[5] Thomas Joseph Donohue was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 12, 1938 to a production manager at the American Can Company, and was of Irish descent.

[12] From 1969 to 1976, he was the US Official Deputy Assistant Postmaster General, where he helped "convert" the Post Office from a government department into the quasi-private U.S.

[14] Donohue was an Emeritus Hudson Institute Trustee and has served on the board of directors of Qwest, Sunrise Assisted Living Corporation, Union Pacific, and XM.

[15][3] In July 2022, Donohue helped found a group of U.S. business and policy leaders who share the goal of constructively engaging with China in order to improve U.S.-China relations.

"[10] According to The Wall Street Journal, "[Donohue's] most striking innovation has been to offer individual companies and industries the chance to use the chamber as a means of anonymously pursuing their own political ends.

[21] During his final years at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, he often clashed with President Donald Trump over his administration's trade and immigration policies.

[26] In April 2016, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boy Scouts of America's National Capital Area Council.