Max Sieben Baucus is the United States Ambassador to China. He served as a United States Senator from Montana from December 15, 1978, until shortly after being confirmed as Ambassador on February 6, 2014. Baucus was the longest-serving U.S. senator from Montana. A member of the Democratic Party, Baucus was appointed to serve as Ambassador to China by President Barack Obama, succeeding Gary Locke. As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Baucus played an influential role in the debate over health care reform in the United States. He was also chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and was chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Before his election to the Senate, Baucus was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1978, representing Montana's 1st congressional district. He previously served in the Montana House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974. [More at Wikipedia]

December 11th, 1941 in Helena (Age 82)