dated 1429, from Herat, depicts the manipulative jackal-vizier, trying to lead his lion-king into war.]]

A warmonger is a pejorative term that is used to describe someone who is eager to encourage a people or nation to go to war.

The term may also refer to:

Warmonger, a novel based on the Doctor Who television series

, a first-person shooter computer game developed by NetDevil

Warmonger, a villain from the cartoon series Mighty Max

General Warmonger, a character from the 2009 animated film Monsters vs. Aliens

Name	Ron Paul
Image name	Ron Paul, official Congressional photo portrait, 2007.jpg|thumb|Paul's Congressional portrait
Birth date	August 20, 1935
Birth place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
State	Texas
District	14th
Term start	January 3, 1997
Preceded	Greg Laughlin
State2	Texas
District2	22nd
Term start2	January 3, 1979
Term end2	January 3, 1985
Preceded2	Robert Gammage
Succeeded2	Tom DeLay
Term start3	April 3, 1976
Term end3	January 3, 1977
Preceded3	Robert R. Casey
Succeeded3	Robert Gammage
Party	Republican (1976–1988)Libertarian (1988 Presidential Election)Republican (1988–present)
Spouse	Carolyn "Carol" Paul
Children	Ronald "Ronnie" Paul, Jr.Lori Paul PyeattRandal "Rand" PaulRobert PaulJoy Paul-LeBlanc
Alma mater	Gettysburg College (B.S.)Duke University School of Medicine (M.D.)
Profession	Physician, Politician
Residence	Lake Jackson, Texas
Religion	Baptist
Website	U.S. House of Representatives Office of Ron Paul
Signature	Ron Paul signature.svg
Branch	United States Air ForceUnited States Air National Guard
Serviceyears	1962–19651965–1968

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American physician and Republican Congressman for the 14th congressional district of Texas. Paul serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Committee on Financial Services, where he has been an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy. He has gained prominence for his libertarian positions on many political issues, often clashing with both Republican and Democratic Party leaders. He is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy. Paul has run for President of the United States twice, first in 1988 as the nominee of the Libertarian Party and again in 2008 as a candidate for the Republican nomination.

He is the founder of the advocacy group Campaign for Liberty and his ideas have been expressed in numerous published articles and books, including End The Fed (2009), and (2008). According to a 1998 study published in the American Journal of Political Science, Paul has the most conservative voting record of any member of Congress since 1937. His son Rand Paul was sworn in as a Senator for Kentucky in 2011, an event with made the elder Paul the first Representative in history to serve alongside a son or daughter in the Senate.

Personal life

Paul was born in Pittsburgh to Howard and Margaret (née Dumont) Paul. As a junior at Dormont High School, he was the 220-yard dash state champion. After earning an M.D. degree from the Duke University School of Medicine, he was a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon during the 1960s.

Paul has been married to Carol Wells since 1957. They have five children, who were baptized Episcopalian: Ronald, Lori, Rand, Robert, and Joy. Paul's son Rand is senator-elect of the state of Kentucky. They also have eighteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He has four brothers. Two of them, including David Paul, are ministers. Wayne Paul is a Certified Public Accountant.

Early congressional career

While still a medical resident in the 1960s, Paul was influenced by Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, which led him to read many works of Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises. He came to know economists Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard well, and credits to them his interest in the study of economics. He came to believe that what the Austrian school economists wrote was coming true on August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon closed the "gold window" by implementing the U.S. dollar's complete departure from the gold standard. and welfare, Paul became a delegate to the Texas Republican convention and a Republican candidate for the United States Congress. In 1974, incumbent Robert R. Casey defeated him in the 22nd district. When President Gerald Ford appointed Casey to head the Federal Maritime Commission, Paul won an April 1976 special election to fill the empty seat. Paul lost some months later in the general election, to Democrat Robert Gammage, by fewer than 300 votes (0.2%), but defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch, and was reelected in 1980 and 1982.

Paul was the first Republican representative from the area; he also led the Texas Reagan delegation at the national Republican convention. His successful campaign against Gammage surprised local Democrats, who had expected to retain the seat easily in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Gammage underestimated Paul's support among local mothers: "I had real difficulty down in Brazoria County, where he practiced, because he'd delivered half the babies in the county. There were only two obstetricians in the county, and the other one was his partner."

House of Representatives

Paul proposed term-limit legislation multiple times, at first in the 1970s in the House where he also declined to attend junkets or register for a Congressional pension while serving four terms. His chief of staff (1978–1982) was Lew Rockwell. In 1980, when a majority of Republicans favored President Jimmy Carter's proposal to reinstate draft registration, Paul argued that their views were inconsistent, stating they were more interested in registering their children than they were their guns. Also in 1976, the foundation began publication of the first monthly newsletter connected with Paul, Dr. Ron Paul's Freedom Report (or Special Report). It also publishes monographs, books, radio spots, and (since 1997) a new series of the monthly newsletter, Ron Paul's Freedom Report, which promote the principles of limited government.

On the House Banking Committee, Paul blamed the Federal Reserve for inflation, it is now available from the Ludwig von Mises Institute, to which Paul is a distinguished counselor.

In 1984, Paul chose to run for the U.S. Senate instead of re-election to the House, but lost the Republican primary to Phil Gramm. He returned to full-time medical practice In his House farewell address, Paul said, "Special interests have replaced the concern that the Founders had for general welfare. Vote trading is seen as good politics. The errand-boy mentality is ordinary, the defender of liberty is seen as bizarre. It's difficult for one who loves true liberty and utterly detests the power of the state to come to Washington for a period of time and not leave a true cynic."

1988 presidential campaign

In the 1988 presidential election, Paul defeated American Indian activist Russell Means to win the Libertarian Party nomination for president. Paul placed third in the popular vote with 432,179 votes (0.5%), Paul was kept off the ballot in Missouri, and received votes there only when written in, due to what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called a "technicality".

As the "Libertarian standard bearer", Paul gained supporters who agreed with his positions on gun rights, fiscal conservatism, homeschooling, and abortion, and won approval from many who thought the federal government was misdirected. This nationwide support base encouraged and donated to his later campaigns.

According to Paul, his presidential run was about more than reaching office; he sought to spread his libertarian ideas, often to school and university groups regardless of vote eligibility. He said, "We're just as interested in the future generation as this election. These kids will vote eventually, and maybe, just maybe, they'll go home and talk to their parents."

After the election, Paul continued his medical practice until he returned to Congress. He also co-owned a coin dealership, Ron Paul Coins, for twelve years with Burt Blumert, who continued to operate it after Paul returned to office. He spoke multiple times at the American Numismatic Association's 1988 convention. In 1985 Ron Paul & Associates began publishing The Ron Paul Investment Letter and The Ron Paul Survival Report; it added the more controversial Ron Paul Political Report in 1987. Many articles lacked a byline, yet often invoked Paul's name or persona.

After his unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988, Paul returned to private medical practice and continued to allow the newsletters to be published bearing his name. For 1992, RP&A; earned $940,000 and employed Paul's family as well as Lew Rockwell (its vice-president and seven other workers. Murray Rothbard and other libertarians believed Rockwell ghostwrote the newsletters for Paul; Rockwell later acknowledged involvement in writing subscription letters, but attributed the newsletters to "seven or eight freelancers".

Paul considered running for President in 1992, but instead chose to support Pat Buchanan that year, and served as an adviser to his Republican presidential campaign against incumbent President George H. W. Bush.

Later congressional career

Campaigns

1996 campaign

In 1996, Paul was re-elected to Congress after the toughest campaign race he had faced since the 1970s. As Republicans had taken over both houses of Congress in the 1994 election, Paul entered the race hopeful that his Constitutionalist policies of tax cuts, closing federal agencies, and curbing the U.N. would have broader support than in the past. The Republican National Committee focused instead on encouraging Democrats to switch parties, as Paul's primary opponent, incumbent Greg Laughlin, had done in 1995. The party threw its full weight behind Laughlin, including support from House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Governor George W. Bush, and the National Rifle Association. Paul responded by running newspaper ads quoting Gingrich's harsh criticisms of Laughlin's Democratic voting record 14 months earlier. While Paul was able to paint Morris as a tool of trial lawyers and big labor, Morris ran numerous ads about Paul's advocacy of federal drug law repeal.

