THOMAS R. CARPER was born in Beckley, West Virginia, and grew up
in Danville, Virginia. He attended Ohio State University,
graduating in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He
completed five years of service as a naval flight officer,
serving in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. A member of
the Naval Reserve for nearly twenty years, he retired with the
rank of captain in 1991. In 1973, following his active military
service, he moved to Delaware to earn a master's degree in
business administration at the University of Delaware. He worked
in Delaware's economic development office from 1975 to 1976 and
then was elected state treasurer at age twenty-nine. He was
reelected in 1978 and 1980. As state treasurer, he established a
cash management system and played a major role in improving the
state's credit rating from the worst in the nation to a
respectable "AA" rating in just five years. He was elected in
1982 to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving five
consecutive terms. As a congressman, he c