Name 5 politicians who influenced you early in your political life

[Neil Lisst]

Name 5 politicians who influenced you strongly early in your political life.

For me ...

George McGovern
he was running bravely for president
Sissy Farenthold
she was a state rep who was part of the DIRTY THIRTY, a coalition for reform among Texas legislators
John Hannah
a state rep at the time who was running for District Attorney, and would later become Texas Secretary of State, then become a federal judge
Charlie Wilson
Timber Charlie was a State Senator running in his first race for Congress
Mickey Leland
Mickey was just getting started in politics, and he wore an African robe and had a 'fro like you wouldn't believe

The year was 1972 and I was just getting baptized into the party really good. I didn't meet McGovern, but I met all the others that year and they all had an impact on me in my early party development.

How about you?

[ugarte]

1. Bobby Kennedy, Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan

Tom Hayden.

[Neil Lisst]

21. I met Tom Hayden in 1984 at a conference of Dems in DC

He was married to Jane Fonda at the time and I think he was a State Senator. I remember thinking "he's little."

She called later and asked me to help her sell some Andy Warhol prints of hers. I talked to her once, told her we'd sell 20 of them if she'd come to Texas and do an event, but she didn't want to do it, so that ended that. She was selling them to raise money for one of his campaigns.

[Booster]

61. My list exactly except I'd have to trade Tom Hayden for JFK.

[blm]

2. 1972 - a schoolgirl working for Dennis Kucinich's 1st congressional race.

.

[Neil Lisst]

22. That was cool. That was my first year of serious politicking, too.

I didn't realize DK had been there that long.

[blm]

87. It was a primary he didn't win. He ran for mayor a bit later and won.

I had a mad schoolgirl crush on DK.

[Neil Lisst]

92. He's available!!

Kucinich, I mean.

[MaineDem]

94. He's married

Has been for about 6 months, I believe.

[blm]

123. Nope, he's not. But, I became keenly aware of corruption through his work

as mayor and his battles with corporatists who wanted to control the city.

That's why I am also a huge Kerry fan - there isn't a lawmaker alive who has investigated and exposed more government corruption than John Kerry has.

That fascination began after I figured out what was actually going on in IranContra - the REAL story that the media was failing to tell - the actual crimes against the Constitution that were involved, and even worse in BCCI.

That's why I am so damn pissed that Clinton sided with the thugs over John Kerry and kept the files closed.

[Punkingal]

3. Nice question!

John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, Lyndon Johnson, because of his War on Poverty, which shamefully got lost in the VietNam war. If only he hadn't gotten in that quagmire, he would be regarded as a great President.

[Neil Lisst]

23. Glad you like it. I didn't wake up politically under after those guys.

like 1971

[merci_me]

4. Same generation reporting in.....

John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Caesar Chavez, Bella Abzug, George McGovern plus a host of unsung, nameless heros who gave blood, sweat and tears.

[Neil Lisst]

24. Boycott grapes! Boycott lettuce!

I remember it well!

[Bluesplayer]

114. Viva la huelga!

[nickshepDEM]

5. Im kinda' young, but Ill still post my list.

Bill Clinton - Grew up during the Clinton years and cant help but think how good things were.

John Edwards - One word: Hope.

Mark Warner - Has proven that common sense business principles work in gov't.


Short list. Like I said, Im young. Im sure this list will expand and change as time passes.

[Neil Lisst]

25. Thanks for talking about it.

I want to hear what younger party members are thinking, and nothing says that more than who your influences are. Like Steinbeck. He's the man who made me a Democrat with his powerful books.

[Nimrod2005]

50. Carter, Clinton, and Jesse Jackson (if he is a politician?)

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. Shirley Chisholm, my childhood heroine

George McGovern: I worked on his campaign when I was a kid

Richard Nixon: what NOT to be when I grow up (but he's looking pretty good next to *)

Upstart Aldermen Dick Simpson and Bill Singer, the first real independent, anti-Machine Chicago aldermen. I still remember a song about the 43rd Ward: "Some are straight, some gay, some swingers/And they're all new constituents of Alderman Singer's."

[Neil Lisst]

26. Shirley had that distinctive speech due to her impairment.

She had to sort of bite her words to say them clearly and she therefore developed a certain cadence, a pace, and a clicking sound of a sort.

Didn't we see her nominated for VP from the floor of the convention in 1972? I have a vague recollection that may or may be real.

[Ellen Forradalom]

62. The photo of her flashing the peace sign is iconic

One of the great photos of the era.