Morris also accused Paul of authoring questionable statements in past newsletters, Paul's congressional campaign countered the statements were taken out of context. and that voters might not understand the "tongue-in-cheek, academic" quotes out of context. Further, the campaign rejected Morris' demand to release all back issues.

Paul went on to win the election in a close margin. It became the third time Paul had been elected to Congress as a non-incumbent. In both campaigns, the national Democratic Party and major unions continued to spend heavily on targeting Paul. On December 11, 2001, he told the independent movement that he was encouraged by the fact that the petition had spread the message of Constitutionalism, but did not expect a White House win at that time. Further prompting in early 2007 led him to enter the 2008 race.

Unlike many political candidates, Paul receives the overwhelming majority of his campaign contributions from individuals (97 percent in the 2006 cycle), and receives much less from political action committees (PAC's) than others, ranging from two percent (2002) to six percent (1998). The group Clean Up Washington, analyzing from 2000 to mid-2006, listed Paul as seventh-lowest in PAC receipts of all House members; one of the lowest in lobbyist receipts; and fourth-highest in small-donor receipts. He had the lowest PAC receipts percentage of all the 2008 Republican presidential candidates.

Paul was re-elected to his tenth term in Congress in November 2006. In the March 4, 2008, Republican primary for his Congressional seat, he defeated Friendswood city councilman Chris Peden, obtaining over 70 percent of the vote. On the 2008 ballot, Paul won his eleventh term in Congress running unopposed. In the 2010 Republican primary for his Congressional seat, Paul defeated three opponents with 80 percent of the vote.

Relationship with district

, which is larger than Massachusetts.]] After 2003 Texas redistricting, Paul's district is larger than Massachusetts, with of Gulf of Mexico coastline between Houston and Rockport, Texas, covering some 22 counties. Even so, Paul opposes programs like federally funded flood insurance (typically supported by coastal and rural representatives) because it requires those outside flood zones to subsidize those within, but prohibits those within from choosing their own insurers. In an overwhelmingly rural region known for ranching and rice farms, Despite his voting against heavily supported legislation like farm bills, Paul's devotion to reducing government resonates with 14th district voters:

Paul adds his own earmarks, such as for Texas shrimp promotion, but he routinely votes against most spending bills returned by committee. Earmarks permit members of Congress, rather than executive branch civil servants, to designate spending priorities for previously authorized funds directed otherwise. In , Paul states his views on earmarks this way: "The real problem, and one that was unfortunately not addressed in the 2007's earmark dispute, is the size of the federal government and the amount of money we are spending in these appropriations bills. Cutting even a million dollars from an appropriations bill that spends hundreds of billions will make no appreciable difference in the size of government, which is doubtless why politicians and the media are so eager to have us waste our time on [earmarks]."

Paul also spends extra time in the district to compensate for "violat[ing] almost every rule of political survival you can think of,"

In March 2001, Paul introduced a bill to repeal the 1973 War Powers Resolution (WPR) and reinstate the process of formal declaration of war by Congress. Later in 2001, Paul voted to authorize the president, pursuant to WPR, to respond to those responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks. He also introduced Sunlight Rule legislation, which requires lawmakers to take enough time to read bills before voting on them, after the Patriot Act was passed within 24 hours of its introduction. Paul was one of six Republicans to vote against the Iraq War Resolution, and (with Oregon representative Peter DeFazio) sponsored a resolution to repeal the war authorization in February 2003. Paul's speech, 35 "Questions That Won't Be Asked About Iraq", was translated and published in German, French, Russian, Italian, and Swiss periodicals before the Iraq War began. After a 2005 bill was touted as "slashing" government waste, Paul wrote that it decreased spending by a fraction of one percent and that "Congress couldn't slash spending if the members' lives depended on it." He said that in three years he had voted against more than 700 bills intended to expand government.

Paul has introduced several bills to apply tax credits toward education, including credits for parental spending on public, private, or homeschool students (Family Education Freedom Act); for salaries for all K–12 teachers, librarians, counselors, and other school personnel; and for donations to scholarships or to benefit academics (Education Improvement Tax Cut Act). In accord with his political positions, he has also introduced the Sanctity of Life Act, the We the People Act, and the American Freedom Agenda Act.

List of bills sponsored and cosponsored

The following tables link to the Congressional Record hosted by the Library of Congress. All the specifics and actions taken for each individual bill Ron Paul has either sponsored or cosponsored can be reviewed further there. "Original bills" and "Original amendments" indicate instances where Ron Paul had pledged to support the legislation at the time the bill was initially introduced rather than at some other point during the legislative process of the bill. {| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; font-size:90%; border:0; text-align:left; line-height:150%;" |+ Rep. Ron Paul – U.S. House of Representatives – [R-TX-14] |- !Years Covered !All bills sponsored !All amendments sponsored !All bills cosponsored !All amendments cosponsored !Original bills cosponsored !Original amendments cosponsored !Bill support withdrawn !Amendment support withdrawn |- |1997-98 |32 |7 |223 |0 |76 |0 |0 |0 |- |1999-00 |51 |8 |316 |0 |119 |0 |0 |0 |- |2001-02 |64 |4 |323 |0 |104 |0 |1 |0 |- |2003-04 |68 |8 |354 |0 |150 |0 |0 |0 |- |2005-06 |71 |8 |393 |0 |141 |0 |0 |0 |- |2007-08 |70 |0 |443 |0 |160 |0 |0 |0 |- |2009-10 |41 |0 |120 |0 |69 |0 |0 |0 |}

Note: The numbers for the current session of Congress may no longer reflect the actual numbers as they are still actively in session.

Affiliations

Paul serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee (having been on the Western Hemisphere and the Asia and Pacific subcommittees); the Joint Economic Committee; and the Committee on Financial Services (as Ranking Member of the Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology subcommittee, and Vice-Chair of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee).

Paul was honorary chair of, and is a current member of, the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action committee which describes its goal as electing "liberty-minded, limited-government individuals". Paul also hosts a luncheon every Thursday as chair of the Liberty Caucus, composed of 20 members of Congress. Washington DC area radio personality Johnny "Cakes" Auville gave Paul the idea for the Liberty Caucus and is a regular contributing member. He remains on good terms with the Libertarian Party and addressed its 2004 convention. He also was endorsed by the Constitution Party's 2004 presidential candidate, Michael Peroutka.

Paul was on a bipartisan coalition of 17 members of Congress that sued President Bill Clinton in 1999 over his conduct of the Kosovo war. They accused Clinton of failing to inform Congress of the action's status within 48 hours as required by the War Powers Resolution, and of failing to obtain Congressional declaration of war. Congress had voted 427–2 against a declaration of war with Yugoslavia, and had voted to deny support for the air campaign in Kosovo. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that since Congress had voted for funding after Clinton had actively engaged troops in the war with Kosovo, legislators had sent a confusing message about whether they approved of the war. Paul said that the judge's decision attempted to circumvent the Constitution and to authorize the president to conduct a war without approval from Congress.

Committee assignments

Rep. Paul serves on the following committee and subcommittees.

Committee on Financial Services

*Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology

*Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade

*Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Committee on Foreign Affairs

*Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight

*Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere

Joint Economic Committee

2008 presidential campaign

Liberty Forum.]] in Manchester.]]

Republican primary campaign

Paul formally declared his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination on March 12, 2007, on C-SPAN. His campaign had intense grassroots support—his supporters were said to "always show up"—and he had dozens of wins in GOP straw polls.

