January 8, 2010 2:22PM 

# Retiring Sen. Dorgan Was Mad about Trade 

By [Daniel Griswold](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-griswold) 

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When Sen. Byron Dorgan, D‑ND, announced this week that [he would not be running for re-election in November](http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/102139/group/Government/), he explained that he wanted to pursue other interests such as teaching and writing more books.

As a senator, Dorgan opposed almost all efforts to liberalize trade unless it involved Cuba or the re-importation of price-controlled drugs. He holds the distinction of being the second most frequently mentioned politician (behind only Barack Obama) in my Cato book, [*Mad about Trade*,](http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&method=&pid=1441444) something that I’m sure the senator would consider a badge of honor.

[Here is my critical but eminently fair review](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10860) of his 2006 book, *Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America*.

##### Related Tags 

[Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy), [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies) 

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