Charles Wilson (politician)
Encyclopedia
Charles "Charlie" Nesbitt Wilson (June 1, 1933 – February 10, 2010) was a United States naval officer and former 12-term Democratic
United States Representative
from the 2nd congressional district
in Texas
.
He was best known for leading Congress into supporting Operation Cyclone
, the largest-ever Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) covert operation
, which under the Reagan administration
supplied military equipment, including anti-aircraft weapons such as Stinger
antiaircraft missiles, and paramilitary officers from their Special Activities Division
to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
. His behind-the-scenes campaign was the subject of the non-fiction book Charlie Wilson's War
by George Crile
and a subsequent film adaptation
starring Tom Hanks
as Wilson.
, where he attended public schools and graduated from Trinity High School in 1951. While a student at Sam Houston State University
in Huntsville, Texas
, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy
, where he received a B.S. and graduated eighth from the bottom of his class in 1956.
Between 1956 and 1960, Wilson served in the United States Navy
, attaining the rank of lieutenant
. Following four years as a surface fleet officer, he was assigned to the Pentagon
as part of an intelligence unit that evaluated the Soviet Union
's nuclear forces.
incumbent
Charles Hazard. When Wilson was 13, his 14-year-old dog entered Hazard's yard. Hazard retaliated by mixing crushed glass into the dog's food, causing fatal internal bleeding. Being a farmer's son, Wilson was able to get a driving permit at age 13, which enabled him to drive 96 voters, mainly black citizens from poor neighborhoods, to the polls. As they left the car, he 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 he shouldn't poison any more dogs. Wilson cited this as "the day [he] fell in love with America." This event was retold in the 2007
film Charlie Wilson's War
.
As an adult, Wilson stayed out of politics until he was moved to volunteer for the John F. Kennedy
presidential campaign. In 1960, during 30 days' leave from the Navy, Wilson entered his name into the race for Texas state representative from his home district. This action violated Navy regulations, as active-duty service members are prohibited from holding public office. While Wilson was back on duty, his family and friends went door to door campaigning. In 1961, at age 27, he was sworn into office in Austin, Texas
.
For the next 12 years, Wilson made his reputation in the Texas legislature as the "liberal from Lufkin
", viewed with suspicion by business interests. He battled for the regulation of utilities, fought for Medicaid
, tax exemption
s for the elderly, the Equal Rights Amendment
, and a minimum wage
bill. He was also one of the few prominent Texas politicians to be pro-choice
. Wilson was notorious for his personal life, particularly drinking, cocaine use, and womanizing, and he picked up the nickname "Good Time Charlie".
In 1972, Wilson was elected to the United States House of Representatives from the Second District of Texas, taking office the following January. He was re-elected 11 times, but was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifth Congress and resigned October 8, 1996.
government in Nicaragua
. His admiration for Somoza was spurred by the dictator's effort to bribe him. Wilson saw Somoza as an abandoned and betrayed United States ally, and he ran a rearguard action in the House Appropriations Committee attempting to save Somoza's regime, at one point threatening to wreck President Carter's Panama Canal Treaty if the United States did not resume supporting Somoza.
Wilson later arranged a meeting between Somoza and Ed Wilson
(a CIA agent) who offered to form a 1000-man force of ex-CIA operatives to fight on Somoza's behalf. The meeting collapsed when Somoza fondled Tina Simons, Charlie Wilson's girlfriend, and the deal proved impossible after Somoza declined to pay $100 million for the 1000-man force.
dispatch on the congressional wires describing the refugees fleeing Soviet-occupied Afghanistan
. The communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
had taken over power during the Afghan Civil War and asked the Soviet Union
to help suppress resistance from the mujahideen
. According to biographer George Crile III
, Wilson called the staff of the House Appropriations Committee dealing with "black appropriations
" and requested a twofold appropriation increase for Afghanistan. Because Wilson had just been named to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
(which is responsible for funding CIA operations), his request went through.
