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.

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).

Growing up, Wilson attended Trinity public schools and, upon graduation from Trinity High School in 1951, he attended one semester at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, before being appointed to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

While at Annapolis, Wilson earned the second most demerits in the history of the Academy (his roommate, Robert Mullen, earned the most demerits).

Wilson graduated eighth from the bottom of his class in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, specializing in electronics.

Between 1956 and 1960, Wilson served in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant and serving as the 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.

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.

According to Wilson himself, he first entered politics as a teenager by running a campaign against his next-door neighbor, city council incumbent Charles Hazard.

When Wilson was thirteen years old, his fourteen-year-old dog entered Hazard's yard.

Hazard retaliated by mixing crushed glass into the dog's food, causing fatal internal bleeding.

Following this incident, Wilson obtained a driver's permit and drove ninety-six voters to the polls in his family's two-door Chevrolet.

As patrons left the car, Wilson 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 that his black constituents voted to defeat him, and he "shouldn't poison any more dogs."

Wilson cited this as "the day [he] fell in love with America."

While Wilson worked at the Pentagon, he volunteered to help in John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign.

While volunteering in Kennedy's campaign, Wilson took a 30-day leave from the U.S. Navy and entered his name into the race for Texas state representative of his home district on the Democratic ticket.

This action violated Navy regulations, as active-duty service members are prohibited from holding public office.

When Wilson returned to duty, his family and friends went door to door campaigning.

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, Jr., and Temple's son, Buddy Temple, employed Wilson during his incumbency in the Texas legislature, but business interests were nevertheless suspicious of Wilson's policies.

While serving as a Texas state legislator for twelve years (six in the Texas House of Representatives and six in the Texas Senate), Wilson battled for the regulation of utilities, fought for Medicaid, tax exemptions for the elderly, the Equal Rights Amendment, and attempted to raise the state's minimum wage.

He was also one of the few prominent Texas politicians to be pro-choice.

All of these policies earned Wilson the reputation of being the "liberal from Lufkin."

In 1972, Wilson was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 2nd congressional district, taking office the following January.

As a freshman representative, Wilson achieved the designation of the Big Thicket in Southeast Texas as a National Preserve in 1974.

This early achievement made his colleagues respect his political power and Wilson quickly earned an appointment on the United States House 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 developed a strong relationship with Israel during his entire congressional career.

This bond began during Wilson's first year in Washington when the Yom Kippur War occurred.

From a young age, Wilson had always supported the "underdog", and Wilson quickly went to Israel's defense as a self-proclaimed "Israeli commando."

Re-elected eleven times, Wilson thoroughly enjoyed his job and always sought to "take care of the home folks" until his resignation on October 8, 1996.

Although hawkish on foreign issues, he was liberal on other issues such as women's rights, social security and abortion.