Samuel Augustus Nunn Jr. (born September 8, 1938) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Georgia (1972–1997) as a member of the Democratic Party.

His political experience and credentials on national defense reportedly earned him consideration as a potential running mate for presidential candidates John Kerry and Barack Obama after they became their party's nominees.

His legislative achievements include the landmark Department of Defense Reorganization Act, drafted with the late senator Barry Goldwater, and the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program,[3] which provided assistance to Russia and the former Soviet republics for securing and destroying their excess nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

[citation needed] Overall, Nunn was a moderate-to-conservative Democrat[10] who often broke with his party on a host of social and economic issues.

He neither supported nor opposed Hillary Clinton's attempt to establish universal health care, though he spoke out very strongly against the proposed insurance mandate.

[citation needed] Nunn actively worked to block President Bill Clinton's proposal to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military.

[11][12] LGBT activist David Mixner openly referred to Nunn as an "old fashioned bigot" for opposing Clinton's plan to lift the military, though this was also reported to have angered the White House.

[15] He voted in favor of school prayer, capping punitive damage awards, amending the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget, and limiting death penalty appeals.

His approach to national security issues has been guided by one fundamental criteria: What Sam Nunn believes is in the best interest of the United States of America.

He signed a number of the organization's bipartisan policy statements on important issues ranging from climate change to enhanced interrogation practices and nonproliferation.

[21] Additionally, Nunn is Chairman Emeritus of the board of trustees for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. At CSIS, Nunn and former senator and United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen joined for a series of public roundtable discussions designed to focus Americans on the seminal issues that the United States must face.

The Cohen-Nunn Dialogues featured top thought leaders, public policy experts, prominent journalists, and leading scholars.

In 2005, Nunn teamed up with former senator Fred Thompson to promote a new film, Last Best Chance, on the dangers of excess nuclear weapons and materials.

Nunn reinforced that agenda during a speech at the Harvard Kennedy School on October 21, 2008, saying, "I'm much more concerned about a terrorist without a return address that cannot be deterred than I am about deliberate war between nuclear powers.

The film is a visual and historical depiction of the ideas laid forth in the Wall Street Journal op-eds and reinforces their commitment to a world without nuclear weapons and the steps that can be taken to reach that goal.

Nunn applauded the determination of presidents Obama and Putin to renew its core provisions, while urging further work to agree on chemical and biological weapons limits also.

[30] However, speculation over a Nunn White House bid ended on April 18, 2008, when he endorsed Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama.

[31] Despite having publicly declared his lack of interest in being a candidate for vice president, Nunn continued to be mentioned by some political pundits and politicians as a potential running mate for Obama.

[35] In an interview with CNBC on August 22, 2008, billionaire investor Warren Buffett said that he favored Nunn as Obama's choice for vice president.

[37] According to the Lee Iacocca book, Talking Straight (1988), Chrysler Corporation came under scrutiny for selling new vehicles which were driven by company executives before the odometers were connected.