Charles Nesbitt Wilson , died he was 76. Wilson was a former United States naval officer and former 12-term Democratic United States Representative from the 2nd congressional district in Texas. (June 1, 1933 – February 10, 2010)
He was best known for leading Congress into supporting Operation Cyclone, the largest-ever CIA covert operation, which supplied military supplies and arms including anti-aircraft weaponary including stinger missles (which provided dramataic and effective results against the Soviet Air Force)to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. His behind-the-scenes campaign was the subject of the non-fiction book Charlie Wilson's War and a subsequent film adaptation.
Charlie Wilson was born in the small town of Trinity, Texas, where he attended public schools and graduated from Trinity High School in 1951. While a student at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy, where he received a B.S. and graduated eighth from the bottom of his class in 1956.[1] He received the second-highest number of demerits in the Academy's history.[2]
Between 1956 and 1960, Wilson served in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of lieutenant. Following four years as a surface fleet officer, he was assigned to the Pentagon as part of an intelligence unit that evaluated the Soviet Union’s nuclear forces.
It is speculated that Wilson first entered politics as a teenager by running a campaign against his next-door neighbor, city council incumbent Charles Hazard. When Wilson was 13, his dog entered Hazard's yard. Hazard retaliated by mixing crushed glass into the dog's food, causing fatal internal bleeding. Being a farmer's son, Wilson was able to get a driving permit at age 13, which enabled him to drive 96 voters, mainly black citizens from poor neighborhoods, to the polls. As they left the car,it is speculated that, he told each of them that he didn't want to influence their vote, but that the incumbent Hazard had purposely killed his dog. After Hazard was defeated by a margin of 16 votes, Wilson went to his house to tell him he shouldn't poison any more dogs.[3] Wilson cited this as "the day [he] fell in love with America." This event was retold in the 2007 film Charlie Wilson's War.
As an adult, Wilson stayed out of politics until he was moved to volunteer for the John F. Kennedy presidential campaign. In 1960, after taking 30 days' leave from the Navy, Wilson entered his name into the race for Texas state representative from his home district. This action was against the regulations of the Navy, as service members are prohibited from holding a public office while on active duty. While Wilson was back on duty, his family and friends went door to door campaigning. In 1961, at age 27, he was sworn into office in Austin, Texas.
For the next 12 years, Wilson made his reputation in the Texas legislature as the "liberal from Lufkin", viewed with suspicion by business interests. He battled for the regulation of utilities, fought for Medicaid, tax exemptions for the elderly, the Equal Rights Amendment, and a minimum wage bill. He was also one of the few prominent Texas politicians to be pro-choice. Wilson was notorious for his personal life, particularly drinking, cocaine use, womanizing, and picked up the nickname "Good Time Charlie".
In 1972, Wilson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Second District of Texas, taking office the following January. He was re-elected 11 times, but was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifth Congress and resigned October 8, 1996.
In 1980 Wilson was accused of using cocaine at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas however the investigation by Justice Department attorney Rudolph Giuliani was dropped due to lack of evidence.[14] Liz Wickersham told investigators that she saw Charlie use cocaine only once in the Cayman Islands, however this was outside US jurisdiction.[15] In "The Charlie Wilson real story" Wilson reveals he traveled to Las Vegas in the summer of 1980, and recalls an experience with two strippers in a hot tub.
When questioned about his alleged cocaine use in 2007 Wilson reaffirmed "Nobody knows the answer to that and I ain't telling".[16]The girls had cocaine, and the music was loud. It was total happiness. And both of them had ten long, red fingernails with an endless supply of beautiful white powder....The feds spent a million bucks trying to figure out whether, when those fingernails passed under my nose, did I inhale or exhale, and I ain't telling.— Charile Wilson[1]
Wilson was involved in a drunken hit-and-run accident on the Washington DC's Key Bridge just before his first visit to Pakistan. A witness stated she saw Wilson's Lincoln Continental hit a Mazda and she took down his license plate however Wilson was never convicted.[15]
Wilson's admirers defended him in the History Channel documentary, The True Story of Charlie Wilson, stating he drank that night to ease the pain he felt for the plight of the Afghan people. After noting the incident was not portrayed in the film Charlie Wilson's War, Wilson stated "I got off easy".[15]One time I had barely gotten out of a DUI. They made me go to a class, at 7:30 on Saturday mornings, about not drinking whiskey.— Charlie Wilson[17]
Wilson retired from Congress in 1997 to live in Lufkin, Texas.[18] In February 1999, Wilson married Barbara Alberstadt, a ballerina he met at a party in Washington in 1980.In September 2007, after two months on an organ transplantation waiting list, Wilson received the heart of a 35-year-old donor. Years of heavy drinking may have put a strain on his heart; in 1985, he had been told by a doctor that he had 18 months to live.[19]
Wilson died on February 10, 2010 in the Memorial Health System in Texas. He suffered from cardiopulmonary arrest. He was pronounced dead at 12:16 P.M. Central Time.[20]
To see more of who died in 2010 click here
No comments:
Post a Comment