That was not the last time he increased the CIA budget for its Afghan operation. In 1983, he won an additional $40 million, $17 million of which was allocated for anti-aircraft weapons to shoot down Mil Mi-24
Hind helicopters. The next year, CIA officer Gust Avrakotos
directly approached Wilson—breaking the CIA's policy against lobbying Congress for money—asking Wilson for $50 million more. Wilson agreed and convinced Congress, saying, "The U.S. had nothing whatsoever to do with these people's decision to fight ... but we'll be damned by history if we let them fight with stones." Later, Wilson succeeded in giving the Afghans $300 million of unused Pentagon money before the end of the fiscal year. Thus, Wilson directly influenced the level of United States government support for the Afghan Mujahideen. Wilson has said that the covert operation succeeded because "there was no partisanship or damaging leaks." Michael Pillsbury
, a senior Pentagon official, used Wilson's funding to provide Stinger missiles to the Afghan resistance in a controversial decision.
Joanne Herring
played a significant role in helping the Afghan resistance fighters get support and military equipment from the United States government. She persuaded Wilson to visit the Pakistani leadership, and after meeting with them he was taken to a major Pakistan-based Afghan refugee camp so he could see for himself the atrocities committed by the Soviets against the Afghan people. About that visit, Wilson later said that it "was the experience that will always be seared in my memory, was going through those hospitals and seeing, especially those children with their hands blown off from the mines that the Soviets were dropping from their helicopters. That was perhaps the deciding thing... and it made a huge difference for the next 10 or 12 years of my life because I left those hospitals determined, as long as I had a breath in my body and was a member in Congress, that I was going to do what I could to make the Soviets pay for what they were doing!" In 2008, Wilson said he had "got involved in Afghanistan because I went there and I saw what the Soviets were doing. And I saw the refugee camps."
For his efforts, Wilson was presented with the Honored Colleague Award by the CIA. He became the first civilian to receive the award. However, Wilson's role remains controversial because most of the aid was supplied to Islamist
hardliner Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
, now a senior Taliban leader and a supporter of al-Qaeda
.
The decision of the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan and declare the invasion a mistake led to Wilson commending the Soviet leadership on the floor of the House of Representatives. He also supported United States involvement in the Bosnian War
, touring the former Yugoslavia over five days in January 1993; on his return he urged the Clinton administration to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, remarking "This is good versus evil and, if we do not want to Americanize this, then what do we want to Americanize? We have to stand for something."
in Las Vegas; however, the investigation by Justice Department attorney Rudolph Giuliani was dropped due to lack of evidence. Liz Wickersham
told investigators that she saw Charlie use cocaine only once in the Cayman Islands
, however this was outside United States jurisdiction. In "The Charlie Wilson Real Story" Wilson reveals he traveled to Las Vegas in the summer of 1980, and recalls an experience with two strippers in a hot tub.
When questioned about his alleged cocaine use in 2007 Wilson reaffirmed "Nobody knows the answer to that and I ain't telling".
Wilson was involved in a drunken hit-and-run
accident on the Washington DC's Key Bridge just before his first visit to Pakistan. A witness stated that she saw Wilson's Lincoln Continental
hit a Mazda
; she took down his license plate however Wilson was never convicted.
Wilson's admirers defended him in the History Channel documentary, The True Story of Charlie Wilson, stating he drank that night to ease the pain he felt for the plight of the Afghan people. After noting the incident was not portrayed in the film Charlie Wilson's War
, Wilson said: "I got off easy".
In September 2007, after two months on an organ transplantation waiting list, Wilson received the heart of a 35-year-old donor. Years of heavy drinking may have put a strain on his heart; in 1985, he had been told by a doctor that he had 18 months to live.
