Gephardt was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from South West High School in 1958. He earned his B.S. at Northwestern University in 1962 and earned his J.D. at the University of Michigan Law School in 1965.
In 1965, he was admitted to the Missouri bar. He then entered the Missouri Air National Guard, where he served until 1971. He was Democratic committeeman in St. Louis between 1968-1971, moving up to alderman 1971-1976. He was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fifth and to the twelve succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1977-January 3, 2003).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. He was majority leader of the House from 1989-1995 (One Hundred First through One Hundred Third Congresses), and minority leader from 1995-2003 (One Hundred Fourth through One Hundred Seventh Congresses).
He announced his candidacy for President in the 2004 presidential election on January 5, 2003.
