Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Portman was the 35th director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 2006 to 2007, the 14th United States trade representative from 2005 to 2006, and a U.S. representative from 1993 to 2005, representing Ohio's 2nd district.
In 1993, Portman won a special election to represent Ohio's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was reelected six times before resigning upon his appointment by President George W. Bush as the U.S. trade representative in May 2005. As trade representative, Portman initiated trade agreements with other countries and pursued claims at the World Trade Organization. In May 2006, Bush appointed Portman the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
In 2010, Portman announced his candidacy for the United States Senate seat being vacated by George Voinovich. He easily defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher and was reelected in 2016, defeating former Governor Ted Strickland. On January 25, 2021, he announced that he would not seek a third term in 2022.
After leaving office in 2023, Portman founded The Portman Center for Policy Solutions at the University of Cincinnati. He currently serves as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the Practice of Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. Additionally, he currently serves as an independent director at Procter & Gamble.
Portman was born in 1955, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Joan (née Jones) and William C. "Bill" Portman II. His family was Presbyterian.
In 1926, Portman's grandfather Robert Jones purchased the Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, Ohio, and, together with his future wife Virginia Kunkle Jones, refurbished it and decorated it with antique collectibles and Shaker furniture. The couple ran the inn together until 1969, when they retired.
When Portman was young, his father started the Portman Equipment Company, a forklift dealership where he and his siblings worked growing up. From his mother Joan, a liberal Republican, Portman inherited his sympathy for the Republican Party.
Portman graduated from Cincinnati Country Day School in 1974 and attended Dartmouth College, where he started leaning to the right, and majored in anthropology and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1978. In Cincinnati, Portman worked on Bill Gradison's congressional campaign, and Gradison soon became a mentor to Portman. Portman next entered the University of Michigan Law School, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 1984 and serving as vice president of the student senate. During law school, he embarked on a kayaking and hiking trip across China and met Jane Dudley, whom he married in 1986. After graduating from law school, Portman moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the law firm Patton Boggs. Some describe his role there as a lobbyist; others say that such a description is inaccurate. Portman next became an associate at Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP, a law firm in Cincinnati.
In 1989, Portman began his career in government as an associate White House Counsel under President George H. W. Bush. From 1989 to 1991, he served as Bush's deputy assistant and director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. While serving as White House counsel, Portman visited China, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
United States Representative (1993–2005)
In 1993, Portman entered a special election to fill the seat of Congressman Bill Gradison of Ohio's second congressional district, who had stepped down to become president of the Health Insurance Association of America. In the Republican primary, Portman faced six-term Congressman Bob McEwen, who had lost his Sixth District seat to Ted Strickland in November 1992; real estate developer Jay Buchert, president of the National Association of Home Builders; and several lesser known candidates.
In the primary, Portman was criticized for his previous law firm's work for Haitian president Baby Doc Duvalier. Buchert ran campaign commercials labeling Portman and McEwen "Prince Rob and Bouncing Bob." Portman lost four of the district's five counties, but won the largest, Hamilton County, his home county and home to 57% of the district's population. Largely on the strength of his victory in Hamilton, Portman took 17,531 votes (36%) overall, making him the winner.
In the general election, Portman defeated the Democratic nominee, attorney Lee Hornberger, 53,020 (70%) to 22,652 (29%).
Portman was reelected in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004, defeating Democrats Les Mann, Thomas R. Chandler, and then Waynesville mayor Charles W. Sanders four times in a row.
As of 2004, Portman had a lifetime rating of 89 from the American Conservative Union, and ranked 5th among Ohio's 18 House members.
One of Portman's first votes in Congress was for the North American Free Trade Agreement on November 17, 1993.
Of Portman's work on the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union said, "He set a professional work environment that rose above partisanship and ultimately gave taxpayers more rights." Democratic Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones from Cleveland said Portman, "compared to other Republicans, is pleasant and good to work with." During the first four years of the George W. Bush Administration, Portman served as a liaison between congressional Republicans and the White House. Portman voted for the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. He was known for his willingness to work with Democrats to enact important legislation.
Portman has said that his proudest moments as a U.S. Representative were "when we passed the balanced budget agreement and the welfare reform bill." As a congressman, Portman traveled to Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait and Mexico. During his time in the House, Portman began assisting prominent Republican candidates prepare for debates by standing in for their opponents in practice debates. He took the role of Lamar Alexander (for Bob Dole in 1996), Al Gore (for George W. Bush in 2000), Hillary Clinton (for Rick Lazio in 2000), Joe Lieberman (for Dick Cheney in 2000), John Edwards (for Cheney in 2004), and Barack Obama (for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012). His portrayals mimic not only the person's point of view but also their mannerisms, noting for instance that he listened to Obama's audiobook reading to study his pattern of speech.