, where he had been taken after collapsing earlier in the day. He suffered from cardiopulmonary arrest. He was pronounced dead at 12:16 P.M. Central Time. "America has lost an extraordinary patriot whose life showed that one brave and determined person can alter the course of history," said Robert Gates
, then US Defense Secretary
.
Wilson received a graveside service with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery
on February 23, 2010.
. In the 2007 film version of the book
, actor Tom Hanks
portrayed Wilson. The film portrayed him as a politically incorrect
swashbuckler who liked the company of beautiful women.
Wilson was a key character in Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
(2005), by Steve Coll
.
On December 27, 2007, the History Channel broadcast The True Story of Charlie Wilson, a two-hour documentary about the congressman's Afghan war efforts and his personal life.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
United States Representative
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
from the 2nd congressional district
Texas's 2nd congressional district
Texas's 2nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in the southeastern portion of the state of Texas. It stretches from Houston's northern suburbs through eastern Harris County, and across Southeast Texas to the Louisiana border...
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
He was best known for leading Congress into supporting Operation Cyclone
Operation Cyclone
Operation Cyclone was the code name for the United States Central Intelligence Agency program to arm, train, and finance the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, 1979 to 1989...
, the largest-ever Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) covert operation
Covert operation
A covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
, which under the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
supplied military equipment, including anti-aircraft weapons such as Stinger
FIM-92 Stinger
The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile , which can be adapted to fire from ground vehicles and helicopters , developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...
antiaircraft missiles, and paramilitary officers from their Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. His behind-the-scenes campaign was the subject of the non-fiction book Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
by George Crile
George Crile III
George Crile III was an U.S. American journalist most closely associated with his three decades of work at CBS News.-Personal:...
and a subsequent film adaptation
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
starring Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
as Wilson.
Early life and naval career
Wilson was born in the small town of Trinity, TexasTrinity, Texas
Trinity is a city in Trinity County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,721 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Trinity is located at ....
, where he attended public schools and graduated from Trinity High School in 1951. While a student at Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University was founded in 1879 and is the third oldest public institution of higher learning in the State of Texas. It is located in Huntsville, Texas. It is one of the oldest purpose-built institutions for the instruction of teachers west of the Mississippi River and the first...
in Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville, Texas
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,508 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area....
, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
, where he received a B.S. and graduated eighth from the bottom of his class in 1956.
Between 1956 and 1960, Wilson served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, attaining the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. Following four years as a surface fleet officer, he was assigned to the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
as part of an intelligence unit that evaluated the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
's nuclear forces.
Entry into politics
According to Wilson himself, he first entered politics as a teenager by running a campaign against his next-door neighbor, city councilCity council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Charles Hazard. When Wilson was 13, his 14-year-old dog entered Hazard's yard. Hazard retaliated by mixing crushed glass into the dog's food, causing fatal internal bleeding. Being a farmer's son, Wilson was able to get a driving permit at age 13, which enabled him to drive 96 voters, mainly black citizens from poor neighborhoods, to the polls. As they left the car, he 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 he shouldn't poison any more dogs. Wilson cited this as "the day [he] fell in love with America." This event was retold in the 2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
film Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
.
As an adult, Wilson stayed out of politics until he was moved to volunteer for the John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
presidential campaign. In 1960, during 30 days' leave from the Navy, Wilson entered his name into the race for Texas state representative from his home district. This action violated Navy regulations, as active-duty service members are prohibited from holding public office. While Wilson was back on duty, his family and friends went door to door campaigning. In 1961, at age 27, he was sworn into office in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
For the next 12 years, Wilson made his reputation in the Texas legislature as the "liberal from Lufkin
Lufkin, Texas
Lufkin is a city in Angelina County, Texas, United States. Founded in 1882, the population was 35,067 in 2010. It is the county seat of Angelina County, and is situated in Deep East Texas.-History:...