She ran for President and garnered a few delegates. She wasn't nominated for VP.

[merci_me]

67. I think that might have been 1968...........

when people were being beaten on the streets of Chicago.

Or maybe 1968 was when they tried to nominate Julian Bond and he was too young. Could have both been 1968 or Bond in '68 and Chisholm in 1972, but as I sit here typing, I think 1972 was the year they tried to nominate Sissy Farenthold for VP. Sissy I know was 1972, because she was like the second or third cover of MS magazine. God they were all such turbulent years and I'm getting so old. But at least then we cared a LOT.

My son, a high school history and government teacher, tells his students, when they asked why he's such a liberal, that it wasn't a choice he made. His parents pushed him into it........literally, in his stroller. LOL

[pstans]

7. I am just 25

so Dean, Feingold, Gore, Ed Fallon (State Rep in Iowa that is running for Governor), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (if he counts as a politican)

[Neil Lisst]

27. Feingold is solid gold.

What a great guy.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

8. JFK, RFK, Clinton & Nixon/Bush Sr./ Bush Jr. made me really hate Repubs.

I think the last three might have influenced me just as much - but in the opposite way.

The Clarence Thomas thing really did a number on me.

[Neil Lisst]

28. I only thought I despised Nixon, Reagan and GHWB until Jr ...

... until Jr. came along. He's worse than all of them combined. He has the worst qualities of each of them.

[stillcool]

9. While not all politicians....

...these are the people that most influenced my political views
Bobby Kennedy
The Rosenbergs and their execution
MalcolmX
Hedda Nussbaum
Bob Dylan and Neil Young

[Neil Lisst]

31. Hey, hey, my, my. Rock and roll will never die.

Neil Young wrote me a handwritten letter back in 1985 to thank me for helping put the first Farm Aid together. I still have it stuck away somewhere in all my stuff. I tell someone about it once every few years, and today is the day. It's kind of bragging, but that's the nature of stories about celebrity contact, and since you mentioned him ....

It's one of my cool little mementos from the world of politics.

I love Neil's music. He still cranks it out.

Dylan hit the scene in about 1965, and he bowled over radio with his long, long song

"Once upon a time, you dressed so fine ..."

Music has been a big influence on my social thinking. IMAGINE, for example. It's so powerful.

[stillcool]

51. It's interesting that I can't look back at that time...

my young teens...and remember it without the music...as though the music was a necessary component...like air

[livetohike]

10. JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King and

Eugene McCarthy and my Dad (not a politician, but active in the Dem. party and his USWA).

[Neil Lisst]

48. Those guys influenced me, but not seriously until about 1972

I wasn't really tuned into the political process until about 1971.

[Oceansaway]

11. for me it was.........

JFK/Ted Kennedy/Jimmy Carter/Lane Evans(D-ILL)/and i HAVE to say Barbara Striesand(sp)in her great if not greatest movie, The Way We Were.....she had SO much will in her,in that movie, and it reinforced the fact that if you want something FIGHT FOR IT !!!

[Neil Lisst]

32. oooooooooo, memories may be beautiful ...

The Way We Were ... great flick. January 1974 maybe?

Turns out she was playing herself!

[TriMetFan]

12. Since I'm originally from Texas, I was influenced by these people.

1. President Lyndon B. Johnson
2. Congresswomen Barbara Jordan
3. Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez
4. Governor Ann Richards
5. Jim Hightower
And I also got to add one of the Greatest man that ever walked on earth.
Dr. Martin Luther King

I should have added my Dad & Grandfather.

[Neil Lisst]

33. Henry B. Gonzalez

I recall the stories of a campaign in which Henry B had a Republican opponent by the name of Goode. He had money backing him, and the pubs were spending lavishly in the Hispanic community, trying to buy votes. They had all sorts of functions where people got to eat and drink for free.

Now Henry B appreciated that his poorer constituents NEEDED those free meals. He came up with a clever line that let voters know it was OK to go feast, but to come back home. He said

DRINK GOODE BEER
EAT GOODE TAMALES
GO TO THE POLLS
AND VOTE GONZALEZ

Man, he used run the Banking committee in the House, and he was STRONG. Good guy and a good Dem.

[TriMetFan]

57. Yes he was a Great man and a friend of the family.

He was a Great Democratic. :dem: :kick: :dem: :kick: :dem: :kick:

[Neil Lisst]

70. Glad your family were friends.

Back in the day Dems held the House, he was very powerful, THE most powerful hispanic in America at the time.

