The "Sen. John Fetterman Calls For Creation of Mental Health Commission" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a bit more about one of Pennsylvania's Senators, John Fetterman.  Sen. Fetterman was born August 15, 1969 at Reading Hospital in West Reading, PA.  His family eventually moved to York, Pennsylvania where he and his father became partners at an insurance firm.  His parents were conservative Republicans.  John had a self-described privileged upbringing; he said he "sleepwalked" as a young adult while playing four years of football in college, intending eventually to take over ownership of his father's business.  In 1991 he graduated from Albright College, also his father's alma mater, with a bachelor's in finance.  He received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut in 1993.  For two years he worked in Pittsburg as a risk-management underwriter for Chubb.  While John was studying at UConn, his best friend died in a car accident; this

Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA

impacted his life and career.  Fetterman joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of America pairing with an eight-year-old boy in New Haven, Connecticut, whose father had died from AIDS and whose mother was slowly dying from the disease.  During his time as a Big Brother, Fetterman says he became "preoccupied with the concept of the random lottery of birth", and promised the boy's mother he would continue to look out for her son after she was gone.  In 1995 John joined the recently founded AmeriCorps, and was sent to teach Pittsburgh students pursuing their GEDs.  He later attended Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, graduating in 1999 with a Master of Public Policy degree.  John began his corporate career working at an insurance firm.  He came to Braddock in 2001 to start an Out-of-School-Youth Program, helping local youth to earn their GEDs.  He moved to Braddock in 2004.  He ran for mayor of Braddock against the incumbent, Pauline Abdullah in 2005.   With backing from the town's young residents, he won the Democratic primary by a single vote.  Fetterman won the general election; he didn't face a Republican opponent.  In the 2009 Democratic primary for mayor of Braddock, Fetterman faced Jayme Cox who attacked him for failing to build consensus with the town council.  Cox also criticized him for abuse of power after he released non-public records that showed Cox was arrested in 2004.  Fetterman defeated Cox in the primary by a vote of 294-103 and was unopposed in the general election.  Fetterman handily won the Democratic primaries in 2013 and 2017, and was unopposed in the general elections.  On November 14, 2017, Fetterman announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, challenging incumbent lieutenant governor Mike Stack.  Fetterman was endorsed by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto and former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell.  On May 15, Fetterman won the Democratic primary for lieutenant Gov.  On November 6, 2018 Wolf and Fetterman defeated the Republican ticket of Wagner and Bartos in the General election.  Fetterman was sworn into office as the lietenant governor of Pennsylvania on January 15, 2019.  An Associate Press review of Fetterman's daily schedule during his tenure as Lieutenant Gov. found he kept a light work schedule and was often  absent from presiding over the PA State Senate, an official duty.  In November 2020, he received national press coverage for saying Donald Trump was "no different than any other random internet troll" and that he "can sue a ham sandwich" in response to Trump threatening to file lawsuits in Pennsylvania alleging voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.  Biden won the 2020 PA election with Trump claiming voter fraud.  Fetterman responded by certifying that Pennsylvania had discovered three cases of voter fraud; two men had cast ballots as their dead mothers (both for Trump), and another had voted on behalf of his son as well as himself (also for Trump).   On September 14, 2015, Fetterman announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Pat Toomey in the 2016 election.  Fetterman did lose that election, but in January 2021, he announced he was launching an exploratory committee for the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania.  On February 8, 2021 he officially entered the race.  Fetterman won the Democratic primary by a landslide.  In the general election he faced Republican nominee Mehmet Oz, a celebrity TV doctor.  In September of 2022, Oz called on Fetterman to debate him before early voting began in Pennsylvania.  Fetterman agreed to a single debate on October 25.  Although Fetterman led most pre-election polls, his debate performance helped Oz take a narrow lead before the election.  Fetterman won the election with 51.3% of the vote to Oz's 46.3%.  Fetterman took office on January 3, 2023 and at 6 feet, 8 inches tall is the tallest currently serving senator.  In my recent local newspaper, Sen. Fetterman has been open about his struggle with depression and wants to create a federal commission focused on mental health.  The commission would study coverage of mental health services, reimbursement rates for mental health care services, and workforce challenges in the mental health field.  In Fetterman's first year in office he checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in February of 2023 and stayed there for 6 weeks.  "Before I sought help for my depression, I was the biggest cynic - but it truly worked," Fetterman said.  He worried that his being open about his stroke would damage his career, but he was largely applauded by colleagues despite mental health often being stigmatized.  John is a member of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus.  His proposed commission has the support of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Association of Suicidology, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Children's Hospital Association, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.  Best of wishes to John in his recovery and his attempt to help others.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.