", viewed with suspicion by business interests. He battled for the regulation of utilities, fought for Medicaid
Medicaid
Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
, tax exemption
Tax exemption
Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...
s for the elderly, the Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
, and a minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
bill. He was also one of the few prominent Texas politicians to be pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
. Wilson was notorious for his personal life, particularly drinking, cocaine use, and womanizing, and he picked up the nickname "Good Time Charlie".
In 1972, Wilson was elected to the United States House of Representatives from the Second District of Texas, taking office the following January. He was re-elected 11 times, but was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifth Congress and resigned October 8, 1996.
Support for the Somoza government in Nicaragua
In the late 1970s, Wilson strongly supported the right-wing SomozaAnastasio Somoza Debayle
Anastasio Somoza Debayle was a Nicaraguan leader and officially the 73rd and 76th President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was de facto ruler of the country from 1967 to 1979...
government in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. His admiration for Somoza was spurred by the dictator's effort to bribe him. Wilson saw Somoza as an abandoned and betrayed United States ally, and he ran a rearguard action in the House Appropriations Committee attempting to save Somoza's regime, at one point threatening to wreck President Carter's Panama Canal Treaty if the United States did not resume supporting Somoza.
Wilson later arranged a meeting between Somoza and Ed Wilson
Edwin P. Wilson
Edwin P. Wilson was a former CIA officer who was convicted of illegally selling weapons to Libya. It was later found that the United States Department of Justice and the CIA had covered up evidence in the case.-Early life:...
(a CIA agent) who offered to form a 1000-man force of ex-CIA operatives to fight on Somoza's behalf. The meeting collapsed when Somoza fondled Tina Simons, Charlie Wilson's girlfriend, and the deal proved impossible after Somoza declined to pay $100 million for the 1000-man force.
Soviet-Afghan war
In 1980, Wilson read an Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
dispatch on the congressional wires describing the refugees fleeing Soviet-occupied Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. The communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.- Saur Revolution :...
had taken over power during the Afghan Civil War and asked the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to help suppress resistance from the mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
. According to biographer George Crile III
George Crile III
George Crile III was an U.S. American journalist most closely associated with his three decades of work at CBS News.-Personal:...
, Wilson called the staff of the House Appropriations Committee dealing with "black appropriations
Black project
In the United States and United Kingdom, a black project is in the vernacular a classified military/defense project, unacknowledged publicly by the government, military personnel, and defense contractors. Examples of U.S...
" and requested a twofold appropriation increase for Afghanistan. Because Wilson had just been named to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
The House Subcommittee on Defense is a standing subcommittee within the United States House Committee on Appropriations.-Members, 112th Congress:-External links:* Official page...
(which is responsible for funding CIA operations), his request went through.
That was not the last time he increased the CIA budget for its Afghan operation. In 1983, he won an additional $40 million, $17 million of which was allocated for anti-aircraft weapons to shoot down Mil Mi-24
Mil Mi-24
The Mil Mi-24 is a large helicopter gunship and attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for 8 passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and operated since 1972 by the Soviet Air Force, its successors, and by over thirty other nations.In NATO circles the export...
Hind helicopters. The next year, CIA officer Gust Avrakotos
Gust Avrakotos
Gustav Lascaris "Gust" Avrakotos was an American case officer and Afghan Task Force Chief for the United States Central Intelligence Agency....
directly approached Wilson—breaking the CIA's policy against lobbying Congress for money—asking Wilson for $50 million more. Wilson agreed and convinced Congress, saying, "The U.S. had nothing whatsoever to do with these people's decision to fight ... but we'll be damned by history if we let them fight with stones." Later, Wilson succeeded in giving the Afghans $300 million of unused Pentagon money before the end of the fiscal year. Thus, Wilson directly influenced the level of United States government support for the Afghan Mujahideen. Wilson has said that the covert operation succeeded because "there was no partisanship or damaging leaks." Michael Pillsbury
Michael Pillsbury
Michael Pillsbury is a defense policy adviser, former government official and author of books and reports on China.-Career:During the Reagan administration, Pillsbury was the Assistant Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning and responsible for implementation of the program of covert aid...