[TriMetFan]

89. Yes he was.

Him and my Grandfather were friends. My Grandfather worked for J.F.K. through Kelly Air force Base. And thats all I can say about that because my Grandfather never told us what he did for them.:patriot:

[Warpy]

13. My influences weren't politicians

They were philosophers and historians.

Politicians fell into the "awful" or "not quite as bad as he could be" categories for me from a very early age.

However, my politics were shaped by

Bertrand Russell
Alan W. Watts
Howard Zinn
Karl Marx (no, I never bought into communism, since it called for the perfection of the human race, but his theories about capitalism and labor were magnificent)
and all the unknown people who collaborated to produce "Solidarity: an Oral History of the IWW"

[Neil Lisst]

47. I read ATLAS SHRUGGED and GRAPES OF WRATH

the same month in May 1968, and that forever turned me away from Rand and her ideas, and towards Steinbeck and his ideas.

[Warpy]

55. I read my way through Steinbeck first

Marx later, and Rand last. I got through "Atlas Shrugged" in silly giggles, trying to envision her hard heroes with whiny toddlers clinging to them.

That's where her diatribe against altruism and the social fabric breaks down completely: kids.

[Neil Lisst]

69. So true. It's a philosophy that works only for non-parents.

Guess what? Doesn't work once you're no longer in your 20s, single, and without children.

[NoFederales]

14. For wit, humor, and style: Everett Dirkson; Lyndon Johnson; David Boren;

Tip O'Neill; and Richard Nixon.

NoFederales

[Neil Lisst]

34. they don't make pubs like Ev Dirksen any more

and wasn't he Howard Baker's father-in-law?

[NoFederales]

71. No they don't; Baker could actually be another choice--all have flaws, but

as Somerset Maugham once said, " ...we are all interesting bits of inconsistencies..."

NoFederales

[StephanieMarie]

15. good, bad, and ugly

Nixon -- bad
Ford -- bad
Carter -- good. So intelligent, so truly caring.
Reagan -- bad.
Clinton -- really knew how to pick 'em

[Neil Lisst]

35. I actually kind of liked Ford.

He seemed like a decent guy, if not presidential tender.

[SaveElmer]

16. Hubert Humphrey, RFK, Walter Mondale, LBJ, JFK

In that order!

[Neil Lisst]

36. not from Minnesota are you?!

notice you have two there

[SaveElmer]

78. Yeah I grew up there...

Most of my family is still there. I live in Virginia now however.

[Neil Lisst]

80. Minnesota has rich Democratic history.

Populists going wayyyy back from Minnesota.

[lady raven]

17. Bill Clinton

I was a new- ish voter in 1992 (Born in 72). Bill Clinton is the first who really INSPIRED me.

[Neil Lisst]

38. Bill Clinton is my all time favorite president/presidential nominee

He's so good, so smart, so articulate.

[lady raven]

113. Mine too- though I do wish he were a bit more to the left

Even at his most beaten down, he projected a strength that * just can't seem to muster, even with all his phony bravado and that silly pseudo- macho walk.

[Greybnk48]

18. JFK the most

RFK, Hubert Humphrey, McGovern, Clinton, Bill Proxmire :( (Edith Bunker's favorite), Ralph Nader before he was nuts, and I have always loved Teddy Kennedy for standing up for the less fortunate--now for decades.

[Neil Lisst]

39. Bill Proxmire and his Golden Fleece award

He was a great one, too. Good pick.

[safi0]

19. Well I'm only 20

So here are mine:

RFK-I know he died 17 years before I was born but reading up on him, the man was incredible.

Barack Obama-I read Dreams from my Father and if someone coming from his background can gon on to do some of the great thing he has done and will do in the future it only inspires me further

Russ Feingold-My senator. I don't even know how to describe how he's inspired me.

I could go further into it, but ater these 3 it falls off greatly.

[Neil Lisst]

41. You have a great selection.

One reason I started this thread was to get people to talk about their influences. This helps us to discuss our beliefs free of the argumentative quality that inhabits so many threads about our beliefs.

It also allows us to see common ground with other posters, and that is good. Boards tend to bring out our disagreements.

[Zynx]

20. Bush Jr. is a strange way.

I was possibly center-right before he came along. He pushed my far away from the Republican Party. The religous wrong's influence of the party was too strong, in my opinion, to be broken anytime soon. My views were never that right-wing, but I had a strong negative reaction to Bush.

