Bob Corker 2016: 7 Facts About Personal Life of Potential GOP Presidential Hopeful

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker may not yet be a household name, but as a GOP presidential hopeful in 2016, he may soon rise to the spotlight. To familiarize you with the senator, we’ve put together a few facts about his personal life to paint a better picture of the man.

1. Bob Corker was born in South Carolina and moved to Tennessee at age 11. In his race against Rep. Harold Ford Jr. in 2006 to replace outgoing Sen. Bill Frist, he called himself the “real Tennessean,” according to the Christian Science Monitor, which quoted him as saying, “I just know that I more fully represent the values of this state.”

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2. The Corker family lives in Chattanooga, where Corker was mayor. Bob and his wife, Elizabeth, were married on Jan. 10, 1987. They have two daughters, Julia and Emily.

3. Corker took a job picking up trash at age 13. Through his teen years, he bagged ice, worked at Western Auto and “(put) in long hours as a construction laborer,” according to the biography on his Senate Web page.

4. Corker started his own construction company and eventually branched out into commercial real estate development. A mission trip to Haiti led him to “take a closer look at needs in his own community,” according to the Senate campaign website. That led him to start a nonprofit that “helped over 10,000 families secure decent, fit, and affordable housing through low-interest loans and personal training in home maintenance.”

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5. While running for the Senate, Corker sold many of his business holdings to Henry Luken, another Chattanooga businessman. The deal included the management company and most of the holdings of the Corker Group, which included 20 commercial buildings and a shopping center, according to TheChattanoogan.com

6. His wife, Elizabeth Corker, has remained in Chattanooga while he has served in the Senate and “loves her anonymity,” Bob Corker told The Associated Press.

7. Corker, a millionaire, donates his entire Senate paycheck to charity, according to an AP candidate biography.

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