Richard John Santorum (/sænˈtɔːrəm/ san-TOR-əm; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007.

Before suspending his campaign on April 10, 2012, Santorum exceeded expectations by winning 11 primaries and caucuses and receiving nearly four million votes, making him the runner-up to eventual nominee Mitt Romney.

[45][46][47][48][49] The Discovery Institute and other intelligent design proponents point to this report as "a clear endorsement by Congress of the importance of teaching a variety of scientific views about the theory of evolution.

[66] Officials of the Department of Defense, CIA intelligence analysts, and the White House have all explicitly stated that these expired casings were not part of the WMDs threat that the Iraq War was launched to contain.

He has defended the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, including waterboarding, and stated that John McCain, who opposed the practice, "doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works.

[88][89] In November 2005, several months after the indictments of Abramoff and DeLay, Santorum told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "The K Street project is purely to make sure we have qualified applicants for positions that are in town.

"[91] In January 2012, The Washington Post's' "Fact Checker" concluded that "we can't prove definitively whether or not Santorum collaborated on the K Street Project", saying that it "depend[ed] on how you define the initiative".

He faced criticism from Casey and others for several statements in his book It Takes a Family, including his denunciation of 1960s "radical feminism", which he said had made it "socially affirming to work outside the home" at the expense of child care.

[112][113] In response, Santorum asked county officials to remove the homestead tax exemption from his Penn Hills property, saying he was entitled to it but chose not to take it because of the political dispute.

[70][122] In October 2006 he gave a "Gathering Storm" speech, invoking British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's description of Europe prior to World War II.

"[19] Noting that he had been "even more hawkish" during this time period than President Bush, Santorum later said, "Maybe that wasn't the smartest political strategy, spending the last few months running purely on national security".

[125][126] In January 2007, Santorum joined the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a D.C.-based conservative think tank, as director of its America's Enemies Program focusing on foreign threats to the United States, including Islamic fascism, Venezuela, North Korea and Russia.

A vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will put our country back in the hands of leaders who understand what America can and, for the sake of our children, must be to keep the dream alive.

[198] Santorum was a lead sponsor of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act,[199] which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2003[200] and upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in the 2007 decision Gonzales v.

He has criticized the Supreme Court decision in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which held that the Constitution guaranteed that right and overturned a law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives to married couples.

[208] Santorum rejects the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, which states that global warming is harmful and primarily human-caused, calling it "junk science".

"[234] On March 23, 2012, Santorum wrote on his campaign website that there is "a wealth of research" demonstrating that pornography causes "profound brain changes" and widespread negative effects on children and adults, including violence to women.

He opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions, saying the American public and their elected officials should decide on these "incredibly important moral issues" rather than the Supreme Court.

[239][240] The remarks drew a retaliatory response from many, including author, journalist, and LGBT community activist Dan Savage, who launched a contest to coin a "santorum" neologism among the readers of his blog with the winner as "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex".

In 2015, Santorum signed an online pledge vowing not to respect any law, including any decision by the United States Supreme Court, conferring legal recognition on same-sex marriage.

[254] Santorum declined to take a position on whether transgender people should be allowed to use restrooms of the gender of their choice, saying only that he believed the federal government should leave the issue to local authorities.

"[256] While in Congress, Santorum supported efforts to fight global HIV/AIDS,[257] provide assistance to orphans and vulnerable children in developing countries, combat genocide in Sudan, and offer third world debt relief.

He supported increased funding for Social Services Block Grants and organizations like Healthy Start and the Children's Aid Society, and financing community health centers.

[262] Santorum met his future wife, Karen Garver (born 1960), while she was a neonatal nurse studying law at the University of Pittsburgh and he was recruiting summer interns for Kirkpatrick & Lockhart.

"[288][289] In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Santorum said that the distinction between private religious conviction and public responsibility, espoused by President John F. Kennedy, had caused "great harm in America".

[292] In an interview with Glenn Beck, Santorum said Obama's desire for greater higher education rates nationwide was a veiled attempt at "indoctrination", saying that "62 percent of kids who go into college with a faith commitment leave without it."

[293][294] He believes colleges reinforce secular relativism and antagonize religiosity, particularly Christianity, and lists young people's support for abortion, gay marriage, and pornography as "symptoms" of indoctrination.

[306] He says that many middle class workers who have been forced into part-time jobs at big box stores or even into public assistance programs are amenable to the GOP's message if it is presented in relatable terms.

[306] He tackles education, saying the current system of government-run schools is a "relic of the late 19th century" and that children should not be pressured into going to college when a job or vocational training would be a better option.

[305] He questions rich compensation of business executives, and says that while he supports free trade, Republicans need to look at its impact on the average person and consider whether existing laws are fair.