[Neil Lisst]

42. I hear you.

My daddy used to say

EVERYONE IS GOOD FOR SOMETHING - EVEN IF IT'S ONLY AS A BAD EXAMPLE.

[elizm]

29. Jimmy Carter....

First time I ever was old enough to vote I voted for Carter....And he STILL influences me today. What an unbelievable humanitarian.

[welshTerrier2]

30. Al Lowenstein

Allard Lowenstein had a different effect on the Democratic party. A student leader of protests against the Vietnam War, Lowenstein organized the 1968 campaign to deny the party's renomination to Lyndon Johnson. Unable to persuade Robert Kennedy or George McGovern to challenge the incumbent president, he successfully recruited Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy. When McCarthy came close to winning the New Hampshire primary, Johnson withdrew from the race, bringing Kennedy and, later, McGovern back into the race.

Lowenstein was himself elected to Congress for one term and continued his efforts to move the Democrats to the left for the next decade. Although party rules were changed to encourage more direct participation, he was generally unsuccessful in exerting influence on the nominations, as shown by the defeat of McCarthy in 1968 and Edward Kennedy in 1980. Lowenstein brought many young people into national Democratic politics, such as Representatives Barney Frank and Patricia Shroeder, but his reformist career ended violently with his assassination in 1980.

[H2O Man]

37. He was a good man.

A really good man!

[Neil Lisst]

43. Wasn't TALK RADIO his story?

the movie ...

[Lisa]

40. Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas, Vic Copps, Bill Davis, and Mr. Hammond ...

Mr. Hammond (I don't know his first name) was the father of one of my grade-school classmates. He tried, several times, to run for city council in my hometown. I don't think he ever got in ... but my mom and dad explained to me that it was very, very important for ordinary people to have a chance at running for public office. They said public service was both a right and a responsibility.

In later years, I worked on several campaigns, ranging from local to federal. Usually we lost, like Mr. Hammond -- and like him, we picked ourselves up and tried again. Just like right now (Canada's voting in January for a new federal parliament).

[Neil Lisst]

45. Pierre's wife was the precursor to Lady Di for paparazzi

She was much followed and photographed.

[Lisa]

98. yes -- there was some kind of scandal about her being a "groupie"

.... Margaret Trudeau was working as a journalist at the time, and went backstage to interview the Rolling Stones. There were all kinds of allegations about her "spending the night". She has written a book debunking the rumours.

A few months ago a Canadian commentator, referring to when Bono gave out Prime Minister Martin's private phone number and urged people to lobby him for increased aid to Africa, said, "I can remember the time when rock stars had the PM's wife's phone number!" Wonder how many got the historical allusion?

[MaineDem]

76. Tommy Douglas did the Mousetown thing, right?

That was terrific!

I remember going to Winter Carnival in Quebec City one year - 72 or 73 - and there was a snow sculpture of Trudeau and Nixon in a boat. I have the picture around here somewhere. I really enjoyed Pierre.

[Lisa]

99. yes! There's even an animated film of it, narrated by Kiefer Sutherland

Who is Douglas's grandson.

And the NDP's online discussion forum has been nicknamed "Mouseland", in tribute.

[MaineDem]

117. I've seen that video

We showed it at one of our Democratic County meetings. It's fantastic.

Douglas is a great inspiration!

[hippiechick]

44. John Anderson, Gaylord Nelson, Eleanor Roosevelt ...

.... Lech Walesa & Jimmy Carter.

:hi:

[Neil Lisst]

46. Lech Walesa - good call. Polish Solidarity!

The Union that helped end Communism.

[H2O Man]

49. {1}Malcolm X

{2] RFK
{3} MLK
{4} Muhammad Ali
{5} JFK

[Neil Lisst]

53. it's a good thing you didn't list them in this order

JFK
MLK
RFK

notice their last initials ...

[Mikimouse]

52. Hmmm, Tough question...

In chronological order:
John F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Edmund Muskie
George McGovern
Jimmy Carter


*I knew of and met Charles Wilson once when he visited my adopted hometown in east Texas, but knew little about him politically at the time. Was really upset when he was involved in the congressional bank debacle.

[XOKCowboy]

54. Richard Nixon...

I graduated from high school in 1972. All during my high school years the spectre of going to Viet Nam hung over my head. My family didn't have the money or the pull to keep me out of the draft and my lottery number was 132.

Nixon did two things in my favor. He ended the draft right before I would have been in the next call up. He also lowered the voting age. This allowed me to vote against him in 1972. Actually he did 3 things in my favor. He made me political.

