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Early life, education, and legal careerBorn to parents Aldo (1923-2011)[6][7] and Catherine Santorum (née Dughi, born 1918)[7] in Winchester, Virginia, Santorum was raised in Berkeley County, West Virginia and Butler County, Pennsylvania. His father was an Italian immigrant, originally from Riva del Garda, Italy;[6] his mother is of half-Italian and half-Irish descent.[8][9][10][11]

During his childhood, Santorum’s parents worked at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in Butler with the family living at the VA hospital post. His father became licensed as a clinical psychologist in August 1974.[12] While living in bulter, Santorum attended schools in the Butler Area School District[13] where he gained the nickname “Rooster”, reportedly because he “always had a few errant hairs on the back of his head that refused to stay down”, and he was “dogged and determined like a rooster and never backed down”.[14]

Santorum graduated from Carmel High School in Mundelein, Illinois, in 1976,[15] where his father transferred within the VA hospital system. He lists his residency as Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, and maintains a home in Virginia for his work in Washington, D.C.

Santorum earned a B.A. in political science from Pennsylvania State University in 1980 and an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1981. In 1986, Santorum received a Juris Doctorate degree from the Dickinson School of Law, was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, and began practicing in Pittsburgh at the law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, (now known as K&L Gates. Representing the World Wrestling Federation in one case while with K&L, Santorum argued professional wrestling should be exempt from federal anabolic steroid regulations because it was not an actual sport, rather, entertainment.[16] Santorum met his future wife, Karen Garver, while he was recruiting summer interns for Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Garver was a law student at the University of Pittsburgh.[14] Santorum left private practice after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1990.

Early political career
Santorum served in the United States Senate representing Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007.Santorum first became actively involved in politics through volunteering for the late Senator John Heinz, a Republican from Pennsylvania. After earning his Juris Doctor, Santorum became an administrative assistant to Republican state Senator Doyle Corman, working for Corman until 1986. He was director of the Pennsylvanian Senate’s local government committee from 1981 to 1984, then director of the Pennsylvanian Senate’s Transportation Committee until 1986.

In 1990, at age 32, Santorum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district, located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. He scored a significant upset, defeating a seven-term Democratic incumbent Doug Walgren by a 51%-49% margin.[17] Although the 18th District was heavily Democratic, Santorum heavily criticized Walgren for living outside the district for most of the year.[18]

The 18th District was redrawn for the 1992 elections, and the new district had a 3:1 ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans; Santorum still won re-election with 61% of the vote.[19] In Congress, as a member of the Gang of Seven, Santorum was involved in the naming of the Representatives involved in the House banking scandal.