Paul's campaign showed "surprisingly strong" fundraising with several record-breaking events. He had the highest rate of military contribution for 2008, and donations coming from individuals, aided significantly by an online presence and very active campaigning by supporters, who organized moneybomb fundraisers netting millions over several months. Such fundraising earned Paul the status of having raised more than any other Republican candidate in 2007's fourth-quarter. Paul's name was a number-one web search term as ranked by Technorati, beginning around May 2007. He has led other candidates in YouTube subscriptions since May 20, 2007.

Paul was largely ignored by traditional media, including at least one incident where FOX News did not invite him to a GOP debate featuring all other presidential candidates at the time. One exception was Glenn Beck's program on Headline News, where Beck interviewed Paul for the full hour of his show.

Though projections of 2008 Republican delegate counts varied widely, Paul's count was consistently third among the three candidates remaining after Super Tuesday. According to CNN and the New York Times, by Super Tuesday Paul had received five delegates in North Dakota, and was projected to receive two in Iowa, four in Nevada, and five in Alaska based on caucus results, totaling 16 delegates. However, Paul's campaign projected 42 delegates based on the same results, including delegates from Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota.

In the January Louisiana caucus, Paul placed second behind John McCain, but uncommitted delegates outnumbered both candidates' pledged delegates, since a registration deadline had been extended to January 12. Paul said he had the greatest number of pledged Louisiana delegates who had registered by the original January 10 deadline, and formally challenged the deadline extension and the Louisiana GOP's exclusion of voters due to an outdated list; he projected three Louisiana delegates. The Super Tuesday West Virginia caucus was won by Mike Huckabee, whose state campaign coordinators reportedly arranged to give three Huckabee delegates to Paul in exchange for votes from Paul's supporters. Huckabee has not confirmed this delegate pledge.

Paul's preference votes in primaries and caucuses began at 10 percent in Iowa (winning Jefferson County) and eight percent in New Hampshire, where he had the support of state sovereignty champion, State Representative Dan Itse; on Super Tuesday they ranged from 25 percent in Montana and 21 percent in North Dakota caucuses, where he won several counties, to three percent in several state primaries, averaging under 10 percent in primaries overall. After sweeping four states on March 4, McCain was widely projected to have a majority of delegates pledged to vote for him in the September party convention. Paul obliquely acknowledged McCain on March 6: "Though victory in the political sense [is] not available, many victories have been achieved due to hard work and enthusiasm." He continued to contest the remaining primaries, having added, "McCain has the nominal number ... but if you're in a campaign for only gaining power, that is one thing; if you're in a campaign to influence ideas and the future of the country, it's never over." Paul's recent book, , became a New York Times and Amazon.com bestseller immediately upon release. His newest book, End the Fed, has been released.

On June 12, 2008, Paul withdrew his bid for the Republican nomination, citing his resources could be better spent on improving America. Some of the $4 million remaining campaign contributions was invested into the new political action and advocacy group called Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty. Paul told the newsmagazine NOW on PBS the goal of the Campaign for Liberty is to "spread the message of the Constitution and limited government, while at the same time organizing at the grassroots level and teaching pro-liberty activists how to run effective campaigns and win elections at every level of government."

Newsletter controversy

Controversial claims made in Ron Paul's newsletters, written in the first person, included statements such as "Boy, it sure burns me to have a national holiday for that pro-communist philanderer Martin Luther King. I voted against this outrage time and time again as a Congressman. What an infamy that Ronald Reagan approved it! We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day." Along with "even in my little town of Lake Jackson, Texas, I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming." Another notable statement that garnered controversy was "opinion polls consistently show only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions, if you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be" An issue from 1992 refers to carjacking as the "hip-hop thing to do among the urban youth who play unsuspecting whites like pianos." In an article title "The Pink House" the newsletter wrote that " "Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities."

Shortly afterwards, The New Republic released many previously unpublicized quotations attributed to Paul in James Kirchick's "Angry White Man" article. Kirchick accused Paul of having made racist, sexist, and derogatory comments geared towards African Americans, women, and the LGBT community. Kircheck also accused Paul of possessing "an obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry." CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer that the writing "Didn't sound like the Ron Paul I've come to know." Later, Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP, also defended Paul.

Reason republished Paul's 1996 defense of the newsletters, and later reported evidence from "a half-dozen longtime libertarian activists" that Lew Rockwell had been the chief ghostwriter.

Paul had given his own account of the newsletters in March 2001, stating the documents were authored by ghostwriters, and that while he did not author the challenged passages, he bore "some moral responsibility" for their publication.

Support for third party candidates

On September 5, 2008, the Constitution Party of Montana removed Chuck Baldwin from their presidential ticket, replacing him with Ron Paul for president and Michael Peroutka for vice president. Paul made an announcement stating that he "was aware that the party planned to do this, and has said that as long as he can remain passive and silent about the development, and as long as he need not sign any declaration of candidacy, that he does not object." stating that that he did not "seek nor consent" to the Montana Constitution Party's nomination. stating that the request was sent to them too late. On September 4, 2008, a list of electors in Louisiana using the label "Louisiana Taxpayers Party" filed papers and paid $500 with the Secretary of State's Office. The congressman had reportedly invited presidential candidates Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader to the press conference, leading some to speculate that they would endorse Paul running for president on the ticket of either the Constitution, Libertarian or other third party.

On September 10, 2008, Paul confirmed his "open endorsement" (CNN) for the four candidates at a press conference in Washington D.C. He also revealed that he had rejected a request for an endorsement of John McCain. He later appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer with Nader where they presented and briefly laid out the four principles that all the independent candidates had agreed on as the most important key issues of the presidential race. On September 22, 2008, in response to a written statement by Bob Barr, Paul abandoned his former neutral stance and announced his support of Chuck Baldwin in the 2008 presidential election.

In the 2008 general election, Paul still received 41,905 votes despite not actively running for the seat. He was listed on the ballot in Montana on the Constitution Party label, and in Louisiana on the "Louisiana Taxpayers Party" ticket, and received write-in votes in California (17,006), Pennsylvania (3,527), New Hampshire (1,092), and other states. (Not all U.S. jurisdictions require the counting or reporting of write-in votes.)

Post presidential campaign activities

On February 26, 2009, Ron Paul was a key speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., speaking for 20 minutes on topics including monetary theory and policy in the United States, in addition to the War in Iraq, and international foreign policy. Paul's Campaign for Liberty sent 140 volunteers to CPAC 2009 to distribute materials, and significantly increased that number the following year.

In the 2009 CPAC Presidential Preference straw poll for the 2012 election, Paul tied 2008 GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin for third place with 13% of the vote, behind fellow former candidate Mitt Romney and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. However, in the 2010 CPAC straw poll, he came out on top, decisively winning with 31%, followed distantly by Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, among others. In the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll, Paul finished second place with 24% of the vote (438 votes), behind only Mitt Romney (with 439 votes). An April 2010 Rasmussen poll found that Ron Paul and President Obama were nearly tied for the 2012 presidential election among likely voters, although later polls showed him trailing significantly. He also trails in polls for the Republican presidential nomination, typically behind Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Newt Gingrich.

Speculated 2012 presidential run

There is speculation among pundits and journalists regarding the prospect of Paul running for president again in 2012. When Paul's wife, Carol, was asked if he would run in 2012 her response was "If you would ask him now he would probably say 'no', but he did say...things are happening so quickly and fast in our country, if we're at a crisis period and they need someone...with the knowledge he has...then he would do it."

Jesse Benton, Senior VP of Campaign for Liberty, has said of the prospective run: "If the decision had to be made today, it would be 'no', but he is considering it very strongly and there is a decent likelihood that he will. A lot of it depends on things going on in his personal life and also what's going on in the country."

As part of an effort to encourage Ron Paul to run for president in 2012, a Tea Party moneybomb has been set up with the aim of repeating the 2007 Ron Paul Tea Party moneybomb, which gave Paul's 2008 presidential campaign over $6 million in one day. The goal of The Ron Paul Tea Party is to have 100,000 people donate $100 each on December 16, 2010 to kick off Paul's 2012 presidential run, should he decide to run.

