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David Perdue
David Alfred Perdue Jr. (born December 10, 1949) is an American diplomat, politician, and businessman serving as the 14th United States ambassador to China since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Perdue previously served as a United States senator for Georgia from 2015 to 2021. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Georgia in 2022.
After 12 years as a management consultant, Perdue became the senior vice president for Reebok, eventually becoming CEO. He later joined PillowTex, a North Carolina textile company; the company went bankrupt and folded shortly after his departure in 2003. He subsequently became CEO of Dollar General.
Perdue first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn, daughter of former U.S. senator Sam Nunn. Perdue ran for reelection in 2020, losing to Democrat Jon Ossoff, a former investigative journalist and filmmaker, in a January 5, 2021, runoff election. After the November 2020 presidential election, Perdue called for the resignation of Georgia's top elections official and claimed that there were unspecified "failures" in the election. He later supported a lawsuit by Trump allies seeking to overturn the election results, and falsely claimed during his 2022 gubernatorial election campaign that his 2020 Senate election was "stolen."
Perdue was linked to the 2020 congressional insider trading scandal for allegations of STOCK Act violations. The basis was stocks he sold before the 2020 stock market crash allegedly using knowledge from a closed Senate meeting. The U.S. Department of Justice closed its inquiry in mid-2020 without bringing charges. Perdue unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election against incumbent Brian Kemp.
On December 5, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump named Perdue as his nominee for United States ambassador to China. On April 29, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed Perdue by a vote of 67 to 29, and he presented his credentials on May 16, 2025.
David Perdue was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of David Alfred Perdue Sr., and the former Gervaise Wynn, both schoolteachers. His father, a Democrat, was the elected superintendent of schools for Houston County, Georgia, from 1961 to 1980, where he oversaw the desegregation of the school system.
Perdue was raised in Warner Robins, Georgia, and graduated from Northside High School in 1968, where he was an excellent student, a varsity athlete, and class president. He went to college for one year at the United States Air Force Academy starting in June 1968, after receiving an appointment from Congressman Jack Brinkley of Georgia, but dropped out after earning low grades. In 1969 Perdue wrote to Congressman Brinkley that he wanted to quit the Air Force Academy writing, "I have made a mistake and I do not want this type of career."
Perdue later transferred to Georgia Tech, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering in 1972, and a Master of Science degree in operations research in 1975.
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David Perdue
David Alfred Perdue Jr. (born December 10, 1949) is an American diplomat, politician, and businessman serving as the 14th United States ambassador to China since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Perdue previously served as a United States senator for Georgia from 2015 to 2021. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Georgia in 2022.
After 12 years as a management consultant, Perdue became the senior vice president for Reebok, eventually becoming CEO. He later joined PillowTex, a North Carolina textile company; the company went bankrupt and folded shortly after his departure in 2003. He subsequently became CEO of Dollar General.
Perdue first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn, daughter of former U.S. senator Sam Nunn. Perdue ran for reelection in 2020, losing to Democrat Jon Ossoff, a former investigative journalist and filmmaker, in a January 5, 2021, runoff election. After the November 2020 presidential election, Perdue called for the resignation of Georgia's top elections official and claimed that there were unspecified "failures" in the election. He later supported a lawsuit by Trump allies seeking to overturn the election results, and falsely claimed during his 2022 gubernatorial election campaign that his 2020 Senate election was "stolen."
Perdue was linked to the 2020 congressional insider trading scandal for allegations of STOCK Act violations. The basis was stocks he sold before the 2020 stock market crash allegedly using knowledge from a closed Senate meeting. The U.S. Department of Justice closed its inquiry in mid-2020 without bringing charges. Perdue unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election against incumbent Brian Kemp.
On December 5, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump named Perdue as his nominee for United States ambassador to China. On April 29, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed Perdue by a vote of 67 to 29, and he presented his credentials on May 16, 2025.
David Perdue was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of David Alfred Perdue Sr., and the former Gervaise Wynn, both schoolteachers. His father, a Democrat, was the elected superintendent of schools for Houston County, Georgia, from 1961 to 1980, where he oversaw the desegregation of the school system.
Perdue was raised in Warner Robins, Georgia, and graduated from Northside High School in 1968, where he was an excellent student, a varsity athlete, and class president. He went to college for one year at the United States Air Force Academy starting in June 1968, after receiving an appointment from Congressman Jack Brinkley of Georgia, but dropped out after earning low grades. In 1969 Perdue wrote to Congressman Brinkley that he wanted to quit the Air Force Academy writing, "I have made a mistake and I do not want this type of career."
Perdue later transferred to Georgia Tech, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering in 1972, and a Master of Science degree in operations research in 1975.
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