As for the others who influenced me early...

Spiro Agnew (another poineer Republican liar, cheat and thief)

And on the good side..

The Kennedy Brothers
George McGovern
Barbara Jordan

[Neil Lisst]

73. Good choices.

The Nixon thing is a little different, but I hear ya.

I got out of the military in 1972, so I was ready to be for anyone but Nixon. Hello McGovern.

[peace frog]

56. JFK, RFK, Malcolm X, MLK, Ted Kennedy

Three Kennedys and two civil rights leaders... yep, child of the 60s.

[FreedomAngel82]

58. Here's mine

John Kerry, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln (in no particular order). Of course there are lots of other people who have played a role in me and politics since than like Dean, Feingold, Seymore Hersh, etc. So many people so little time.

[NJ Democrats]

59. Let's See

I'm only 14 so:

FDR: I know he is 50 years before me, but he is my favorite President, so yeah

Clinton: The Presidetn when i was young

Jon Corzine: My senator in the last few years, i really like him

Fiengold: Didn't know much about him until a year ago. Now a admire him so much

And I know you will hate me for this but:

Joe Lieberman:
While I don't agree with everything he does, I admire him as he was the 1st Jew (I am one) on a major party ticket.

[Neil Lisst]

72. You're doing alright, youngster.

You have good choices. I understand where you're coming from on Joe L., too.

[soliddemocrat]

60. I'm still young and i was young when democracy fell into my life

Hello Everyone, I'm sure we've had more Presidents than i can think of but my memory is vague and i can only think of a few people who have influenced my blooming democracy. Some of them of which are not particularly presidents but more people who stand for the people. So here's the list:

Bill Clinton: He had a good career as president despite the lewinsky trial and he left us with a huge surplus which President Bush wasted on the Iraq war.

2004 Candidate Wesley Clark: He was a purist he knew exactly what was wrong with this country, he knew exactly what had to be done in order to get things back on track again but unfortunately he dropped out of the race early.

2004 Candidate John Kerry: He stayed through the Election to the very end until he had to concede to President Bush, despite the fact that the Electoral votes were hacked by Bush and his brother Jeb Bush down in Florida.

Martin Luther King Jr.: He made a great speech for race and equality among blacks and caucasians (if i'm correct).

Rosa Parks: She survived the segregation era and stood up for the American peoples civil liberties when asked to move from her bus seat she didn't move she just stayed in her seat and that created a new movement to get rid of segregation laws (if i'm correct) and it created new civil liberties for the American people, she died at the age of 92 or 93.

That's my list of Presidents, presidential candidates and american people who have inspired my democracy. I hope to hear from you soon,good luck in all you do.

[tabasco]

63. Hubert Humphrey

Robert Kennedy
Shirley Chisolm
Jimmy Carter
George McGovern

[Neil Lisst]

75. Baby Boomer!!

me too

[Gemini Cat]

64. Anyone who is brave enough to stand up to the rubbish

and who made things better for you and me.
That list would be the various people who were on the cutting edge of change.

Jackie Robinson
Rosa Parks
Malcome X
RFK
FDR
LBJ
Martin Luther King
Thurgood Marshall

[Neil Lisst]

85. Jackie Robinson really put up with a lot of it.

Bill Russell, too, although not as bad.

[WinkyDink]

65. JFK, RFK,

and the ones I could just read about: FDR; Lincoln; Jefferson.

[Neil Lisst]

81. FDR has been an influence. My grandpa worked WPA.

The Depression was life for my family ancestors.

[Aimah]

66. It would be an elected Judge in my city.

Not really a politician but I guess if you're campaigning for a seat then it's close enough. I'll have to say that she is the biggest catalyst for why I got into working on campaigns in high school. But it's not a positive story.

My mom wouldn't let me or my siblings eat junk food so when she allowed us a treat it was a big deal. I was about 8 years old at a community event and my mom bought me a snow cone. Me and my mom are walking in a crowd and someone bumps me and knocks my snow cone out of my hand. When I look I recognize the lady as a judge that I've seen on the news. She gives me an evil look as we make eye contact. She doesn't say sorry and doesn't offer to buy another snow cone. She gave me a "why did you bump into me" look. It was too crowded for me to alert my mom in time for her to see who did it but I told her what happened. That day stuck with me and I never forget it. So when I became old enough to influence others I told everyone I knew not to vote for her. I don't remember how many votes she lost by but it's easy to lose by only a hand full of votes in Judge seat elections. From then on I've worked on different campaigns.

