Strickland was born in Lucasville, Ohio, the son of Carrie (Carver) and Charles Orville Strickland. He was one of nine children. A 1959 graduate of Northwest High School, Strickland went on to be the first member of his family to attend college. Strickland received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in psychology from Asbury College in 1963. In 1966, he received a Master of Arts degree in guidance counseling from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Divinity from the Asbury Theological Seminary in 1967. He then returned to the University of Kentucky to earn his Ph.D in counseling psychology in 1980. He is married to Frances Strickland, an educational psychologist.

Strickland ran for U.S. representative for Ohio’s 6th congressional district in 1976, 1978, and 1980, losing twice to long-time incumbent William H. Harsha and later to Harsha’s successor and campaign manager, Bob McEwen.

Strickland ran again for the 6th District seat in 1992, once again facing Bob McEwen, who had suffered some political damage by being associated with the House banking scandal. The 6th District had been combined with the old 10th District when Ohio lost two seats in Congress following the 1990 census and now covered a huge area stretching from Lebanon, in Warren County, to Marietta, in Washington County on the opposite side of the state. The district proved a difficult place to campaign, representing half a dozen different media markets and home to no large cities and few unifying influences.

Patrick J. Buchanan, Vice President Dan Quayle, and Oliver North came to Ohio to campaign for McEwen, but Strickland narrowly won in the general election on November 3, 1992. He received 122,720 votes to McEwen’s 119,252, a plurality of 3,468 – just over 1.4%. Strickland began serving in January 1993 in the 103rd Congress.

Strickland was among the many Democrats who lost their offices in the Republican surge of 1994, narrowly losing to businessman Frank Cremeans. Strickland reclaimed his seat two years later in a similarly narrow victory, and took office in January 1997 with the 105th Congress. He faced a strong challenge from Lieutenant Governor Nancy Hollister in 1998, but turned it back; in the next three elections he was reelected by large margins, running unopposed in 2004. Strickland served on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Strickland successfully ran for Governor of Ohio in 2006, when Governor Bob Taft was term-limited and could not run for re-election. Strickland selected former Ohio Attorney General and 1998 Democratic nominee for governor Lee Fisher as his running mate. He was sworn in as governor on January 8, 2007.

Strickland won the Democratic primary on May 2, 2006, with 80 percent of the vote.

In September 2006, a group called Republicans for Strickland publicly announced their support for Strickland at a press conference.

In the November general election, he was challenged by Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Libertarian economist Bill Peirce and Green Bob Fitrakis. He won the general election on November 7, 2006, capturing 60% of the vote. Blackwell finished in second with 37% of the vote.

In June 2007, Ohio lawmakers approved a $52 billion budget for fiscal year 2008-09. In January 2008, facing a revenue shortfall, Strickland ordered a $733 million reduction in state spending, including job cuts and the closure of state mental hospitals. Strickland cut another $540 million from the budget in September 2008. In December 2008, Strickland announced a $640 million budget gap. In 2009, Strickland signed legislation which postponed the last of five scheduled income tax rate reductions from 2009 until 2011.The move used $844 million in anticipated tax refunds to fill the gap in the state budget.

Strickland signed an executive order in 2007 that unified the state’s higher education system by creating the University System of Ohio.

In 2007, Strickland signed legislation exempting military veterans’ retirement benefits from state taxation. He signed an executive order creating a council to oversee the eventual establishment of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services as a cabinet-level agency. In 2008, he signed an executive order creating the Ohio G.I. Promise, which charges in-state tuition to all veterans attending the state’s public colleges on the G.I. bill. In 2008, he vetoed legislation which would have given small cash bonuses to veterans of wars in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan from the state’s rainy day fund.

The theft of an Ohio government computer backup tape in June 2007 was widely reported in the media after authorities revealed that the tape contained names and Social Security numbers of 64,000 state employees, 84,000 welfare recipients, and tens of thousands of others. In the wake of the theft, Strickland issued an executive order to change the practices for handling state data.

In 2008, he signed the state’s renewable portfolio standard, mandating that 25% of the state’s electricity be produced by renewables by 2025. That same year, Strickland signed an executive order overhauling business regulations. In 2010, Strickland supported the renewal of the Third Frontier program in 2010.

Strickland signed Ohio’s castle doctrine legislation in 2008, which established a presumption that a person acts in self-defense when shooting someone who unlawfully enters his or her home or occupied vehicle. The legislation was supported by the National Rifle Association.

Strickland was mentioned as a possible Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 2008. He denied that he would accept a position on the ticket if offered.

On the issue of capital punishment, Strickland delayed three executions until further review and commuted five death sentences. Strickland chose not to commute three additional executions, including two that eventually occurred. The March 20, 2007 execution of Kenneth Biros, which Strickland did not commute, was later stayed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. Biros was eventually executed in December 2009.

As governor in 2010, Strickland opposed legislation allowing the medical use of cannabis. After leaving office he reversed his stance on the issue, however, and later in 2015 stated his support for legalizing recreational use.

Strickland sought re-election as governor in 2010. On January 19, 2010, he chose Yvette McGee Brown, a former juvenile court judge from central Ohio, as his running mate. Strickland faced Republican John Kasich and his running mate, Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor, in the general election. Kasich defeated Strickland by two percentage points.

In March 2011, Kasich signed Senate Bill 5, which was intended to curtail the collective bargaining rights of Ohio public employees. Strickland was involved in gathering the petition signatures necessary to warrant a public referendum. With over two million signatures, the petition put the Ohio Collective Bargaining Limit Repeal on the November 2011 ballot, where it passed with more than 60% of the vote.

Strickland became a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics in spring 2012. Strickland spoke on the first night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in a speech against the policies of Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, where Antonio Villaraigosa was Chairman, the original 2012 party platform caused controversy after it was written, because the lack of typical invocations and references to God and God-given rights as well as lack of language affirming the role of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Both of these matters had been included in some previous platforms. On the second day, September 5, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland introduced an amendment on the floor of the convention to reinsert language invoking God and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Convention Chairman Villaraigosa put the amendment to a voice vote requiring a two-thirds majority for passage. After the first vote was indecisive, Villaraigosa called for a second vote, which was again met with an equal volume of “ayes” and “nos”. A woman standing to his left said, “You’ve got to rule, and then you’ve got to let them do what they’re gonna do.” Villaraigosa called a third vote with the same result. Villaraigosa then declared the amendment passed, causing an eruption of boos on the floor.

President Obama nominated Strickland to be one of the alternate representatives to the United Nations in September 2013, but his confirmation was delayed through the end of the year by Republican opposition in the Senate.

As Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland worked to pass renewable energy legislation he says “helped address the issue of climate change.” In 2013, he said “the debate on whether climate change exists is over. … The debate now must be focused on how climate change is affecting our communities.” In 2015, he said “I believe climate change is a problem; we’ve got to transition.”

In April 2014, Strickland became president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Strickland left that position in February 2015.

On February 25, 2015, Strickland announced his intention to run for the United States Senate against incumbent Republican Rob Portman. On March 31, 2015, former President Bill Clinton endorsed Strickland. In September 2016, Strickland’s campaign was reported to be increasingly faltering. With poor poll results against Portman, at least two major political action committees withdrew millions of dollars in funding for advertising for Strickland, choosing instead to focus on other major Senate races in which advertising was considered more likely to make a difference.