, a senior Pentagon official, used Wilson's funding to provide Stinger missiles to the Afghan resistance in a controversial decision.
Joanne Herring
Joanne Herring
Joanne Herring is a Houston socialite, political activist, businesswoman, and former talk show host.In the 1980s Herring played a role in helping U.S. Representative Charlie Wilson persuade the U.S. government to train and arm Mujahideen resistance fighters to fight in the Soviet war in...
played a significant role in helping the Afghan resistance fighters get support and military equipment from the United States government. She persuaded Wilson to visit the Pakistani leadership, and after meeting with them he was taken to a major Pakistan-based Afghan refugee camp so he could see for himself the atrocities committed by the Soviets against the Afghan people. About that visit, Wilson later said that it "was the experience that will always be seared in my memory, was going through those hospitals and seeing, especially those children with their hands blown off from the mines that the Soviets were dropping from their helicopters. That was perhaps the deciding thing... and it made a huge difference for the next 10 or 12 years of my life because I left those hospitals determined, as long as I had a breath in my body and was a member in Congress, that I was going to do what I could to make the Soviets pay for what they were doing!" In 2008, Wilson said he had "got involved in Afghanistan because I went there and I saw what the Soviets were doing. And I saw the refugee camps."
For his efforts, Wilson was presented with the Honored Colleague Award by the CIA. He became the first civilian to receive the award. However, Wilson's role remains controversial because most of the aid was supplied to Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
hardliner Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan Mujahideen leader who is the founder and leader of the Hezb-e Islami political party and paramilitary group. Hekmatyar was a rebel military commander during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan and was one of the key figures in the civil war that followed the...
, now a senior Taliban leader and a supporter of al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
.
The decision of the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan and declare the invasion a mistake led to Wilson commending the Soviet leadership on the floor of the House of Representatives. He also supported United States involvement in the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
, touring the former Yugoslavia over five days in January 1993; on his return he urged the Clinton administration to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, remarking "This is good versus evil and, if we do not want to Americanize this, then what do we want to Americanize? We have to stand for something."
Drug and alcohol use
In 1980, Wilson was accused of using cocaine at Caesars PalaceCaesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....
in Las Vegas; however, the investigation by Justice Department attorney Rudolph Giuliani was dropped due to lack of evidence. Liz Wickersham
Liz Wickersham
Liz Wickersham is an American television personality best known as the host of CNN's entertainment newsmagazine Showbiz Today.-Miss Georgia USA:...
told investigators that she saw Charlie use cocaine only once in the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
, however this was outside United States jurisdiction. In "The Charlie Wilson Real Story" Wilson reveals he traveled to Las Vegas in the summer of 1980, and recalls an experience with two strippers in a hot tub.
When questioned about his alleged cocaine use in 2007 Wilson reaffirmed "Nobody knows the answer to that and I ain't telling".
Wilson was involved in a drunken hit-and-run
Hit and run (vehicular)
Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
accident on the Washington DC's Key Bridge just before his first visit to Pakistan. A witness stated that she saw Wilson's Lincoln Continental
Lincoln Continental
The Lincoln Continental is an automobile which was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1956 to 2002...
hit a Mazda
Mazda
is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
; she took down his license plate however Wilson was never convicted.
Wilson's admirers defended him in the History Channel documentary, The True Story of Charlie Wilson, stating he drank that night to ease the pain he felt for the plight of the Afghan people. After noting the incident was not portrayed in the film Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
, Wilson said: "I got off easy".
Retirement
Wilson resigned from Congress in 1996 and went to live in Lufkin, Texas. In February 1999, Wilson married Barbara Alberstadt, a ballerina he met at a party in Washington in 1980.In September 2007, after two months on an organ transplantation waiting list, Wilson received the heart of a 35-year-old donor. Years of heavy drinking may have put a strain on his heart; in 1985, he had been told by a doctor that he had 18 months to live.