[Neil Lisst]

74. Great story! I love it. Revenge is a dish best served COLD.

The judge should have learned, but they almost always become insufferable after a few years on the bench. You can't get your ass kissed everywhere you go without becoming a major asshole.

[Douglas Carpenter]

68. LBJ, Gene McCarthy, George McGovern and Abraham Ribicoff

George McGovern the most -- I actually voted for him on 18the Birthday

But it was Abraham Ribicoff's nominating speech for George McGovern at the 68 Democratic Convention that stuck with me the most

[Neil Lisst]

86. I remember Ribicoff held a Cabinet post at some point

HEW maybe?

[Douglas Carpenter]

95. yes -- under JFK 61-62 than he ran and was elected to the Senate

[Neil Lisst]

110. OMG, my 8th social studies teacher would be so proud

that I remembered.

[MaineDem]

77. Ed Muskie, Kitty Hendricks, JFK, Margaret Chase Smith...

Muskie was Governor when I first met him. He was a magnificent presence and a smart smart man.

Kitty was a State Rep and the first woman politician I ever met. She was a mentor to me in my earliest political life and is still an inspiration to me.

JFK of course.

Smith was the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for President by a major party. She served, although a Republican, as a role model for women in politics. Sad that her legacy is the two divas we have in the Senate now.

I have a fifth but he knows who he is.

[Neil Lisst]

84. George Mitchell told me a story about Ed Muskie.

He said when he was coming up in the party, he was a young, boyish aide to Ed Muskie in one of his campaigns. He said he noticed that night after night, Muskie seemed to go on and on, speak even longer than the night before. Finally, he was giving speeches that went on over an hour.

One day Muskie asked George what he thought about the speeches. George replied somewhat sheepishly that he thought they might be getting a little bit long.

Muskie sighed and said "you'll find that nothing is quite as melodious to a politician as the sound of his own voice."

I miss George Mitchell in the Senate.

[1932]

79. Wellstone, Mandela, Hammerskjold, H. Chavez, Llumumba, Gandhi?

I'm surprised those names haven't come up yet.

[Eugene]

82. Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Michael Dukakis...

Mostly before I was old enough to vote.

1. Richard Nixon. Nixon was the first president I knew.
Viet Nam and Watergate turned me into lifelong
liberal Democrat before I understood the word "liberal."

2. Jimmy Carter. His 1976 campaign was an inspiration.

3. Michael Dukakis. As Governor of Massachusetts, he set an example
of good, effective government.

4. Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan took office just as I became old enough to vote.
His policies drove me to volunteer for Mondale/Ferraro in 1984.

5. Kevin White, Mayor of Boston during the 1970's. For a liberal Democrat,
he was quite a rascal.

[The Flaming Red Head]

83. Jessie Jackson

Martin Luther King

Jimmy Carter

Francois Arouet (Voltaire)

[HuskerDU]

88. My family was involved in politics all of my life. However, I

showed no interest in it until I heard the band The Minutemen. This band spoke from the heart ripping injustice and greed. Soon, I figured out that my fav band was on the same side politically as our family. Suddenly, being a dem was something to be proud of.

In a couple of days (Dec 20) it will be the 20th anniversary of the death of Minutemen singer/ guitarist D Boon. His death meant the death of the band too. I hope that at least a few of us here on DU will take a moment on the 20th to remember a true progressive hero, D Boon.

D, you are the reason I am here trying to keep fighting the good fight. Thank you and RIP.

[RandomKoolzip]

90. Carter (positively), Reagan (negatively).....

I was 5 in 1980. I remember seeing Reagan on TV, and even at that age, knowing he was a scary, possibly evil person. I had a visceral reaction to his appearance that I still can't shake. Carter, on the other hand, seemed like a wonderful, happy, peaceful, funny, man.

All political experiences since then have done nothing to dispel these impressions.

Also:

Frank Zappa
Jello Biafra
George Orwell (I read 1984 at ten and then read everything I could find by him).
Hunter Thompson

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

91. Robert Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Gene McCarthy, Gandhi, and Golda Meir

[UrbScotty]

93. W.J. Clinton; A.A. Gore, Jr.; J.M. Granholm; C.M. Levin; and D.A. Stabenow

I've been involved in politics for about five or six years now.

