Thomas Shelby

Thomas Sashko Shelby (born November 23, 1950 - January 2, 2000) is an American politician serving as New York's Senior Senator in the United States Senate from January 20th, 1994 to September 22nd, 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, Shelby was the only active immigrant Senator during his time in office. He ran for the Democratic nomination for President in 1996.

Growing up out of Manhattan and a graduate of Columbia University, Shelby was a three-term member of the New York State Assembly from 1985 to 1990. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1992 to 1996, representing New York's 9th congressional district. In 1998, Shelby resigned seemingly out of nowhere.

Early life and education (1950-1974)
Shelby was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 23rd, 1950. The son of Irish oil tycoon, Mickey Shelby and his wife, Grace Shelby. He and his family had moved to New York City when he'd just been 3 years old. He attended public schools, scoring 1600 on the SAT and graduating as the valedictorian of Stuyvesant High School. Then he attended Columbia University, where he majored in social studies. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1974.

Early Career (1974-1992)
Shelby begun his career with a job in the New York Times. He worked as an editor from 1975 to 1981, when he decided to quit to pursuit his political career. In 1984, he volunteered on Former President Nico Thomsen-Holland's campaign and after his victory, decided to run for the New York State Assembly. He got elected and he served three terms from 1985 to 1990.

U.S. Congress (1992-1998)
After a two-year break from politics, Shelby announced his bid for U.S Representative for New York's 9th congressional district in late 1992. He won unopposed and got re-elected in 1994. He introduced the now controversial "Cheaper Healthcare Act", which failed and is now considered a disaster for him. Even still, in 1996, he decided to run for the U.S. Senate. His opponent was the then unpopular Bojanglles. Shelby won in an absolute landslide, getting 100% of the vote. In the Senate, he introduced the "Protect our Kids Act" which passed both the Senate and the House and got signed into law by Former President Max Badonker. Later, he wrote the "Affordable Housing Act", which failed in the Senate after republicans opposed it for being "too socialist". In 1996, Shelby announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for President, where due to his lack of name recognition and unpopularity, dropped out before the start of the primaries. In 1998, suddenly, Shelby announced his resignation. The reason he gave in his statement was his inability to be helpful to his constituents, but to this day, the real reason remains a mistery.

Death
Thomas Shelby died on January 2nd, 2000 in his home in New York City. The cause of death is reported to be suicide.