ATLANTA — Johnny Isakson, an affable Georgia Republican politician who rose from the ranks of the state Legislature to become a U.S.
In the Senate, he was the architect of a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers that he said would help invigorate the struggling housing market.
“His work to champion our veterans, deliver disaster relief for Georgia farmers after Hurricane Michael, and always stand up for Georgia’s best interest in the U.S.
In 2015, while gearing up to seek a third term in the Senate, Isakson disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a chronic and progressive movement disorder that had left him with a noticeably slower, shuffling gate.
In a farewell speech on the Senate floor, Isakson pleaded for bipartisanship in Congress at a time of bitter divisions between Republicans and Democrats.
The Atlanta native made his first bid for elected office in 1974 when he ran — and lost — a race for the Georgia House of Representatives.
Isakson was viewed as a prohibitive early favorite to succeed Republican Sonny Perdue in the governor’s mansion in 2010.
Isakson supported limited school vouchers and played a major role in crafting Bush’s signature education plan, the No Child Left Behind Act.
It grew to one of the largest independent residential real estate brokerage companies in the country during his more than 20 years at the helm.