[mtnsnake]

96. JFK, Krushchev, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan, Gorbachev

John F Kennedy: This guy is still the standard to beat, AFAIC, at least in my lifetime. Got to actually shake his hand when I was a tiny little kid at the Dutchess County Airport in NYS when he was campaigning to be president. When his small plane landed, my father climbed the fence, lifted me over it and we simply walked up to him as he got off the plane and started shaking hands. Oh how times have changed!

Nikita Krushchev: I'll always remember hearing at a very young age how he took his shoe off and banged it on the table. This guy was scarey if you were a little kid! Everytime I heard planes flying over my house when I was in bed, I was sure it was Krushcev getting ready to drop a bomb! In retrospect, I'm not sure if he was quite as evil as all the propaganda made him out to be.

Lyndon Johnson: When my father told Johnson was mean to animals, that had a profound affect on me, considering I was just a kid. I heard how he often picked up bunnies by the ears and carried them around like that. Several years later, LBJ proved to be just as disrespectful toward human life as he was to animals.

Richard Nixon: My first taste of how corrupt a president could be. Even at a very young age, I never dreamed Nixon's level of corruption would ever be topped by someone even worse. Man was I wrong.

Ronald Reagan: Probably the first time I really thought about politics and politicians in depth was under the regime of this HIGHLY OVERRATED president.

Gorbachev: Without Gorbachev, Reagan is jack shit. I guess I'll always be appreciative to Gorbie, the real hero when it came to ending the Cold War.

Sorry, went with 6.

[tritsofme]

97. JFK, RFK, HHH positively, LBJ and Nixon negatively.

nt

[LWolf]

100. None.

I wasn't influenced by politicians. I thought I was the one who was supposed to influence them.

:shrug:

[Inspired]

101. JFK, RFK, GMcG, LBJ, RMN

John Kennedy
Robert Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
George McGovern
Richard Nixon

Nixon greatly influenced me at a very early age to become a Democrat.

[tn-guy]

102. my 5, a mixed bag

I grew up in Alabama many years ago so in no particular order:

George Wallace - generated in me a level of disgust at politics in general by showing that demagoguery and the politics of racial division can be successful.

Everett Dirksen - demonstrated that one could be a successful politician and at the same time adhere to principle. Was one of the most courtly and polite senators ever.

Richard Nixon - regenerated disgust at politics.

Sam Ervin - ran probably the last congressional investigation that actually was interested in investigating.

Lyndon Johnson - showed the absolute worst way to conduct a war in U.S. history.

[Totally Committed]

103. John Kennedy, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm,

Geraldine Ferraro, Bobby Kennedy, Mario Cuomo, Teddy Kennedy, George McGovern, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bella Abzug... they were all influences.

But, the most moving influence of all -- and he wasn't a politician (that I know of anyway...)-- was the man that stood there with his grocery bags, in front of the tank in Tianamen Square. That image is forever in my mind.

TC

[Blue_In_AK]

104. John Kennedy, Barbara Jordan, Martin Luther King

The others came later.

[Neil Lisst]

105. What an interesting variety of influences in these responses!

I think learning the influences of others is good insight into them.

One person picks all dead people, another all alive.

One picks noted philosophers, another pure politicians.

Each person has a reality rooted in their life influences, and this difference is the reason one person will think a thought logical, while another thinks it heresy.

[dsc]

106. Howard Metzenbalm, Dick Celeste, John Glenn, Walter Mondale

and Lane Evans. Metzenbalm ran as a liberals liberal in Ohio and only lost one race (a primary to Glenn). He supported gay rights, civil liberties, lavish spending on social programs, and told it like it was. I will never regret any votes I cast for him.


Celeste brought intellegence and charm to the Ohio Governor's mansion. It was so great to see him work his wonders. In a tax phobic state he increased taxes and won reelection. He single handedly commuted a huge number of death sentences so that his sucessor only executed a handful of people instead of the dozens he would have. He also protected gay state employees from discrimination back in the 1980's. He would have run for President in 1988 but he had a mongo Clinton problem.

John Glenn was the stable hero who ran for Senate. Not flashy, not overly out there, but oh so steady. And he took DeWine to school in his last race.

Mondale was honest, a trend setter with Ferraro, and would have made a great President. Sadly about three other people agreed with me so he didn't win.

Lane Evans was my Congressman in college. Great speaker, good man, and brave to run with his current disease. He is very liberal given his neck of the woods and a man of great integrity.

Finally, and on a sad note, Harvey Milk. He died when I was only 10 so I was hardly politically aware but I was a regular reader of Time by the time his killer went to trial. I didn't know, but suspected, I was different like Milk was. When his killer got such a light sentence it taught me a very hard lesson. People can harm you without recourse if you are a hated enough minority.

