Rick Santorum was born May 10, 1958, in Winchester, Virginia, and was raised in Butler, Pennsylvania. Santorum graduated high school and went on to attend The Pennsylvania State University. This is where he first became actively involved in the political process. He graduated with the class of 1980 and received a degree in political science. After that, he went on and received his M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh. Santorum then moved to Harrisburg where he worked as Administrative Assistant to State Senator J. Doyle Corman and also received his J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law. After all that, he returned to Western Pennsylvania to put all his education to good use.

In 1990, Santorum became the United States Representative for the 18th District of Pennsylvania. He was re-elected to this seat and set his sights higher to serving in the Senate. On January 4, 1995, Santorum was sworn in as the United States Senator from Pennsylvania at the age of 36, the youngest in history, having defeated incumbent Senator Harris Wofford. In addition to Santorum's success in 1990, he also married Karen Garver Santorum.

As Senator, Santorum stands strong for his position on issues. Santorum is a Republican and his position on issues is conservative. Santorum is the first Keystone State Senator to be a member of the Agriculture Committee since 1904. Santorum played a pivotal role in the creation of the Farmland Preservation Program; it was included in the 1996 Farm Bill. The 1996 Farm Bill provides federal funding to assist state and local farmland preservation efforts. Santorum has ultimately played an instrumental role in passing different legislations to benefit Pennsylvania's farmers.

Santorum was instrumental in campaigning legislation to ban partial birth abortions in 2003. On November 5, 2003, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 was passed by both Houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Bush.

It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good is the first book written by Rick Santorum; it was written in 2005. His book reached #13 on the New York Times Best Sellers List in the week of August 14, 2005. His book essentially says that it is the traditional families and not the federal government that must be at the core of a structured and just society. This book brings up a lot of controversial issues such as same-sex marriages and abortion. A quotation from his book, "Liberalism is an ideology; conservatism is common sense," shows his stance throughout the book. According to Santorum, the conservative mission is defined as stewardship of a patrimony with stewardship meaning caretaker and patrimony meaning inheritance. Santorum says we need to invest in our economy, culture, social interactions, values, and methods as we pass all good things onto the next generation. This starts out with a strong family. This book really reinforces Santorum's conservative position.

On February 22, 2006, Santorum submitted an editorial to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The editorial included his concerns with the proposed sale of operations in the vital American ports. He sent a letter to President George Bush telling him to use every resource he has for the prevention of this security risk from taking place. Santorum said, "If our ports are not protected, then, truthfully, neither are we."

Santorum's peers in Senate elected him Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference in 2001. Santorum and his wife Karen have been married for 16 years and have six children aging from four to 14 years of age. Aside from making his career in politics, Santorum is most proud of his role as a great husband and a wonderful father. In his 2006 re-election bid, Santorum was defeated by Robert Casey, Jr. Santorum has since joined the Washington-based law firm of Eckert Seamans. He still maintains a residence in Penn Hills.