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Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III (born December 26, 1955) is an American politician who has served as a U.S. Senator from Indiana since 1999 and is a member of the Democratic Party.
Bayh was born in Shirkieville, Indiana. His father, Birch E. Bayh II, was a U.S. Senator from 1963 to 1981 and ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1976, but lost it to Jimmy Carter. The younger Bayh graduated with honors in business economics and public policy from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business in 1978, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi, and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1981. After clerking for a federal court judge and entering private law practice in Indianapolis, he was elected Indiana's Secretary of State in 1986. He served two terms as the governor of Indiana, from 1989 to 1997. His administration was considered cautious but successful (even by Republicans in the state), creating a large state surplus and permitting him to cut taxes.
Bayh was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998. He easily won reelection in 2004. He serves on six Senate committees: Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, on which he is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance; Armed Services; the Select Committee on Intelligence; Energy and Natural Resources; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Small Business Committee.
He was considered a possible running mate for Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election and was selected by Bill Clinton to give the keynote address at the 1996 Democratic National Convention to reinforce his efforts to cast himself and the Democratic Party with a new moderate image. Some experts and pundits initially considered Bayh to be a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election due to his native Indiana being a key state in the important Midwest (although not a swing state unless Bayh were nominated). After the re-election of George W. Bush in the 2004 election, Bayh is also considered to be a possible 2008 Presidential nominee due to his appeal to "red state" voters and his percieved electability. He released a biography in 2003 entitled From Father to Son: A Private Life in the Public Eye. He describes growing up as the son of Senator Birch Bayh and emphasizes the importance of active, responsible fatherhood.
 He serves as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and is a member of the Senate Centrist Coalition. He helped establish the New Democrat Coalition. Bayh also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy.
He and his wife Susan have twin sons, born in 1995. She is a law professor and serves on several corporate boards.
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