--- title: See Bernie Sanders' Career in Photographs description: Before he was a Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders was a socialist activist and mayor of Burlington, Vt. canonical: https://time.com/4040025/bernie-sanders-career-photos/ author: TIME Photo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-18T22:58:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:41.812Z article:section: Politics og:title: See Bernie Sanders' Career in Photographs og:description: Before he was a Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders was a socialist activist and mayor of Burlington, Vt. og:url: https://time.com/4040025/bernie-sanders-career-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc59e8b3c936be2c0/69886431e20a87d3cfa8d4d6/bernie-sanders-elections-2015-24.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Bernie Sanders - Election 2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Bernie Sanders' Career in Photographs twitter:description: Before he was a Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders was a socialist activist and mayor of Burlington, Vt. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc59e8b3c936be2c0/69886431e20a87d3cfa8d4d6/bernie-sanders-elections-2015-24.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Bernie Sanders' Career in Photographs > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Sep 18, 2015 10:58 PM UTC  Bernie Sanders in his office after winning his first election as the mayor of Burlington, Vt. on Sept. 15, 1981. Bernie Sanders in his office after winning his first election as the mayor of Burlington, Vt. on Sept. 15, 1981. Donna Light—AP by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Sep 18, 2015 10:58 PM UTC  Bernie Sanders (R), member of the steering committee, stands next to George Beadle, University of Chicago president, who is speaking at a Committee On Racial Equality meeting on housing sit-ins. 1962. Special Collections Research Center/University of Chicago Library  A photo taken on July 22, 2015 of Bernie Sanders and his son is seen in an old clip from an alternative newspaper called the Vermont Freeman in Burlington, VT. The Washington Post/Getty Images  Bernie Sanders in his office after winning his first election as the mayor of Burlington, Vt. on Sept. 15, 1981. Donna Light—AP  Bernie Sanders, right, greeted voters at a Burlington polling place on March 1, 1983 in Burlington, Vt. Donna Light—AP  Bernie Sanders and his campaign celebrating after his mayoral re-election circa 1983 in Burlington, Vt. Courtesy of Bernie Sanders Campaign  Bernie Sanders recording his singing in a studio Nov. 20, 1987 in Burlington, Vt. Toby Talbot—AP  Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane O'Meara in Washington circa 1991. Courtesy of Bernie Sanders Campaign  Bernie Sanders, James Jeffords and Patrick Leahy toast to the passing of the Northeast Dairy Compact on June 14, 2006 in Montpelier, Vt. Toby Talbot—AP  Bernie Sanders officially announces his candidacy for U.S. Senate on May 19, 2006, at the Unitarian Church in Burlington, Vt. Alden Pelett—AP  Bernie Sanders and the other members of the Vermont Congressional delegation at the annual lighting of U.S. Capitol Christmas on Dec. 5, 2007 in Washington. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks during a rally in support of Social Security with Sen. Tom Harkin and Bernie Sanders on March 28, 2011 in Washington. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  Rep. Steve Cohen and Bernie Sanders attend a rally near the reflection pool, held by 350.org to protest the amount of money members of Congress receive from the fossil fuel industry on Jan. 24, 2012. Tom Williams—Getty Images  Bernie Sanders at the signing ceremony of Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act on Aug. 7, 2014 in Belvoir, Va. Alex Wong—Getty Images  Bernie Sanders waits to speak at a rally to advocate for an increase in pay to $15 USD per hour, as part of a "Fight for $15" labor effort on April 22, 2015 in Washington. Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images  Bernie Sanders shakes Colleen Green's hand as he leaves a town hall meeting on May 11, 2015\. in Charlottesville, Va. Jay Paul— Reuters  Bernie Sanders kisses his wife, Jane O'Meara, before officially announcing his candidacy for the U.S. presidency during an event at Waterfront Park May 26, 2015 in Burlington, Vt. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Bernie Sanders delivers remarks at a town meeting at the South Church May 27, 2015 in Portsmouth, N.H. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Bernie Sanders speaks during a news conference to discuss legislation to restore pension guarantees for thousands of retired union workers on June 18, 2015 in Washington. Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  Bernie Sanders kisses his wife Jane O'Meara during a campaign event on Aug. 10, 2015 in Los Angeles. Bloomberg/Getty Images  Bernie Sanders speaks to a primarily Latino audience during a campaign stop at the Muscatine Boxing Club on Sept. 4, 2015 in Muscatine, Iowa. Bloomberg/Getty Images  Bernie Sanders and Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, listen to a prayer during a Liberty University Convocation on Sept. 14, 2015 in Lynchburg, Va. Bloomberg/Getty Images  Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, right, and his wife Jane O’Meara, wave to the crowd as he is announced onstage to speak to supporters during a campaign rally on Sept. 14, 2015 in Manassas, Va. Cliff Owen—AP  Bernie Sanders joins Cornell William Brooks in a march with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Sept. 15, 2015 from Selma, Ala. to Washington. Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4040025/bernie-sanders-career-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4040025/bernie-sanders-career-photos/"},"headline":"See Bernie Sanders' Career in Photographs","datePublished":"2015-09-18T22:58:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:43:41.812Z","description":"Before he was a Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. 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