Political positions

Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, June 15, 2007.]]

Paul has been described as conservative, Constitutionalist, and libertarian. reflects both his medical degree and his insistence that he will "never vote for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution." One scoring method published in the American Journal of Political Science found Paul the most conservative of all 3,320 members of Congress from 1937 to 2002. Paul's foreign policy of nonintervention made him the only 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. He advocates withdrawal from the United Nations, and from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, for reasons of maintaining strong national sovereignty. He supports free trade, rejecting membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization as "managed trade". He supports tighter border security and opposes welfare for illegal aliens, birthright citizenship and amnesty; he voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006. He voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, but suggested war alternatives such as authorizing the president to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal targeting specific terrorists.

Paul adheres deeply to Austrian school economics; he has authored six books on the subject, and displays pictures of Austrian school economists Friedrich Hayek, Murray Rothbard, and Ludwig von Mises (as well as of Grover Cleveland) he cast two thirds of all the lone negative votes in the House during a 1995–1997 period. and states he has never voted to approve a budget deficit. Paul believes that the country could abolish the individual income tax by scaling back federal spending to its fiscal year 2000 levels; financing government operations would primarily come through the corporate income tax, excise taxes and tariffs. He supports eliminating most federal government agencies, calling them unnecessary bureaucracies. Paul also believes the longterm erosion of the U.S. dollar's purchasing power through inflation is attributable to its lack of any commodity backing. However, Paul does not support a complete return to a gold standard, instead preferring to legitimize gold and silver as legal tender and to remove the sales tax on them. He also advocates gradual elimination of the Federal Reserve System.

Paul supports constitutional rights, such as the right to keep and bear arms, and habeas corpus for political detainees. He opposes the Patriot Act, federal use of torture, presidential autonomy, a national ID card, domestic surveillance, and the draft. Citing the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, Paul advocates states' rights to decide how to regulate social matters not directly found in the Constitution. Paul calls himself "strongly pro-life", "an unshakable foe of abortion", and believes regulation or ban on medical decisions about maternal or fetal health is "best handled at the state level". He says his years as an obstetrician led him to believe life begins at conception; his abortion-related legislation, like the Sanctity of Life Act, is intended to negate Roe v. Wade and to get "the federal government completely out of the business of regulating state matters." Paul also believes that the notion of the separation of church and state is currently misused by the court system: "In case after case, the Supreme Court has used the infamous 'separation of church and state' metaphor to uphold court decisions that allow the federal government to intrude upon and deprive citizens of their religious liberty."

He opposes federal regulation of the death penalty, of education, and of marriage, and supports revising the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy to focus on disruptive sexual behavior (whether heterosexual or homosexual). As a free-market environmentalist, he asserts private property rights in relation to environmental protection and pollution prevention. He also opposes the federal War on Drugs, and thinks the states should decide whether to regulate or deregulate drugs such as medical marijuana. Paul pushes to eliminate federal involvement in and management of health care, which he argues would allow prices to drop due to the fundamental dynamics of a free market. He is an outspoken proponent for increased ballot access for 3rd party candidates and numerous election law reforms which he believes would allow more voter control. Ron Paul has also stated that “The government shouldn't be in the medical business." He is also opposed to government flu inoculation programs.

Paul takes a critical view of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, arguing that it was unconstitutional and did not improve race relations.

Books authored

Other contributions

References

External links

Ron Paul's Personal Website, books, articles, links to political sites connected with Ron Paul

RonPaul.com speeches, essays, interviews, photos and videos

Ron Paul Library articles and speeches by Ron Paul

Ron Paul Forums

;Congress

U.S. House of Representatives Office of Ron Paul

Congressional campaign website

;Organizations Founded

Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty

Ron Paul's Liberty PAC

Ron Paul's F.R.E.E. Foundation – The Foundation for Rational Economics and Education

;Presidential campaign

NOW on PBS "Ron Paul and Internet Politics". Also, a September 2008 NOW on PBS interview with Ron Paul

PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer — Vote 2008: Ron Paul

Category:1935 births Category:Living people Category:American anti-Iraq War activists Category:American foreign policy writers Category:American libertarians Category:American physicians Category:American political writers Category:American writers of German descent Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Classical liberals Category:Conservatism in the United States Category:Drug policy reform activists Category:Duke University alumni Category:Gettysburg College alumni Category:Internet memes Category:Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees Category:Libertarian theorists Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Category:Military physicians Category:People from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Category:People from Brazoria County, Texas Category:Physicians from Texas Category:Politicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Texas Republicans Category:Texas Libertarians Category:United States Air Force officers Category:United States presidential candidates, 1988 Category:United States presidential candidates, 2008 Category:University of Pittsburgh people

Name	Mike Huckabee
Caption	Mike Huckabee at a book signing in Gainesville, Florida.
Order2	Host of CNN's Huckabee
Term start2	2009
Order3	Chairman of the National Governors Association
Term start3	2005
Term end3	2006
Predecessor3	Mark Warner
Successor3	Janet Napolitano
Order	44th Governor of Arkansas
Term start	July 15, 1996
Term end	January 8, 2007
Lieutenant	Winthrop Paul Rockefeller
Predecessor	Jim Guy Tucker
Successor	Mike Beebe
Order2	12th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
Term start2	November 20, 1993
Term end2	July 15, 1996
Governor2	Jim Guy Tucker
Predecessor2	Jim Guy Tucker
Successor2	Winthrop Paul Rockefeller
Birth date	August 24, 1955
Birth place	Hope, Arkansas
Residence	North Little Rock, Arkansas
Spouse	Janet Huckabee
Children	John Mark, David, and Sarah
Alma mater	Ouachita Baptist University
Profession	American Politician, Author, Public Speaker, & ordained Minister
Party	Republican
Religion	Christian (Southern Baptist)
Website	http://www.mikehuckabee.com
Signature	Mike Huckabee Signature.svg

Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas and currently hosts the Fox News Channel talk show Huckabee. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in popular vote and number of states won (behind John S. McCain and Mitt Romney). He won the Iowa Republican caucuses. Following losses to John McCain in the Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island primaries, Huckabee exited the race on March 4, 2008 as McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee.

Huckabee is the author of several best selling books, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, musician and a public speaker. He is also an ABC Radio political commentator. He and his wife, Janet, have been married for 36 years and have three grown children: John Mark, David, and Sarah. Janet Huckabee was an unsuccessful candidate for Arkansas Secretary of State in 2002.

Early life

Huckabee was born in Hope, Arkansas, to Mae Elder (1925–1999) and Dorsey Wiles Huckabee (1923–1996). His surname is of English origin. He cites his working-class upbringing as the reason for his populist conservative political views; his father worked as a fireman and mechanic, and his mother worked as a clerk at a gas company. His father was a strict disciplinarian: speaking to Charles Gibson of ABC News, Huckabee says, "My father was the ultimate patriot. You know, he'd lay on the stripes, and I'd see stars."

Huckabee's first job, at 14, was working at a radio station where he read the news and weather. He was elected Governor of Arkansas Boys State in 1972 He has one sister, Pat (Harris) who is a middle school teacher.

Huckabee married Janet Huckabee on May 25, 1974. He has two honorary doctoral degrees: a Doctor of Humane Letters, received from John Brown University in 1991, and a Doctor of Laws from Ouachita Baptist University in 1992.

Huckabee is an Honorary Member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Pastoral career

At 21, Huckabee was a staffer for James Robison, a television evangelist. Huckabee won and served as president from 1989 to 1991.