[PhilipShore]

107. Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

In the early 80s when I began college, Ronald Reagan was being voted into office. Some politicians that I would admire would be by Literary research (JFK, King, Gandhi). As a nuclear protester, Reagan, gave me much work to do.

I met Allen Ginsberg once-- man was I unimpressed. The media most of used alot of trade secret tricks-- to make him into a progressive icon.

I guess, the only one, I can honestly, say I have admired in my beginning political awareness was Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. I actually wrote him a letter-- before he became Publicly-- for Democracy in Russia about a Soviet Union Political prisoner. I don't know-- but my letter did not hurt, the political prisoner was set free, and the Soviet Union as a totalitarian society, was ended.

[Neil Lisst]

111. Gore-BAH-choff

I think that's how it's pronounced in Russian.

Of course, not how Ronnie pronounced it when he intoned "Mister GORE-ba-choff, tear down that birthmark on your head!"

[dajoki]

108. well...

JFK-growing up he was our family's her
RFK-maybe the greatest liberal who ever lived
John Mazur-was our dem county chairman in late 60's and early 70's
McGovern-first election i voted in
Carter-got a raw deal, what he's done since he's out of office proves it
LET ME ADD ONE MORE-Raygun-simple no Raygun, no *

[GatoLover]

109. I'm a little surprised by the continuing affection for JFK

Does anybody remember that he actually ran to the right of Nixon in 1960? JFK accused the Eisenhower/Nixon administration of allowing a "missle gap" to grow vis-a-vis the Soviet Union. He debated Nixon over the need to go to war to defend Quemoy and Matsu -- remember them? Or JFK's visits to Fort Gordon where he made sure to be photographed with Green Berets? JFK was really the quintessential Cold Warrior and I'm not sure his views would wear so well with the contemporary progressive movement.

Oh, my personal influences were never politicians. It was all about the music with me.

[nevergiveup]

112. Barry Goldwater, Chuck Percy, Eugene Mc Carthy,

Bobby Kennedy and George McGovern

[Vinca]

115. JFK, RFK, McGovern, Barbara Jordan, George Aiken. nt

[Neil Lisst]

118. Geroge Aiken is the guy who said "declare victory and leave!"

He was the dean of the senate for years.

Vermont, right?

[Vinca]

122. Right. He also had a real appreciation for nature.

Prior to his political career he farmed and started a nursery business in Putney, Vermont which was known for cultivated wildflowers. I think he wrote a book on the subject. He was a down-to-earth, no nonsense, practical man . . . just what we need today.

[Chicanery]

116. Ronald Reagon, George Bush, Walter Mondale, Paul Wellstone, Tom Harkin

The first two are negative influences, of course, but those negative influences can have as much of an effect as the positive ones, sometimes more.

[catabryna]

119. Hmmm... Okay...

In positive ways:

FDR
JFK
Carter
Ann Richards
Byrd

In negative ways:

Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon

Now, these were the early days... obviously, I have more recent entrants:

positive:

Kucinich
Clinton
Gore
Conyers
Boxer

negative:

George W. *

[OutNow]

120. Giving away my age - 55

John Carlos and Tommy Smith - the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics was a defining moment in my life.

John Lennon - All We Are Saying Is Give Peace A Chance

Angela Davis - The picture that ran in the Black Panther newspaper when she was found Innocent of the frame-up murders charges titled "Welcome Home Comrade Angela" is forever etched in my brain.

Bella Abzug - she really hated Nixon - really, really, really hated him, and showed how to channel that into movements for change.

Dishonorable mention - Chicago Mayor Daley

[DaveinMD]

121. my political heroes growing up were-some historical as well

Robert Kennedy-Last person to unite poor whites and minorities.
FDR-Saved our country and the world
Bill Bradley-A hall of fame basketball player and liberal Democrat. Talked about race relations when no one else would
Hubert Humphrey-His speech on Civil Rights at the 1948 convention underscores why I am a Democrat.
Paul Wellstone-Alway fought for the little guy and was a down to earth person. I met him at an event. He just introduced himself as Paul.

[Zen Democrat]

124. John Kennedy, Goldwater, George McGovern, Fred Harris, Jimmy Carter

[mariema]

125. late 60's early 70's in WI

Bill Proxmire
Gaylord Nelson
George McGovern
Bella Abzug
Ralph Nader