Metzenbaum was one of the Senate's wealthiest members, yet he prospered in politics for more than half a century as a champion of working men and women.

Metzenbaum's outlook was forged by the Depression, and his politics by Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. He remained an unreconstructed liberal Democrat to the end.

He achieved near-legendary status as a foe of big business, an advocate for consumer causes, and a tough infighter blocking scores of special interest bills. He believed he could have won a fourth consecutive term, but made way for a run by his son-in-law, lawyer Joel Hyatt, who lost the Senate seat to Republican Mike DeWine.