Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is an American politician, academic administrator, and attorney who served as a U.S. senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he was previously the 45th governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987 and the 5th United States Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush, serving from 1991 to 1993. During his tenure at the Department of Education, he supported the implementation of the "America 2000" education reform initiative.

Born in Maryville, Tennessee, Alexander graduated from Vanderbilt University and the New York University School of Law. After establishing a legal career in Nashville, Tennessee, Alexander ran for Governor of Tennessee in 1974, but was defeated by Democrat Ray Blanton. Alexander ran for governor again in 1978, and this time defeated his Democratic opponent, Jake Butcher. He won re-election in 1982 and served as chairman of the National Governors Association from 1985 to 1986.

Alexander served as the president of the University of Tennessee from 1988 until 1991, when he accepted an appointment as Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush. Alexander sought the presidential nomination in the 1996 Republican primaries, but withdrew before the Super Tuesday primaries. He sought the nomination again in the 2000 Republican primaries, but dropped out after a poor showing in the Iowa Straw Poll.

In 2002, Alexander was elected to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Fred Thompson. Alexander defeated Congressman Ed Bryant in the Republican primary and Democratic Congressman Bob Clement in the general election. He served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference from 2007 to 2012 and as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee from 2015 to 2021. He introduced the Every Student Succeeds Act, which supplanted the No Child Left Behind Act in 2015. On December 17, 2018, Alexander announced that he would not run for a fourth term in the Senate in 2020.

Alexander was born and raised in Maryville, Tennessee, the son of Genevra Floreine (née Rankin), a preschool teacher, and Andrew Lamar Alexander, a high school principal. His family is of Scotch-Irish descent. He attended Maryville High School, where he was class president, and was elected governor of Tennessee Boys State.

In 1962, Alexander graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American studies. He was a member of Sigma Chi. Alexander was the editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler, the primary student newspaper on campus, and he advocated for the open admission of African Americans. At Vanderbilt, he was a member of the track and field team. In 1965, he obtained his Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law.

After graduating from law school, Alexander clerked for United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge John Minor Wisdom in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1965 to 1966.

In 1967, Alexander worked as a legislative assistant for Senator Howard Baker. While a staffer, he was briefly roommates with future U.S. Senator Trent Lott, and met his future wife at a staffer softball game. In 1969, he worked for Bryce Harlow, President Richard Nixon's executive assistant. In 1970, he moved back to Tennessee, serving as campaign manager for Memphis dentist Winfield Dunn's successful gubernatorial bid. Dunn was the first Republican in 50 years to win the governorship. After this campaign, Alexander co-founded and worked as a partner in the Nashville law firm of Dearborn and Ewing. Meanwhile, Alexander rented a garage apartment to Thomas W. Beasley, a student at the Vanderbilt Law School who later co-founded Corrections Corporation of America.