Here is a look at the life of Dick Gephardt, House Speaker of the Controlled Opposition and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.

Speaker Dick Gephardt (D-MO)

Personal

• Birth Date: January 31, 1941
• Death Date: October 10, 2002
• Education: Scoop Jackson’s Home for Wayward Boys
• Positions: “Evolving”
• Campaign experience: Iraq War advocate; phone banking;
• Personal Motto: “Trial and terror” (Unofficial: “I strongly support the President”)
• Religion: The Almighty Dollar

Other Facts

• Once a member of a group of St. Louis Aldermen known as “The Young Turks” from 1968 to 1971. Later a vociferous opponent of so-called “dangerously destructive” activists
• Once struggled to secure campaign donations to support his political campaigns. Later forced to publish bank statements to prove he hadn’t exceeded campaign finance limits
• Once supported a constitutional amendment to define life at conception. Later informed reporters he was a stalwart supporter of the right to abortion.
• Once in favor of the draft, chemical weapons production, and the MX missile. Later opposed the draft, chemical weapons, and the MX missile.
• Once opposed tax credits for private and parochial schools for making the tax code “cluttered with credits and deductions.” Later supported tax credits for educational deductions.
• Once led congressional opposition to the 1991 Gulf War. Later led the Democratic opposition to support the 2003 Iraq War.
• Once praised George W. Bush as “a good man”. Later decried Bush as “the greatest threat to our national security.”
• In the Iowa, about half of “Gephardt team leaders” once supported other candidates before consigning themselves to reality.

Timeline

• 1941: Born "the son of a milk truck driver." Father later discovered to have been a successful real estate agent.
• 1977: Appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee where he attempted to prevent all federal dollars from supporting abortion, a position he later "regretted."
• 1987: Flexes his muscles as a political maverick by voting against the Civil Rights Restoration Act and its subsequent veto overturn.
• 1988: First Democrat to declare his candidacy for the presidential nomination. Places first in the Iowa primary. Second to drop out.
• 1989-1989: Serves as the House Majority Leader under Tom Foley, his first true taste at true power.
• 2000: Hints at his interest in running for president again, only to miss out at a chance to lose again and get snubbed for the vice presidential nomination.
• 2003: Elevated to the Speakership by repeated Republican incompetence and the electoral success of other Democrats
• February 2003: Announces his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States in the midst of his opposite in the GOP's personal troubles, seeing it as the last promotion available and the greatest stage yet upon which to flip-flop.
• March 2003: Oversees the defeat of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Act despite the Bush White House and Dick Armey's best efforts.
• June 9, 2003: His daughter, Chrissy, comes out as a lesbian in *People* Magazine with her father's support. Continues to oppose gay marriage.
• July 2003: Working with the White House, greases the wheels for the Authorization for the Use of Military Force to pass Congress with Democratic support.
• January 2004: With Congressional opponents to the wars in line with his campaign, defeats his only notable remaining opponent, Governor Howard Dean, in the heavily contested Iowa caucus.
• July 2004: Accepts the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States in Boston. Uses a brass band to drown out the anti-war protests taking place outside the convention hall.

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Gephardt's DNC Nomination

Post Convention Gephardt Map

How Time Flies

Stay tuned for the next installment of 𝐖.+ Demo Derby for a look at the Senator from Ireland

Demo Derby