Mark A. MacDonald (born December 18, 1942) is a

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

educator, farmer, and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who served several terms in both the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

and

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

Biography

Mark Alexander MacDonald was born in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

on December 18, 1942. His father was Donald Gordon MacDonald, a longtime official with the

Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bil ...

who directed AID's activities in Vietnam during the peak of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and his mother was Barbara (McCloskey) MacDonald, a teacher, farmer and member of the

. MacDonald's family spent summers in

beginning in 1947, and MacDonald became a permanent resident of Vermont in 1974. He is a longtime resident of Williamstown. MacDonald was educated in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, and graduated from Washington's Woodrow Wilson High School. In 1966, he graduated from the

Borough of Manhattan Community College The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is a public community college in New York City. Founded in 1963 as part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC grants associate degrees in a wide variety of vocational, busines ...

with an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

. MacDonald served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1968 to 1970, including eighteen months of

service. In 1972, MacDonald received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in Government & International Relations from

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

; he then attended

Norwich University Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont is a private senior military college in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private and senior military college in the United States and offers bachelor's and master's degrees on-campus ...

to obtain his certification as a school teacher. In addition to teaching social studies at Randolph Union High School, MacDonald owned and operated a working cattle farm. MacDonald is a member of several clubs, civic organizations, and advocacy groups, including: Orange Southwest Teachers Association; Vermont Beef Producers Association; Orange County Farm Bureau;

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

;

Vietnam Veterans of America Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. (VVA) is a national non-profit corporation founded in 1978 in the United States that is committed to serving the needs of all veterans. It is funded without any contribution from any branch of government. VVA is th ...

; and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Fish and Game Club. From 1984 to 1994, he served on the Williamstown Planning Commission. In 1983, MacDonald was appointed to the

to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his mother, who was serving her first term. He was reelected five times, and served from July 1983 to January 1995. In 1994 he was the Democratic nominee for the

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

seat in the

, and was defeated by the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent, Stephen W. Webster. In 1996, MacDonald defeated Webster for the Senate seat; he served two terms, January 1997 to January 2001. In 2000, MacDonald was defeated by Republican William Corrow, a defeat attributed largely to backlash following MacDonald's support for Vermont's

Civil Unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

law. In their 2002 rematch, MacDonald defeated Corrow. He was reelected every two years since, and has served since January 2003. In four more elections—1998, 2006, 2010, and 2016—MacDonald defeated Webster. In 2017, MacDonald was elected as the Senate's assistant majority leader. According to press reports, he agreed to serve in this post with second-term Senator

Becca Balint Rebecca A. "Becca" Balint (born May 4, 1968) is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party. She served as a member of th ...

in the majority leader's position as a means of bridging the gap between the Senate's newer, younger members and its "old guard" veterans. In 2021, he was succeeded as Whip by

Cheryl Hooker Cheryl Mazzariello Hooker (born February 15, 1950) is an American politician. She has served in the Vermont Senate from the Rutland district since 2019. She previously served in the Vermont Senate from 1997 to 1999 and several terms in the Ver ...

. As of 2017, MacDonald was chairman of the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules. He is also vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and a member of the Natural Resources and Energy, Rules, and Joint Energy Committees.

Family

In 1983, MacDonald was married to Roberta June Pilk. They are the parents of three children, daughters Janet and Rustie, and son Max (Mark Jr.); they also cared for several foster children.

Electoral history

References

Sources

Internet

* *

Newspapers

* * * * * * * * *

Books

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Mark A. 1942 births Living people Politicians from Middletown, Connecticut People from Williamstown, Vermont United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Clark University alumni Schoolteachers from Vermont Farmers from Vermont 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Democratic Party Vermont state senators United States Army soldiers