in religion in 1958 after completing a 111-page senior thesis titled "Christ and Meaning: An Interpretation of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christology.

Danforth's seat in the Senate was previously held by Democrats Thomas Hart Benton,[5] Harry S. Truman,[6] and Stuart Symington.

[14] In 1970, Danforth ran for the United States Senate for the first time, against Democratic incumbent Stuart Symington.

[16] Litton won the primary, but he and his family were killed when the plane taking them to their victory party in Kansas City crashed on takeoff in Chillicothe, Missouri.

She was active in women's rights organizations and collected union support and was a cousin of Democratic Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio.

Her speeches denounced Ronald Reagan's policies so vigorously that she ran on the nickname "Give 'em Hell, Harriett" (a play on the famous Truman phrase).

[21] In January 2001, when Missouri Democrats opposed Ashcroft's nomination for U.S. Attorney General, Danforth's name was invoked.

[4] Danforth portrayed himself as a political moderate, but voted like his right-wing Republican colleagues, including sustaining filibusters.

Six days after the announcement that Condoleezza Rice was going to take the position, Danforth submitted his resignation on November 22, 2004, effective January 20, 2005.

His resignation letter[26] said, "Forty-seven years ago, I married the girl of my dreams, and, at this point in my life, what is most important to me is to spend more time with her.

"[27] In 1999, Democratic U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Danforth to lead an investigation into the FBI's role in the 1993 Waco Siege.

[28] Danforth appointed Democratic U.S. Attorney Edward L. Dowd Jr. for the Eastern District of Missouri as his deputy special counsel.

The article began: "By a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians".

[43] In 2015, Danforth joined 299 other Republicans in signing an amicus brief calling on the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage.

He encouraged continued work "to demand a functioning government where compromise is the norm, to integrate all our people into one indivisible nation, and to incorporate separated individuals into the wholeness of the community.

[48] During the 2022 United States Senate election in Missouri, Danforth headed a PAC supporting independent candidate John Wood, considered a long shot to win.

[49] Wood collected enough signatures to get on the ballot but dropped out after 50 days when Eric Schmitt won the Republican primary.