Early political career

In 1992, in Huckabee's first political race, he lost to incumbent Senator and conservative Democrat Dale Bumpers (D), receiving 40 percent of the vote in the general election. That same election saw Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton ascend to the Presidency, making Lieutenant Governor Jim Guy Tucker the new Governor. In 1993, Republican state chairman Asa Hutchinson urged Huckabee to run in the special election for lieutenant governor held on July 27. Realizing his loss came among key conservative Democrats, Huckabee ran a decidedly conservative campaign appealing to several important conservative groups such as the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC). In the subsequent general election, he defeated Nate Coulter, who had been Bumpers' campaign manager the previous year, 51-49 percent.

Dick Morris, who had previously worked for Bill Clinton, advised Huckabee on his races in 1993, 1994 and 1998. Huckabee commented that Morris was a "personal friend".

In 1994, Huckabee was re-elected to a full term as lieutenant governor, beating Democratic candidate Charlie Cole Chaffin with nearly 59 percent of the vote. However, the amount of money spent by Huckabee on the campaign gave cause to accusations of possible corruption. In subsequent investigations it was revealed that while Lieutenant Governor, Huckabee accepted $71,500 in speaking fees and traveling expenses from a nonprofit group, Action America. R. J. Reynolds was the group's largest contributor.

In October 1995, David Pryor announced that he was retiring from the United States Senate. Huckabee then announced he was running for the open seat and moved well ahead in the polls. The plan was defeated by voters, 80-20 percent, in a special election. In January 1996, Huckabee campaigned in televised ads paid for by the Republican National Committee and the Arkansas Republican Party against a highway referendum. Tucker supported the referendum, which included tax increases and a bond program, to improve of highway. On the referendum, the bond question, which included a sales tax increase and a gas tax increase, lost 87-13 percent. A second question, a five-cent increase on diesel tax, lost 86-14 percent. Huckabee also opposed Tucker's plan for school consolidation.

Governor of Arkansas

In 1996, incumbent Democratic governor Jim Guy Tucker was convicted of fraud. The Arkansas Constitution, like nearly all state constitutions in the United States, does not allow convicted felons to hold office, so Tucker was forced to resign. However, Tucker, insisting he had a strong case for appeal, rescinded his resignation as Huckabee was preparing to be sworn in on July 16. Within a few hours, Tucker reinstated his resignation after Huckabee threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Tucker.

Post-Governorship

2008 presidential election campaign

in 2008.]] Huckabee announced his run for the White House on Meet the Press on January 28, 2007.

At the August 11 Iowa Straw Poll, Huckabee took second place with 2,587 votes, roughly 18 percent, splitting the conservative Republican party votes amongs other candidates. Huckabee spent $57.98 per vote in the Straw Poll, which is the lowest among the top three finishers. Huckabee drew attention with an unconventional ad featuring Chuck Norris. In a later ad Huckabee wished voters a merry Christmas, and said that "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ." In a replay of his past speeches to other conservative Christian organizations such as the CofCC, some critics accused him being right-wing Christian, and it appeared he might back-pedal as he did with the CofCC. However, rather than repudiate his speech he merely denied it was politically incorrect. This lack of defense of his issues before conservative and Christian organizations caused several media outlets to pursue his past speeches. One such questioning asked Huckabee to deny or defend his position regarding America being a historically Christian Nation. According to the Associated Press, on NBC's Meet The Press on December 31, 2007, Huckabee "stood by" a 1998 comment in which he said, "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ." Huckabee told NBC that his comment was not politically incorrect and was "appropriate to be said to a gathering of Southern Baptists." Huckabee has credited divine intervention with some of his political success.

On January 3, 2008, Huckabee won the Iowa Republican caucuses, receiving 34% of the electorate and 17 delegates, compared to the 25% of Mitt Romney who finished second, receiving 12 delegates, Fred Thompson who came in third place and received three delegates, John McCain who came in fourth place and received three delegates and Ron Paul who came in fifth place and received two delegates.

On January 8, 2008, Huckabee finished in third place in the New Hampshire primary, behind John McCain in first place, and Mitt Romney who finished second, with Huckabee receiving one more delegate for a total of 18 delegates, gained via elections, and 21 total delegates, versus 30 total (24 via elections) for Romney, and 10 for McCain (all via elections).

On January 15, 2008, Huckabee finished in third place in the Michigan Republican primary, 2008, behind John McCain in second place, Mitt Romney who finished first and ahead of Ron Paul who finished in fourth place.

On January 19, 2008, Huckabee finished in second place in the South Carolina Republican primary, 2008, behind John McCain who finished first and ahead of Fred Thompson who finished third.

On January 29, 2008, Huckabee finished in fourth place in the Florida primary, behind Rudy Giuliani in third, Mitt Romney in second, and John McCain in first place.

On February 5, 2008, Huckabee won the first contest of "Super Tuesday", the West Virginia GOP state convention, but only after the McCain campaign provided their delegates thereby giving Huckabee 52% of the electorate to Mitt Romney's 47%. Backers of rival John McCain said they threw Huckabee their support to prevent Mitt Romney from capturing the winner-take-all GOP state convention vote. Subsequently, despite his past repudation of the CofCC in the past, in a nominee list which included liberal Republicans such as McCain and moderate Republicans such as Romney, Huckabee remained the most conservative nominee in the context. Consequenty, he also registered victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee on Super Tuesday, bringing his delegate count up to 156, compared to 689 for Republican party front-runner John McCain.

On February 9, 2008, Huckabee won the first election following Super Tuesday, by winning 60% of the vote in the Kansas Republican Caucuses. This was also the first contest to be held without Mitt Romney, who was said to be splitting the conservative vote with Huckabee and some pundits suggested it was the reason for Huckabee's landslide victory. Huckabee also won the Louisiana Republican Primary with 44% of the vote to John McCain's 43% in second. Although Huckabee won the primary he was not awarded any delegates, because of the state party rules that state a candidate must pass the 50% threshold to receive the state's pledged delegates.

On March 4, 2008, Huckabee withdrew from seeking the candidacy as it became apparent he would lose in Texas, where he had hoped to win and that John McCain would get the 1191 delegates required to win the Republican nomination.

After the Presidential Campaign

Even though Huckabee had signed a television contract and a book deal with a pressing deadline, he was mentioned by most to be on then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's short list for his Vice Presidential running mate. Huckabee was eventually passed over for Sarah Palin. The late pundit Tim Russert even referred to Huckabee as "Vice President Huckabee" several times when he appeared on Meet The Press on May 18, 2008.

Huckabee also gave a speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota on September 3. In the speech, he expressed support for McCain, giving an account of McCain's experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Due to his association with the FairTax, in August 2008, Huckabee was interviewed by Life Is My Movie Entertainment and was featured in the documentary about taxes and tax reform, An Inconvenient Tax released in 2009.

Former President Bill Clinton has praised Huckabee and stated that he is a rising star in the Republican Party. Clinton and Huckabee have collaborated on initiatives such as the fight against Childhood Obesity.

Fox News show, radio show, and memoir

on October 30, 2008.]] Since the campaign Huckabee has published, Do The Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America (released on November 18, 2008) which became a New York Times Best Seller and "A Simple Christmas" (November 3, 2009), a non-political book which he took on tour around the same time Sarah Palin released "Going Rogue".

On June 12, 2008 Fox News announced it was hiring Huckabee as a political commentator and regular contributor to their 2008 American presidential election coverage, in their New York election headquarters. A few months later, he signed a deal with ABC Radio Networks to carry a daily commentary, The Huckabee Report, beginning in January 2009. After Harvey's death his show replaced Harvey's broadcasts.

Former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman and Huckabee's former campaign manager Chip Saltsman has called governor Huckabee, "The most successful failed presidential candidate in the history of our country."

In July 2010, Fox began testing a daily talk show, The Huckabee Show, for a six-week run on a few of its owned and operated television stations. The show is said to be slightly less political and lighter fare than his other media exploits. The show will feature numerous guest co-hosts, with Bob Barker rumored to have agreed to be a semi-regular in that position.