Death
Wilson died on February 10, 2010 at Lufkin Memorial Hospital in Lufkin, TexasLufkin, Texas
Lufkin is a city in Angelina County, Texas, United States. Founded in 1882, the population was 35,067 in 2010. It is the county seat of Angelina County, and is situated in Deep East Texas.-History:...
, where he had been taken after collapsing earlier in the day. He suffered from cardiopulmonary arrest. He was pronounced dead at 12:16 P.M. Central Time. "America has lost an extraordinary patriot whose life showed that one brave and determined person can alter the course of history," said Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....
, then US Defense Secretary
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
.
Wilson received a graveside service with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
on February 23, 2010.
Cultural references
Wilson's successful efforts to increase the funding of the anti-Soviet Afghan war were revealed in the book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History (2003), by George Crile IIIGeorge Crile III
George Crile III was an U.S. American journalist most closely associated with his three decades of work at CBS News.-Personal:...
. In the 2007 film version of the book
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
, actor Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
portrayed Wilson. The film portrayed him as a politically incorrect
Politically incorrect
The phrase "politically incorrect" may refer to:* Someone or something which does not meet a standard of political correctness* Politically Incorrect, a late-night U.S. political talk show* Politically Incorrect, a German political blog...
swashbuckler who liked the company of beautiful women.
Wilson was a key character in Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
Ghost Wars
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, written by Steve Coll, published in 2004 by Penguin Press, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction....
(2005), by Steve Coll
Steve Coll
Steve Coll is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and writer. Coll is currently president and CEO of the New America Foundation. Prior to assuming that post on September 17, 2007, Coll was a staff writer for The New Yorker, and served as managing editor of The Washington Post from 1998 to...
.
On December 27, 2007, the History Channel broadcast The True Story of Charlie Wilson, a two-hour documentary about the congressman's Afghan war efforts and his personal life.
See also
- Special Activities DivisionSpecial Activities DivisionThe Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
- Michael G. VickersMichael G. VickersMichael G. Vickers was confirmed as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on March 16, 2011. Before becoming USD-I, Vickers served as United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict...
- Gust AvrakotosGust AvrakotosGustav Lascaris "Gust" Avrakotos was an American case officer and Afghan Task Force Chief for the United States Central Intelligence Agency....
External links
- Charlie Wilson biography at biography.com (accessed 2007-12-23).
- Charles Wilson Congressional Papers at Stephen F. Austin University
- Conversation with Charlie Wilson on The Charlie Rose Show
- News, photos and a blog about Charlie Wilson and the movie from Charlie Wilson's hometown newspaper, The Lufkin Daily News..
- "Charlie Wilson's War Was Really America's War," article by former White House speechwriter Michael Johns on Charlie Wilson, January 19, 2008.
- "Afghanistan's New Militant Alliances," BBC article on Afghan military history referencing Wilson's involvement, April 17, 2006.
- "Charlie Did It," by Paul Wolf, June 7, 2003.
- Movie
- Looking Back: An Interview with Charlie Wilson Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-IntelligencerThe Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, April 2008 interview - Obituaries in Aljazeera, Austin American-Statesman, Dawn (Pakistan), Financial Times, Lufkin Daily News, Houston Chronicle, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post
- Charlie Wilson - Daily Telegraph obituary
- Wallach, Dan. "Charlie Wilson 'loved East Texas first'". (February 10, 2010) The Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
- Leopold, Todd. "Former congressman Charlie Wilson dead at 76". (February 11, 2010) CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
. Retrieved February 11, 2010. - Arnold, Laurence; Greiff, James; Henry, David. "Charlie Wilson, Congressman Who Armed Afghan Rebels, Dies at 76". (February 10, 2010) BusinessWeekBusinessWeekBloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
". Retrieved February 11, 2010.