Johnny Isakson, American sergeant and politician
John Hardy Isakson (December 28, 1944 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman and politician who served as a United States Senator from Georgia from 2005 to 2019 as a member of the Republican Party. He represented Georgia's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Isakson served in the Georgia Air National Guard (1966–1972) and graduated from the University of Georgia. He opened a real estate branch for Northside Realty and later served 22 years as the company's president. After a failed bid for the Georgia House of Representatives in 1974, he was elected in 1976. He served seven terms, including four as minority leader. Isakson was the Republican candidate for governor of Georgia in 1990, but lost. Two years later, he was elected to the Georgia Senate and served one term. He unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary in the 1996 U.S. Senate election.
After 6th District Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich resigned, Isakson ran in the February 1999 special election to succeed him, winning by a 40-point margin. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 after Democratic incumbent Zell Miller opted not to run for re-election. With the backing of much of Georgia's Republican establishment, he won both the primary and general elections by wide margins. He became the senior Senator from Georgia when Saxby Chambliss retired in 2015. On December 31, 2019, midway through his third Senate term, Isakson resigned from the Senate due to health concerns and was succeeded by fellow Republican Kelly Loeffler who was appointed by Brian Kemp, the Republican Governor of Georgia, to fill the vacant seat.