In July 2010, Huckabee became a fundraiser on behalf of for-profit Victory College in Memphis Tennessee and was designated Chancellor, although he did not take up residence in Memphis.

Possible 2012 presidential campaign

In a November 19, 2008 article by the Associated Press, Huckabee addressed the possibility of running for President in 2012. He said, "I'm not ruling anything out for the future, but I'm not making any specific plans".

Amid speculation about a future run for the Presidency, a CNN poll in December 2008 found Huckabee at the top of the list of 2012 GOP contenders, along with former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, fellow 2008 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

On December 3, 2008 local NBC news station WLWT asked Huckabee about the prospect of running, to which he said, "I'm pretty sure I'll be out there. Whether it's for myself or somebody else I may decide will be a better standard bearer, that remains to be seen."

A June 2009 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll showed Huckabee as the 2012 presidential co-favorite of the Republican electorate along with Palin and Romney. An October 2009 poll of Republicans by Rasmussen Reports put Huckabee in the lead with 29%, followed by Romney on 24% and Palin on 18%.

In a November 2009 Gallup poll, Huckabee was shown as the leading Republican contender for 2012.

In November 2010 CNN projected in a poll that Huckabee would defeat Obama in a hypothetical 2012 contest.

Clemency and pardon controversies

As governor Huckabee commuted and accepted recommendations for pardon for twice as many sentences as his three predecessors combined, in total 1,033 prisoners. Twelve of those had previously been convicted of murder. Huckabee’s pardons and commutations became an issue during the 2008 Republican Primary, with most of the controversy focusing on Wayne Dumond. Huckabee's handling of clemency petitions received national attention in November 2009 with the case of Maurice Clemmons. Clemmons had committed burglary without a weapon, and whose Huckabee had commuted his 60-year sentence Huckabee to 47 years, making him eligible for parole if approved by the parole board. The prosecuting attorney of Pulaski County, Arkansas vehemently objected to the commutation. As factors in his decision, Huckabee cited the unusually long sentence of 108 years for Clemmons, who was 17 at the time, that Clemmons had already served 11 years of jail time, the unanimous decision by the bipartisan state pardon board in Clemmons's favor, and the original trial judge's support for clemency. When Clemmons received the 60-year sentence, he already was serving 48 years on five felony convictions and facing up to 95 more years on charges of robbery, theft and possessing a handgun on school property. After his release in 2000 Clemmons was arrested a number of times for multiple offenses including child molestation and aggravated assault, but was released after prosecutors declined to file charges. On November 29, 2009, four police officers were murdered in Lakewood, Washington, and Clemmons was named by witnesses as the only suspect. During a manhunt for Clemmons, a Seattle police officer shot him dead on December 1, 2009.

Eugene Fields Commutation

In 2003, Eugene Fields received a six year prison sentence after his fourth conviction of driving while intoxicated in five years. Gov. Huckabee granted clemency over the objections of the local prosecutor and sheriff, the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). A spokeswoman for Mr. Huckabee, Charmaine Yoest, said that Mr. Fields’s political donations [to the Arkansas Republican Party] and connections played no role in his clemency. About two years after Mr. Fields’s sentence was cut to 11 months, he was arrested again for driving while intoxicated as his truck crossed the center line directly into the path of an oncoming police car.

Political positions

Electoral history

Public image

Personal life

Weight loss and health advocacy

When elected governor of Arkansas, Huckabee was obese. In 2003, physicians diagnosed him with type 2 diabetes and informed him that he would not live more than 10 years if he did not lose weight. Huckabee acknowledges that he has weighed as much as 300 pounds (135 kg). Prompted by this diagnosis (as well as the subsequent death of former Governor Frank D. White, whose obesity contributed to a fatal heart attack), Huckabee began eating a healthier diet and exercising. He subsequently lost over 110 pounds (50 kg). The New York Times called the weight loss so rapid that "it was as if he simply unzipped a fat suit and stepped out."

Although Huckabee has stated that he never smoked nor drank,

Huckabee has discussed his weight loss and used health care reform as a major focus of his governorship.

At an August 2007 forum on cancer hosted by Lance Armstrong, Huckabee said he would support a federal smoking ban, but has stated that he believes the issue is best addressed by state and local governments.

Huckabee has completed several marathons: the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon, the 2005 and 2006 Little Rock Marathon and the 2006 New York City Marathon. The 2005 Little Rock Marathon featured an impromptu challenge between Huckabee and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. Huckabee completed the marathon in 4:38:31, defeating Vilsack by 50 minutes. He wrote a book chronicling his weight-loss experience, Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork. Huckabee was one of 10 recipients of a 2006 AARP Impact Award acknowledging his work as a "health crusader." In his appearance on the Jon Stewart Daily Show on Dec 16 2010 his face and chest are filled out indicating he is no longer gaunt as he was in 2006. Jon Stewart Dec 16 2010 episode

Capitol Offense (rock band)

Huckabee's band, Capitol Offense, has played for political events and parties, including entertaining at unofficial inaugural balls in Washington, D.C. in January 2001 and later again 2005, both organized and promoted by the conservative website Free Republic as well as the 2004 GOP Convention.

Organizations

Huckabee was made the chair of the Southern Governors' Association in 1999 and served in capacity through 2000. He has chaired the Southern Growth Policies Board, the Southern Region Education Board, the Southern Technology Council, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, and the Education Commission of the States. He is also a member of the Republican Governors Association and former chairman of the National Governors Association. Huckabee is presently the chairman of conservative PACs called the Vertical Politics Institute and Huck PAC.

Books

Huckabee has written or co-authored several books:

Character is the Issue: How People With Integrity Can Revolutionize America (1997), a memoir (inspired by the crisis surrounding the incidents prior to his taking office as governor)

Kids Who Kill (1998), a book about juvenile violence (inspired by the Jonesboro massacre, which took place during his tenure as governor)

Living Beyond Your Lifetime (2000), a guide for leaving a personal legacy

Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork (2005), a health and exercise inspirational guide (based on his personal health experience) Publisher: Center Street

From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 Steps to Restoring America's Greatness (2007) Publisher: Center Street

"De-Marketing Obesity" in the California Management Review, (with Brian Wansink), 47:4 (Summer 2005), 6-18.

Huckabee also wrote the foreword to My Story Your Story His Story (2006) by Larry Toller

Character Makes a Difference: Where I'm From, Where I've Been, and What I Believe, by Mike Huckabee (2007)

Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America, by Mike Huckabee (2008)

A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit, by Mike Huckabee (2009)

References

External links

;Official sites

Mike Huckabee official campaign website

Huckabee official Fox News talkshow website

;Documentaries, topic pages and databases

Follow the Money– Mike Huckabee campaign contributions for the 2002 Governor race

New York Times– Mike Huckabee News news stories and commentary

On the Issues– Mike Huckabee issue positions and quotes

Genealogy of Mike Huckabee

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture - Mike Huckabee

Huckabee & Evangelicals - Leading scholars on Huckabee, evangelicals, and the primaries

Huckabee: Another overachiever from Hope - brief AP biography of Mike Huckabee.

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:ABC Radio Networks Category:American bass guitarists Category:American health and wellness writers Category:American memoirists Category:American people of English descent Category:American political writers Category:American radio personalities Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Arkansas Republicans Category:Christian creationists Category:Commentators Category:Fox News Channel Category:Governors of Arkansas Category:Lieutenant Governors of Arkansas Category:Musicians from Arkansas Category:Ouachita Baptist University alumni Category:People from Hope, Arkansas Category:Southern Baptist ministers Category:Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Category:United States presidential candidates, 2008 Category:Writers from Arkansas Category:Fox News Channel people

Name	Cindy Sheehan
Caption	Cindy Sheehan at Washington DC antiwar rally, September 24, 2005.
Birth date	July 10, 1957
Birth place	Inglewood, California
Occupation	Activist

Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan (born July 10, 1957) is an American anti-war activist whose son, specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed during his service in the Iraq War by the Mahdi Army on April 4, 2004. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch—a stand which drew both passionate support and angry criticism. She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2008. She is a vocal critic of President Barack Obama's foreign policy, saying: "I don't think much has changed since the Bush administration."

