Get to Know Chris Dodd

Dec. 27, 2007 — -- Charles Gibson spoke with Chris Dodd in the last installment of an ABC News series called "Who Is," which features one interview a week with a presidential candidate, with a focus on their private lives.

Watch the full interview tonight on "World News With Charles Gibson" at 6:30 ET

Even as a child, Sen. Chris Dodd was no stranger to the campaign.

Born on May 27, 1944, in Willimantic, Conn., Dodd grew up in a home pervaded by politics. His father, Thomas J. Dodd, served as a representative and senator to Connecticut and instilled in his young son the importance of public service and politics.

"There was always the campaign photograph that was taken. And there were moments on election night or a convention where you'd come out and be there," Dodd said. "I was very much aware that my father was in public life."

The fifth of six children, Dodd had to fight to gain recognition in his large Irish Catholic family.

"[My mother] would cook for seven. So you had to eat quickly, too, to get that seventh chop or that seventh hamburger."

Still, Dodd found his place among his siblings — his mother called him her "gentle soul."

"I'm sort of a conciliator. I'm the one who would always try to bring people together," Dodd said.

When Dodd was only a year old, his father went to Nuremberg, Germany, to be one of the lead prosecutors for the Nazi war-crimes tribunals. He was away from Dodd and the rest of the family for a year and a half. After his father's return, young Dodd was affectionately nicknamed "the shadow," because he followed his father around so much.

"I was fascinated by this guy," Dodd said. "Even in those very early years, I think it had some effect in terms of how I saw my father's role, and I wanted to follow what he did in life."

Dodd first followed in his father's footsteps by attending Providence College, the older Dodd's alma mater. However, by Dodd's own admission, he was not ready for the responsibilities of college life.

"If I could do anything over, I'd do four years of college over. I just wasn't ready for it -- intellectually or socially mature enough to really appreciate it," Dodd said.