Charlie Wilson (Texas politician)

Charles Nesbitt Wilson (June 1, 1933 – February 10, 2010) was an American politician and naval officer who was a 12-term Democratic Representative from Texas's 2nd congressional district. Wilson is best known for leading Congress into supporting Operation Cyclone, the largest-ever Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covert operation, which during the Carter and Reagan administrations supplied military equipment to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War. His behind-the-scenes campaign was the subject of the non-fiction book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by George Crile III and the subsequent film Charlie Wilson's War, in which he was portrayed by Tom Hanks.

Early life and education

Wilson was born on June 1, 1933, in the small town of Trinity, Texas, to Charles Edwin Wilson (1905–1981), an accountant for a local timber company, and Wilmuth Wilson (née Nesbitt; 1907–1985), a local florist. Wilson had one sister, Sharon, now known as Sharon Wilson Allison (who would go on to become a local chair of Planned Parenthood and then president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation).

Wilson attended Trinity public schools and, upon graduation from Trinity High School in 1951. He then attended Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, prior to being appointed to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At the Naval Academy, Wilson earned the second-most demerits in the history of the academy. (His roommate, Robert Mullen, earned the most). Wilson graduated eighth from the bottom of his class in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, specializing in electronics.

United States Navy

From 1956 and 1960, Wilson served in the United States Navy, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant and served as a gunnery officer on the USS John W. Weeks (DD-701). He was assigned to the Pentagon as part of an Office of Naval Intelligence unit that evaluated the Soviet Union's nuclear forces.

Career

Texas state politics

From a young age, Wilson took an interest in national security and foreign matters. Growing up during World War II encouraged Wilson to avidly read military history, including numerous articles and other literature on the war. This led Wilson to have a lifelong admiration for Winston Churchill. Wilson even took the opportunity as a child to "keep watch" over Trinity for Japanese aerial attacks from his post in the back yard. Wilson's early sense of patriotism and his strong interest in international affairs encouraged him to become politically active later in life.

Wilson first ventured into political campaigning as a 13-year-old, with the object of unseating his next-door neighbor, city official Charles Hazard. Wilson's dog had entered Hazard's yard, and Hazard had retaliated by mixing crushed glass into the dog's food, causing fatal internal bleeding. Hearing that Hazard was up for reelection, Wilson obtained a driver's permit and drove 96 voters to the polls in his family's two-door Chevrolet. As voters left the car, Wilson told them, "I don't want to influence your vote, but I'd like you to know that Charles Hazard poisoned my dog." Hazard was defeated by a margin of 16 votes. Wilson delivered the news to Hazard in person, telling him, "You shouldn't poison any more dogs." He cited this as "the day [he] fell in love with America".

In 1960, while working at the Pentagon, Wilson volunteered to help in John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign against Richard Nixon. While volunteering in Kennedy's campaign, Wilson took a 30-day leave from the U.S. Navy to enter the race for Texas state representative in his home district as a Democrat. But Wilson's action technically violated U.S. Navy regulations, since active-duty service members are prohibited from holding public office. Wilson returned to duty, but his family and friends went door to door campaigning for him. In 1961, at age 27, he was sworn into office in Austin, Texas.

Temple-Inland, Inc., an East Texas forest products producer owned by Arthur Temple and his son Buddy, employed Wilson during his incumbency in the Texas legislature, but business interests were largely suspicious of Wilson's policies. Wilson served as a Texas state legislator for 12 years, including six in the Texas House of Representatives and six in the Texas Senate. In the Texas House and Senate, Wilson supported increased regulations on utilities, Medicaid, tax exemptions for the elderly, the Equal Rights Amendment, and he attempted to raise the state's minimum wage. He was also one of the few Texas legislators who were pro-choice. Wilson's policies earned him the nickname "the liberal from Lufkin".

U.S. Congress

In 1972, Wilson was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 2nd congressional district. He took office in January 1973. Wilson was reelected to Congress 11 times. Wilson was known for his hawkish defense and foreign policy positions and supported the Democratic National Committee's platform on women's rights, social security, and abortion during the 1980s.

As a freshman representative in 1974, Wilson had Big Thicket in Southeast Texas designated as a National Preserve. This early achievement drew him respect from colleagues for his political influence. Wilson quickly earned an appointment to the influential Committee on Appropriations. During his incumbency, Wilson's colleagues regarded him as the "best horse trader in Washington" because of his ability to negotiate and trade votes with other congressmen to ensure passage of his favored bills.

Despite not having many Jewish constituents, Wilson was a proponent of strong relations with Israel throughout his entire congressional career. His support for Israel began during Wilson's first year in Congress when the Yom Kippur War broke out. Wilson quickly came to Israel's defense as a self-proclaimed "Israeli commando." On the appropriations committee, Wilson increased U.S. aid to Israel to $3 billion annually. Wilson's close ties with Israel later enabled him to collaborate with Israeli defense engineers to create and transport man-portable anti-aircraft guns into Pakistan, which were used against the Soviet Union during its occupation of Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War.

On domestic policy, Wilson championed women's and minorities' rights. He continuously voted pro-choice and fought voting discrimination against African Americans. Women and African Americans were two of his largest constituent bases. In 1974, Wilson used the League of Women Voters to pass the Safe Drinking Water Act. In addition to supporting women's rights legislation, Wilson broke Washington tradition and was among the first members of Congress to hire female staff. While Wilson never had a female chief of staff, his office was filled with women, who came to be known as "Charlie's Angels." Wilson's female staff handled constituent issues, ensuring that they never lacked aid and support. Wilson's female staff members drew the attention of his colleagues and media. Although rumors of scandals surrounded Wilson's office, Wilson emphatically insisted that his staff should be respected and their diligent work for the representative enabled them to have freedom to work independently of Wilson.

Wilson lobbied against business interests to maintain a $3.35 per hour minimum wage, sought an increase in Medicare and Medicaid funding for the elderly, underprivileged, and veterans, and gained funding that was used to open the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Lufkin, Texas. Wilson avidly supported the individual right to own firearms, which caused tension between Wilson and his sister Sharon Allison, who opposed such rights. But they reached an agreement that Allison would leave Wilson alone about his views on firearms, and Wilson would continue to support Allison's pro-choice agenda.

Wilson achieved a measure of success through his horse trading capabilities. In 1980, then Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill appointed Wilson to the United States House Committee on Ethics to help protect Representative John Murtha from investigations during the Abscam scandal. In return for Wilson's appointment to this committee, O'Neill awarded him a coveted spot on the Kennedy Center's board of trustees. Wilson also was appointed to the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, which enabled Wilson to funnel support to then Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle and to Mujahideen rebels in Afghanistan, which sought to oust occupying Soviet forces.

In July 1979, after President Jimmy Carter asked for the resignations of his entire cabinet following his "Malaise" speech, which ultimately led to Carter only accepting five resignations, Wilson was quoted as saying, "Good grief, they're cutting down the biggest trees and keeping the monkeys!"

Wilson thoroughly enjoyed his job and always sought to "take care of the home folks." On October 8, 1996, he announced his resignation from Congress.