior policy adviser.

[42] In March 2008, he moved from Fox to MSNBC as a news analyst, appearing as a panelist on David Gregory's Race for the White House, Hardball, and Morning Joe.

[43] Ford was appointed visiting professor of public policy at Vanderbilt University in 2007 and taught a class on American political leadership.

[44] In October 2007, Ford was appointed as the inaugural Barbara Jordan Visiting Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

[45] As of the spring 2010 semester, he is a visiting professor at New York University's Wagner School of Public Service where he teaches Policy Formation: U.S.

[55] On February 5, 2010, Gillibrand held a press conference at which she raised questions as to whether Ford, as an executive of Merrill Lynch, received taxpayer-backed bonuses from Bank of America, stemming from the federal bailout.

[56] On February 12, it was reported that Ford's NBC contract was suspended due to his potential campaign, and that he had taken an unpaid leave of absence from Merrill Lynch for the same reason.