Senator Dorgan served in the US Senate leadership for 14 years, first as Assistant Democratic Floor Leader and then as Chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. He has had a prolific career in public service at both the state and federal levels. He served as the elected State Tax Commissioner for the state of North Dakota for over 10 years. He served 12 years in the US House of Representatives and 18 years in the US Senate.

Over the course of his career in public office, Senator Dorgan consistently promoted and defended the economic needs of rural America, advocated for renewable energy and energy independence, and for sound economic policies. He was a senior senator on the Appropriations, Energy, and Commerce Committees in the Senate and chairman of key subcommittees on aviation, energy, water, and Indian issues. He served on the Ways and Means Committee in the House. He is recognized as a leader in energy, aviation, agriculture, water, economic, and Indian issues.

Senator Dorgan is a New York Times bestselling author of three books, Reckless! How Debt, Deregulation and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America, Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America, and his first novel published in March 2012, titled Blowout.

Senator Dorgan is married to Kim Dorgan and has four children: Scott, Shelly (deceased), Brendon, and Haley.