Senator Johnny Isakson, Biography

Biography of Senator Johnny Isakson

Johnny Isakson is a businessman, a public servant and family man whose common-sense approach and conservative values have made him a leader in Georgia for over 30 years.

Johnny began his business career in 1967 when he opened the first Cobb County office of a small, family-owned real estate business, Northside Realty. Johnny later served as president of Northside for 20 years, presiding over the company’s growth into the largest independent residential real estate brokerage company in the Southeast and one of the largest in America.

Johnny entered Georgia Republican politics in 1974 and served 17 years in the Georgia Legislature and three years as Chairman of the Georgia Board of Education. In 1999, Johnny was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first of three terms before being elected to the United States Senate in November of 2004.

In Washington, Johnny has proven to be a leader who gets results. Johnny helped pass the President's 2001 tax relief package, the largest tax cut in a generation, and is committed to making it permanent. He has worked to strengthen our Armed Forces, and continues to show unwavering commitment to the men and women who serve our country. Johnny was an original author of the President's No Child Left Behind Act, the most significant improvement to our education system in a generation. He has worked to enhance and maintain Georgia's roads, while also working for mass transit alternatives to reduce congestion and improve air quality. And he continues to push for immigration reform that is built on a foundation of securing our borders first.

Johnny is a 1966 graduate of the University of Georgia and he served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972. Johnny and his wife, Dianne, have three children and eight grandchildren. Johnny and Dianne have been married 40 years, and they attend Mount Zion United Methodist Church, where Johnny taught sixth grade Sunday School for 30 years.