his wife's cancer and his own growing health concerns caused him to decide it was time to retire. On September 27, 2006, Jeffords delivered his farewell speech on the Senate floor. Floor speeches by and in tribute to retiring senators are a Senate tradition, but only one Republican senator, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, spoke on the floor in praise of Jeffords. After his retirement, Jeffords was succeeded in the U.S. Senate by Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic Party. Jeffords died of Alzheimer's disease on August 18, 2014, at Knollwood, a military retirement facility in Washington, D.C., where he had lived for eight years. He was 80 years old. He was buried at Northam Cemetery in North Shrewsbury. See also List of American politicians who switched parties in office List of United States senators who switched parties The Singing Senators References Further reading James M. Jeffords, My Declaration of Independence (Simon & Schuster, 2001). James M. Jeffords, An Independent Man (Simon & Schuster, 2003). External links govtrack.us |- |- |- |- |- |- 1934 births 1972 United States presidential electors 2014 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American Congregationalists American prosecutors Burials in Vermont Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Democratic Party United States senators from Vermont Neurological disease deaths in Washington, D.C. Harvard Law School alumni Independent United States senators Military personnel from Vermont People from Rutland (city), Vermont People from Shrewsbury, Vermont Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont Republican Party United States senators from Vermont Sierra Club awardees United States Navy officers Vermont Attorneys General Vermont Independents Vermont state senators Writers from Vermont Yale University alumni