Paul Wellstone

Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was an American politician and two-term U.S. Senator from Minnesota. He was a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and was a professor of political science at Carleton College before being elected to the Senate in 1990. Wellstone was a liberal and a leading spokesperson for the progressive wing of the national Democratic Party. He served in the Senate until his death in a plane crash on 25 October 2002. His wife, Sheila, and daughter, Marcia, also died in the crash. They had two other grown children, David and Mark, who now co-chair the Wellstone Action nonprofit group.

Career

In 1999, Wellstone seriously considered running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2000. He formed an exploratory committee for that purpose and had traveled to Iowa, the site of the first presidential caucuses, but he eventually decided not to seek the nomination. During the primary campaign, he endorsed the (unsuccessful) candidacy of former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley.

Related Topics:
Presidential nomination - Exploratory committee - Iowa - New Jersey - Bill Bradley

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Although he had promised to step down after two terms, in 2002 Wellstone campaigned for re-election to a third term against Republican Norm Coleman. Earlier that year he announced he had a mild form of multiple sclerosis, causing the limp he had believed was an old wrestling injury.

Related Topics:
Republican - Norm Coleman - Multiple sclerosis

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Senator Wellstone was known for his work for peace, the environment, labor, and health care; he also joined his wife Sheila to support the rights of victims of domestic violence. He opposed the first Gulf War in 1991 and the second in 2002. He was strongly supported by groups such as Americans for Democratic Action, the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, the ACLU, and People for the American Way.

Related Topics:
Sheila - Domestic violence - Americans for Democratic Action - AFL-CIO - Sierra Club - ACLU - People for the American Way

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After voting against the war in Iraq, in the midst of a tight election, Wellstone is said to have told his wife, "I just cost myself the election." He was the only Senator running for reelection to have voted against authorizing the war. It was this attitude that earned Wellstone the moniker of "the conscience of the Senate." Ironically had he lived his vote might have helped guarantee his re-election. Polls conducted the days following his vote against the resolution showed him leading Coleman by 6 - 9%, previous polls showed him trailing or leading by only 2 - 3%.

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Wellstone was in a line of left-of-center or progressive Senators of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). The first three, Hubert H. Humphrey, Eugene J. McCarthy, and Walter F. Mondale, were all prominent in the national Democratic Party.

Related Topics:
Progressive - Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party - Hubert H. Humphrey - Eugene J. McCarthy - Walter F. Mondale

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