Personal life

Cindy Sheehan was born in Inglewood, California in 1957. Her father worked at Lockheed while her mother raised her family. She graduated with honors from Cerritos College and studied history at UCLA. She worked as a youth minister at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Vacaville, California for eight years, and also coordinated an after-school program for at-risk middle school children for the City of Vacaville. In 1977 she married Patrick Sheehan, in Norwalk, California; they had four children, including Casey Sheehan (born in 1979), who was later killed in action in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Patrick Sheehan filed for divorce August 12, 2005, citing irreconcilable differences.

Anti-war campaign

Sheehan states she initially questioned the urgency of the invasion of Iraq, but did not become active in the anti-war effort until after her son's death. Sheehan and other military families met with United States President George W. Bush in June 2004 at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington, about three months after her son's death. In a June 24, 2004 interview with the Vacaville Reporter, published soon after the meeting, she stated, "We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled. The President has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached." She also stated that President Bush was "... sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis.. I know [he] feels pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of God."

Sheehan gave another interview on October 4, 2004, stating that she did not understand the reasons for the Iraq invasion and never thought that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States. She further stated that her son's death had compelled her to speak out against the war. She also traveled with the exhibition to other locations and donated her son Casey's boots, stating "Behind these boots is one broken-hearted family,"

Sheehan was one of the nine founding members of Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization she created in January 2005 with other families she met at the inauguration. It seeks to end the US occupation of Iraq, and provides support for families of soldiers killed in Iraq.

In March 2005, James Morris sent an e-mail to ABC's Nightline allegedly written by Sheehan that included the statements that Casey Sheehan "was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel" and that he had "joined the Army to protect America, not Israel." Sheehan denies the allegations: "I've never said that... Those aren't even words that I would say. I do believe that the Palestinian issue is a hot issue that needs to be solved, and it needs to be more fair and equitable, but I never said my son died for Israel." In a statement she inferred that Morris modified the email, which Morris denied. Two other individuals stated they received a copy of the same email directly from Sheehan.

Sheehan attracted international attention in early August 2005, when she traveled to President Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch, just outside Crawford, Texas, demanding a second meeting with the President. She told members of Veterans for Peace, "And the other thing I want him to tell me is 'just what was the noble cause Casey died for?' Was it freedom and democracy? Bullshit! He died for oil. He died to make your friends richer. He died to expand American imperialism in the Middle East." She also vowed not to pay her federal income tax for 2004 because that was the year her son was killed.

Sheehan's actions led supporters such as Rev. Lennox Yearwood, CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, to describe her as "the Rosa Parks of the antiwar movement." Later during the demonstration, Sheehan also gained the label of "Peace Mom" from the mainstream media.

Political activism

Camp Casey

On August 6, 2005, Sheehan created a makeshift camp in a ditch by the side of the road about three miles (5 km) from President Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas and announced her intention to stay (sleeping in a pup tent at night) until she was granted a face-to-face meeting with the President. Sheehan started her protest the day the President started a planned five-week vacation. The encampment was publicized widely by the Mintwood Media Collective on behalf of Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out. A few days later, the media began referring to Sheehan's camp as "Camp Casey." She spent the next four weeks in Crawford (except for five days spent in California to see her elderly mother, who had suffered a stroke.) On some days as many as 1500 supporters visited Camp Casey, including members of the US Congress, as well as several notable actors, singers, and civil rights activists.

Gold Star Families for Peace, of which Sheehan is a founding member, released a TV commercial featuring Sheehan, broadcast on Crawford and Waco cable channels near Bush's ranch. The group conducted a walk to a police station just outside Bush's ranch and delivered a bundle of oversized letters written by them to First Lady Laura Bush, appealing to her as a mother to support their movement.

On August 16, Sheehan moved her camp closer to the Bush ranch after being offered the use of a piece of land owned by a supporter, Fred Mattlage, a third cousin of Larry Mattlage, a rancher who had fired a shotgun on his property near the demonstration site several days earlier.

In late August, Sheehan stated that she would continue to campaign against the Iraq war even if granted a meeting with Bush. She also announced the Bring Them Home Now Tour, to depart on September 1 and arrive in Washington, DC, on September 24 for three days of demonstrations. The tour which covered 42 cities in 26 states was publicized by the Mintwood Media Collective, and garnered international media coverage. On the third day, Sheehan and about 370 other anti-war activists were arrested for demonstrating on the White House sidewalk.

Later 2005 activism

In September 2005, Sheehan moved into the downstairs portion of the Berkeley, California home of Stephen and Virginia Pearcy. Sheehan lived with the Pearcys for just over a year, during which time she travelled extensively to various peace events and wrote two books. Sheehan's friendship with the Pearcys arose out of a February 2005 gathering where she attended a highly charged free speech and anti-war event at the Pearcys' Sacramento home where Stephen Pearcy had placed a controversial display of a soldier with the words, "Bush Lied, I Died." The display received national media coverage. In the pouring rain during a media frenzy, Sheehan and then-husband, Pat Sheehan, and about two hundred supporters of free speech and peace stood on one side of the street to defend the Pearcys’ message, while a roughly equal number of opponents of the Pearcys’ display (including Melanie Morgan and members of Move America Forward) stood on the other side of the street while a line of police kept the two groups apart. Between 2005 and 2007, Sheehan attended several anti-war events in Sacramento organized by the Pearcys.

In September, the Bring Them Home Now Tour was organized by Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace. Inspired by, and frequently featuring Cindy Sheehan as a speaker, it was a rolling anti-war protest against the Iraq War, beginning in Crawford, Texas, traveling three routes across the country (with rallies along the way) and culminating in a rally in Washington, DC in September 2005.

Sheehan returned to Texas to protest Bush taking a Thanksgiving vacation without bringing the soldiers home. In early December, Sheehan traveled to Chicago to attend the annual People's Weekly World banquet.

In the winter of 2005/2006 Sheehan met with Senator John McCain, and later called him a "warmonger". She later protested Hillary Clinton's stance on the war, stating that Clinton must either speak out against the war or risk losing her job, and urged Governor Janet Napolitano to withdraw the Arizona National Guard from Iraq at a rally in Phoenix. Sheehan said on October 24 during a media interview that she planned to speak at the White House and then tie herself to the fence. She and 28 others were arrested in a sit-in at the White House on October 26.

Sheehan went to London in early December 2005 and was interviewed by BBC Radio 4 and by The Guardian. On December 10, Sheehan addressed the International Peace Conference, organized by the Stop the War Coalition. Later in the evening, she attended the London Premiere of Peace Mom, a play written by Dario Fo (Literature Nobel laureate) about her, in which the role of Sheehan was played by Frances de la Tour. On December 13, Sheehan traveled to Ireland, where she met Irish Foreign Affairs minister Dermot Ahern. She voiced her objection to U.S. aircraft refueling at Shannon Airport, stating, "Your Government, even though they didn't send troops to Iraq, are complicit in the crimes by allowing the planes to land and refuel".

2006

On January 31, Sheehan wore a T-shirt reading "2,245 Dead. How many more?" to Bush's State of the Union address and was removed and arrested by Capitol Police. Additionally, Beverly Young, the wife of Representative Bill Young (R., Fla.), was told to leave because she was wearing a T-shirt that read "Support the Troops: Defending Our Freedom." As a matter of policy, visitors to Congress are not allowed to wear shirts containing type of any kind. Sheehan described the event:

, May 2006.]] On March 7, Sheehan was arrested in New York "after blocking the door to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. offices" during a protest with Iraqi women against the war.

Sheehan took part in the United for Peace and Justice March in New York to protest the war on April 29, 2006.

