Terrance William Gainer (born August 1, 1947) is a former law enforcement officer and was the 38th

Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate The Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the United States Senate (originally known as the Doorkeeper of the Senate from April 7, 1789 – 1798) is the protocol officer, executive officer, and highest-ranking federal law enforcement officer of the ...

and served in that position from January 4, 2007 to May 2, 2014. Before Gainer continued his law enforcement career in Washington, D.C., he was the Republican candidate for

Cook County State's Attorney The Cook County State's Attorney functions as the state of Illinois's district attorney for Cook County, Illinois, and heads the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States. The office has over 700 attorneys and 1,100 employees. In ad ...

in the 1988 election, losing to then-incumbent

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

Life and career

Born in 1947 in

Evergreen Park, Illinois Evergreen Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. In 2020, the population was 19,943. History As early as 1828, a German farming family had settled in the area of what is now Evergreen Park. In the succeeding decades, other Ge ...

, Gainer graduated from St. Benedict's College (now

Benedictine College Benedictine College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, United States. It was established in 1971 by the merger of St. Benedict's College (founded 1858) for men and Mount St. Scholastica College (founded 1923) for ...

) in 1969 with 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 yea ...

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

, and he went on to obtain a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

in management and public service and

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

(J.D.) degree from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

. Gainer is a decorated

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

who served in 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 he served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

until 2000.Chief_of_Police
,_United_States_Capitol_Police_Biography..html" ;"title="Chief of Police">Chief of Police
, United States Capitol Police Biography.">Chief of Police">Chief of Police
, United States Capitol Police Biography. National Homeland Defense Foundation. Retrieved January 7, 2007 (Adobe Acrobat Reader required for viewing). During his law enforcement career, Gainer served with the Chicago Police Department as deputy Inspector General of Illinois, deputy director of the Illinois State Police and in the United States Department of Transportation before he was appointed as director of the Illinois State Police in the Cabinet of Governor

Jim Edgar James Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who was the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. Previously he served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and as Illinois Secretary of State ...

in March 1991. Gainer went on to serve as executive assistant police chief, as second in command of the

Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbi ...

under Chief

Charles H. Ramsey Charles H. Ramsey (born 1950) is the former Commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department. Prior to assuming that post in January 2008, he had served as Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC) from 1998 ...

, beginning in March 1998 and as chief of the

United States Capitol Police The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...

from June 2, 2002 to March 3, 2006. In addition, Gainer served as the Director of Emergency Preparedness for The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington. During his time with the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, Gainer worked extensively with non-profit organizations (such as hospitals, schools and charities) to help them formulate a coordinated response for emergency preparedness in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. On November 14, 2006, Gainer was appointed by

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

(D-NV) as the

beginning with the

110th United States Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

. During his time as Sergeant at Arms, Gainer proposed a security fence called the Capital Gateway be built around the perimeter of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

, similar to the fence around the White House. The plan was rejected for cost reasons. After the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

by supporters of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, a temporary fence was erected where the Capital Gateaway would have been erected to deter further attacks. In March, 2014, Senate Majority Leader

announced that Gainer planned on retiring as Senate Sergeant at Arms, and would be replaced by Senate Deputy Sergeant at Arms Drew Willison.Senate sergeant at arms to retire (TheHill article)
/ref> Willison was made the new sergeant at arms and doorkeeper of the Senate on May 5, 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gainer, Terrance W. 1947 births Living people Sergeants at Arms of the United States Senate United States Capitol Police officers Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia officers American police chiefs State cabinet secretaries of Illinois Illinois Republicans United States Department of Transportation officials Chicago Police Department officers United States Navy reservists United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Benedictine College alumni DePaul University College of Law alumni People from Evergreen Park, Illinois United States Navy captains Military personnel from Illinois Candidates in the 1988 United States elections