Dick Gephardt
Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew "Dick" Gephardtis an American politician who served as a United States Representative from Missouri from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995 and Minority Leader from 1995 to 2003. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1988 and 2004. Gephardt was mentioned as a possible vice presidential nominee in 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, and 2008...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth31 January 1941
CountryUnited States of America
Politics takes patience, time, listening and endless meetings.
Life is the division of human cells, a process which begins at conception.
One of the big mistakes Republicans made with the Contract with America is that they tried to do too much too fast, and people revolted against it.
Why would we want to keep a tax cut that's failed? Why would we not want to go back to the Clinton tax code? And why would we not want to help every family more with a health-care plan like mine? Let's help average people. Let's be Democrats.
In every issue there are winners are losers, and the losers are plenty. But they have to be willing to grudgingly accept the result. That's the genius of our democracy.
Every proposal I'm making, every idea I'm advancing has a single, central purpose: to revive a failing economy and give working Americans the help and security they need.
One of the most important virtues of the American character is our ability to approach the complexities that life presents us with common sense and decency, .. The considered judgment of the American people is not going to rise or fall on the fine distinctions of a legal argument but on straight talk and the truth. It is time for the president and the Congress to follow that common sense for the good of the country.
In 1988, as an unknown candidate, totally unknown, I won Iowa, came in second in New Hampshire, won South Dakota. I was ahead in every Super Tuesday state the day after South Dakota. The only problem was I didn't have enough money. I had a million dollars left, and Al Gore had three and Michael Dukakis had three and it was lights out.
In every issue there are winners are losers, and the losers are plenty.
Those who have prospered and profited from life's lottery have a moral obligation to share their good fortune.
Diplomacy matters. Burden-sharing matters. Follow-through matters. And yes, sustaining the peace is harder, more complex and often costlier than winning the war itself. No matter the surge of momentary machismo -- as gratifying as it may be for some -- it's short-sighted and wrong to simply go it alone.
Eventually I foresee voting on the Internet, which will lead to much more direct democracy.
I grew up in the '50s and '60s when Jack Kennedy was president. We would watch him on television. And our teachers always talked about the good things public servants could do. I thought maybe that's something I should do. So when I got out of law school, my wife, Jane, and I became precinct captains.
I hope we can get back to what I call the kitchen table. Everyday issues that people are really worried about and focused on.