Former lawmaker Charlie Wilson dies at 76
DALLAS, TX
Wilson died at Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin after he started
having difficulty breathing while attending a meeting in the
eastern Texas town where he lived, said hospital spokeswoman Yana
Ogletree. Wilson was pronounced dead on arrival, and the
preliminary cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest, she said.
Wilson represented the 2nd District in east Texas in the U.S.
House from 1973 to 1996 and was known in Washington as "Good Time
Charlie" for his reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer. He once
called former congresswoman Pat Schroeder "Babycakes," and tried
to take a beauty queen with him on a government trip to
Afghanistan.
Actor Tom Hanks portrayed Wilson in the 2007 movie about
Wilson's efforts to arm Afghan mujahedeen during Afghanistan's war
against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Wilson, a member of the
House Appropriations Committee, helped secure money for weapons,
plunging the U.S. into a risky venture against the world's other
superpower.
In an interview with The Associated Press after the book was
published in 2003, he said he wasn't worried about details of his
wild side being portrayed.
"I would remind you that I was not married at the time. I'm in
a different place than I was in at the time and I don't apologize
about that," Wilson said.
In 2007, Wilson had a heart transplant at a Houston hospital.
Doctors had told Wilson, who suffered from cardiomyopathy, a
disease that causes an enlarged and weakened heart, that he would
likely die without a transplant.
Wilson, a Democrat, was considered a progressive but also a
defense hawk. He had acknowledged some responsibility for
Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for al-Qaida after the Soviets
retreated and the U.S. withdrew its support.
"That caused an enormous amount of real bitterness in
Afghanistan and it was probably the catalyst for Taliban
movement," Wilson said in a 2001 interview.
The Soviets spent a decade battling the determined and
generously financed mujahedeen before pulling the Red Army from
Afghanistan in 1989.
Mike Vickers, who as a CIA agent in 1984 played a key role in
the clandestine effort to arm the Afghan rebels, said Wilson played
a part in the Soviet Union's collapse, which happened just two
years after its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Vickers, now assistant secretary of defense for special
operations, praised Wilson as a "great American patriot who played
a pivotal role in a world-changing event -- the defeat of the Red
Army in Afghanistan, which led to the collapse of Communism and the
Soviet Empire."
After leaving Congress, Wilson lobbied for a number of years
before returning to Texas.
"Charlie was perfect as a congressman, perfect as a state
representative, perfect as a state senator. He was a perfect
reflection of the people he represented. If there was anything
wrong with Charlie, I never did know what it was," said Charles
Schnabel Jr., who served for seven years as Wilson's chief of staff
in Washington and worked with Wilson when he served in the Texas
Senate.
Schnabel said he had just been with Wilson a few weeks ago for
the dedication of the Charlie Wilson chair for Pakistan studies at
the University of Texas, Austin, a $1 million endowment. He said
Wilson had been doing "very good."
"He had the heart transplant in September 2007 and he recovered
and he said quote, 'he was a poster boy for heart transplants.' He
was doing very well. He was taking a whole lot of medicine,"
Schnabel said.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called Wilson "a lifetime public
servant with a fiery passion for the people of east Texas, our men
and women in uniform, our veterans and our freedoms."
"I have had the great privilege to work alongside him on
several issues of importance to our veterans in Texas, and I will
miss his leadership and dedication," he said.
Ogletree said Wilson is survived by his wife, Barbara, and a
sister.
Comments on Wilson's death
"Charlie Wilson led a life that was oversized even by
Hollywood's standards. Congressman Wilson was fiercely devoted to
serving his country and his fellow Texans." -- Gov. Rick Perry,
Texas Republican.
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"Charlie Wilson was one of a kind, loved by all who knew him,
and he will be missed as one of our most distinguished and colorful
leaders. he was a giant, not just in stature but in his love for
America and especially America's men and women in uniform. He was a
dynamic presence in Congress and on the national stage. -- U.S. Sen.
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
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"(Wilson) was a lifetime public servant with a fiery passion
for the people of East Texas, our men and women in uniform, our
veterans and our freedoms. I have had the great privilege to work
alongside him on several issues of importance to our veterans in
Texas, and I will miss his leadership and dedication." -- U.S. Sen.
John Cornyn, R-Texas.
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"Charlie Wilson was a bigger-than-life Texan who played a key
role in bringing down the former Soviet Union, and it was a
privilege for me to know and work with him." -- U.S. Rep. Chet
Edwards, Waco Democrat and Wilson's former House Appropriations
Committee colleague and fellow advocate for military veterans.
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"Charlie was a man of courage and conviction who worked hard,
loved his country and lived life to the fullest. We will miss
him." -- U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee.
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"Charlie Wilson is proof of what one man can do when he's
determined, and the world is a different place because of
Charlie." -- U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, Tyler Republican who now
represents the 2nd Congressional District of Texas once represented
by Wilson.
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"Charlie loved this nation and had deep respect and gratitude
for the men and women who defended her. He was a force for veterans
his entire career. The VA is a richer organization because of Mr.
Wilson." -- Dr. Anthony Zollo, director of Charles Wilson VA
Outpatient Clinic in Lufkin.
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"It is the rare congressman who by dint of personality,
persistence and country smarts did something that literally altered
history on the global stage. What Charlie Wilson did in Afghanistan
changed the course of world events. Charlie Wilson was all Texan
and all American. He dreamed big, lived large." -- Dan Rather,
television journalist.
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