In April 2006 City Lights published Sheehan's Dear President Bush, in which she wrote about Martin Luther King, Jr., civil disobedience, US foreign policy, Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans, military recruitment, her son Casey’s death on his fifth day in Iraq, soldiers who resist, and her personal transformation into America’s most outspoken advocate for peace. Howard Zinn wrote the introduction.

Sheehan has accused the United States of planning to attack Iran in an effort to halt that nation's development of nuclear weapons. In two articles on BuzzFlash, she said the passage of the Iran Freedom and Support Act was merely a stepping stone to war and called on Congress to reject similar measures in the future.

On Mother's Day, Sheehan joined Susan Sarandon at a Code Pink organized protest in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. Sheehan told the crowd that Mother's Day without her son was "very emotional" for her.

On May 26, Sheehan spoke at a rally in Melbourne, Australia. The rally was held in front of the offices of the Victorian Liberal Party, and it was in support of the release of David Hicks.

Several organizations planned a hunger strike for July 4 in which Sheehan stated she would participate, but would not be fasting indefinitely as some others had pledged to do. "Some of us, like Dick Gregory and Diane Wilson, will be fasting until the troops come home from Iraq, and some, like me, will be fasting for a specified time. Her fast was a full liquid diet.

On July 5, Sheehan appeared on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews to discuss the war and her upcoming hunger strike. On the show, she called Bush "the biggest terrorist in the world" and "worse than Osama Bin Laden," and conceded that she would rather live under Venezuela's Hugo Chávez than Bush. Later that month, Sheehan purchased of land in Crawford, Texas, near Bush's private residence. In a written statement, Sheehan wrote that she "decided to buy property in Crawford to use until George's resignation or impeachment, which we all hope is soon for the sake of the world." She also stated that she "can't think of a better way to use Casey's insurance money than for peace", and that she is sure that her son would have approved. In an interview on The Stephanie Miller Show, Sheehan said that once her need for the land is over, she intends to donate the land to Crawford for the purpose of converting it into The Casey Sheehan Memorial Peace Park.

at Camp Democracy, September 2006]] In September, Sheehan released her memoir, entitled Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism. The book recounts her experience of losing her son, along with fantasies of suicide and revenge against Bush, and her transformation into an anti-war activist. Also included in the book are criticisms of several other politicians, including: Senator John McCain, whom she accuses of lying to the media about his private statements to her; John Kerry, whom she says she regrets voting for; and Hillary Clinton, whom she calls a "powermonger." While she could not participate for health reasons, Sheehan allowed her supporters to set up Camp Casey at Camp Democracy in early September.

On December 10, Sheehan participated in a pro-impeachment forum at Fordham University alongside Carolyn Ho, mother of Ehren Watada, the first commissioned Army officer to refuse to go to Iraq.

2007

On January 6, 2007 she traveled to Cuba and called for the closure of the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. She also visited the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) where she declared: "I am impressed by the school, the quality of the students. I have never seen anything like it in the world; it doesn’t matter what part of the world we come from, or the fact that our governments don’t get along, we have the same hearts and they are filled with love."

In Springfield, Vermont, on March 4, 2007, Sheehan gave a speech at the Unitarian Universalist Church about impeaching President Bush and ending the war.

Cindy Sheehan planned on visiting Purdue University on April 12, 2007, to give a speech on President Bush and the war in Iraq. This visit caused controversy locally and Purdue University enacted security measures not normally used around a guest speaker, such as banning signs or banners from the speech location. Some students let their opinion be known as Sheehan had a hard time speaking over the chorus of boos from those in attendance. At one point in her speech, she referred to the students heckling her as "warmongers."

Cindy Sheehan was invited by the May 4th Task Force as part of a yearly event remembering the Kent State Shootings. After ringing the Kent State bell 32 times to honor the recent Virginia Tech massacre, Cindy Sheehan spoke to a crowded gathering of students and activists from all over the region.

On July 2, Sheehan started a podcast together with Mary Morello called The Mary Morello and Cindy Sheehan Show.

On May 26 and May 28, 2007, Sheehan officially left the Democratic Party after the Democratic-controlled Congress passed a bill authorizing the continued funding of the war in Iraq, and submitted her resignation as the "face" of the American anti-war movement via two messages posted to Daily Kos, stating that she wanted to go home and be a mother to her surviving children, and concluding her letters with the words

On July 3, 2007, in response to President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence, Cindy Sheehan returned to activism. She asserted that she would take a new approach to the anti-war movement, but that Bush's recent action "dragged me kicking and screaming back in."

Congressional election campaign

In July 2007, Sheehan had announced that she would run against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi based on her failure to attempt impeachment of Bush. Up until her run for U.S. Congress, Sheehan lived outside Pelosi's district, in Dixon, California; however, she moved to San Francisco's Mission District, after declaring her candidacy. Earlier, in 2006, she had spoken of ambitions to challenge Dianne Feinstein for her seat in the United States Senate.

In 2008 Sheehan focused on her campaign. She ran on a platform of single-payer health care, media reform, overturning all free trade agreements, repealing the Patriot Act, renewable energy, nationalizing oil and electricity, ending the War on Drugs, legalizing cannabis, ensuring all talks in the Middle East are fair to all parties, ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp, overseas commitment to cleaning up Superfund sites, ending deregulation, ending No Child Left Behind, and legalizing same-sex marriage. Sheehan lost the 2008 election to U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In a seven-way race, Sheehan came in second with 46,118 votes (16.14%) to Pelosi's 71.56%.

2009

On June 8, 2009; Sheehan led a protest near former President Bush's home in the north Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow.

In August, 2009, Sheehan protested at Martha's Vineyard during President Barack Obama's stay there. According to ABC News: "Sheehan invoked Sen. Ted Kennedy's passing as part of her message, noting that he was firmly anti-war and how he said his proudest vote as a senator was his 2002 vote against the Iraq war."

On October 5 Sheehan was arrested with sixty others at the White House protesting President Obama's continuation of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She told CNN: "I think the mood of the country and the mood of our movement is getting a little bit more desperate, and (that) this will be the time to be able to translate our tireless activism and work for peace."

On December 10 Sheehan protested on the streets of Oslo, Norway, as President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.

2010

On March 20, Sheehan was again arrested in front of the White House. Officers of the United States Park Police arrested her and seven others after they defied orders to clear the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue.

On July 12, Sheehan and four other activists were on trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia stemming from the arrests on March 20. The government decided not to try three others arrested that day, and had their cases dismissed. Sheehan and two others were acquitted of crossing a police line, while the other two were found guilty.

Throughout 2010, Sheehan began working closely with the Socialist Alternative, appearing at events hosted by the party and its international affiliate, the Socialist Party in the United States and Britain. Sheehan has articulated revolutionary socialist and democratic socialist positions and called for a united socialist campaign for the United States presidency in 2012. She has stated that Karl Marx "was one of the most brilliant thinkers and political/social philosophers in modern history".

See also

American popular opinion on invasion of Iraq

Movement to impeach George W. Bush

Nadia McCaffrey, anti-war activist

Opposition to the Iraq War

Protests against the Iraq War

Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq

References

External links

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox Radio, blog and action page

Blog at SmirkingChimp.Com

Former blogs at Crawford Update, DailyKos and Huffington Post

Cindy Sheehan Sets Up "Camp Out Now" in Antiwar Protest - video report by Democracy Now!

Cindy Sheehan On "Peace Heroes: Albert Einstein". 18 May 2010.

Dissent in the age of Obama - an article by Cindy Sheehan, 5 October 2010

Injustice in the age of Obama - an article by Cindy Sheehan, 16 October 2010

Category:American anti-Iraq War activists Category:American Christian ministers Category:American memoirists Category:American pacifists Category:American socialists Category:American vegans Category:Christian vegans Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Activists from California Category:California politicians Category:Mission District, San Francisco, California Category:People from Inglewood, California Category:People from Vacaville, California Category:1957 births Category:Living people