Jim Bacchus

Who is Jim Bacchus?

James Bacchus is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a former chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization.

Bacchus graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude with high honors in history. At Vanderbilt he was a Founders Scholar and member of Phi Beta Kappa. Bacchus earned a Master of Arts degree from Yale University in 1973 as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. Bacchus served in the United States Army between 1971 and 1977. In 1978, he received his J.D. with high honors from Florida State University College of Law. Bacchus was a member of the Order of the Coif and served as editor-in-chief of the FSU Law Review.

Bacchus was a member of the staff of Florida Governor Reubin Askew from 1974 to 1978, serving as speechwriter. He became Askew's special assistant from 1979 to 1981, after Askew was appointed U.S. Trade Representative.

In 1990, Bacchus was elected as a member of the Democratic Party to represent Florida's 11th congressional district in the 102nd Congress and Florida's 15th congressional district in the 103rd Congress from January 3, 1991 to January 3, 1995, and was not a candidate for reelection to the 104th Congress in 1994. Instead, from 1995 to 2003 he served on the Appellate Body of the WTO, rising to the position of chairman in 2001. He was the first American to sit as part of the Appellate Body.