Geraldine Ferraro, US Political Pioneer, Dies at 75



Geraldine Ferraro, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 9th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. (Photo: United States Congress)



Geraldine Ferraro, US Political Pioneer, Dies at 75

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Geraldine Ferraro, the first American woman to run for national office on a major political party's ticket, died Saturday at 75.

Ferraro was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 1984. Her family said she died at a hospital in the eastern city of Boston of complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that she had battled for 12 years.

Ferraro was the running mate of presidential nominee Walter Mondale on the Democratic Party's ticket in 1984, when former president Ronald Reagan was running for a second term in the White House.

Mondale, who was former president Jimmy Carter's running mate four years earlier, said he was determined to set a precedent with his selection of Ferraro for national office. However, the general election resulted in a big victory for Mr. Reagan and his vice president, George H.W. Bush.

No woman has ever been elected to one of the top two positions in the American government. Ferraro was a New York congresswoman at the time of her selection for the national ticket.

In tribute, President Barack Obama called Ferraro “a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women.” He said she “fought to uphold America's founding ideals of equality, justice and opportunity for all.”

In 2008, when Mr. Obama won election, the Republican Party's losing ticket included former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, as Senator John McCain's choice for vice president.

Family members said Ferraro was surrounded by close relatives at the time of her death. A family statement said she was known as “a fighter for justice and a tireless advocate for those without a voice.” The family also said her “courage and generosity of spirit throughout her life … will never be forgotten and will be sorely missed.”

Former US Secretary of State Warren Christopher Dies

63rd United States Secretary of State, Warren Minor Christopher (Photo: State Department, US Government)

Former US Secretary of State Warren Christopher Dies
VOA News
19 March 2011

Former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who brokered the 1981 release of American hostages in Iran, has died of complications from kidney and bladder cancer.

The 85-year-old former top American diplomat was at his home in California, surrounded by family at the time of his death on Friday night.

For five decades he played a key role in American civic and public life, as a lawyer or negotiating foreign policy crises and helping investigate and resolve contentious U.S. domestic and political issues.  

In tribute, President Barack Obama called Christopher "a resolute pursuer of peace," as well as a "skillful diplomat" and "steadfast public servant."

Christopher served as secretary of state from 1993 to 1997, in the first administration of Democrat Bill Clinton.

Christopher was known for his even-handed demeanor and as a tactician. He was often called on by American leaders to represent the U.S. in the most difficult international disputes during the 1980s and 1990s. In his 2001 book, "Chances of a Lifetime: A Memoir," Christopher said he viewed himself as a "steward, not proprietor, of an extraordinary public trust."

Even before becoming America's 63rd secretary of state in 1993, he played a crucial role in helping resolve the lengthy Iranian hostage crisis on the day that Ronald Reagan became the U.S. president in January 1981. He negotiated the release of 52 Americans who had been held by Tehran for 444 days. Their capture and failed attempts to rescue them played a key role in Mr. Reagan's presidential victory over then-President Jimmy Carter.

Over the years, Christopher also helped win U.S. congressional ratification of treaties returning American control of the Panama Canal to local authorities, presided over the normalization of U.S. diplomatic relations with China and negotiated repeated disputes in the Middle East and Balkans.

In the U.S., he investigated racial conflicts in the midwest city of Detroit and the California city of Los Angeles. He later headed a 1991 commission proposing reforms of the Los Angeles police department following riots that occurred after the police beating of an African-American motorist.

In 2000, Christopher supervised the Florida recount of disputed votes in that year's presidential election between then-Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush. After a lengthy dispute, Mr. Bush emerged the winner under a U.S. Supreme Court decision and went on to serve two terms in the White House.

Last American World War I Veteran Dies

Portrait of Frank Buckles, taken 28 February 2011, at the Pentagon, where anonymous workers placed white roses and a handwritten note in his memory. Buckles, the last known American veteran of World War I, died Sunday at age 110. He attended the portrait's unveiling three years ago. The handwritten note reads, 'Thank you for your service to our country. May you and your generation rest in peace.' (Photo: VOA - A. Pessin)

Last American World War I Veteran Dies
Al Pessin
Pentagon
28 February 2011

The last known American veteran of World War I died Sunday at his home in West Virginia.  Former U.S. Army Corporal Frank Buckles was 110 years old. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin had the chance to speak to Mr. Buckles several years ago and filed this remembrance.

"I did not lie [laughter].  Nobody calls me a liar! [laughter]”

Mr. Buckles had us laughing that day in March of 2008, when he came to the Pentagon for the unveiling of a set of new portraits of himself and other World War I veterans. He admitted he exaggerated his age, twice, in order to join the Army in 1917, when he was just 15 years old. But with a wink he said that did not make him a liar.

“I had added some years onto my age and was 18. He [the recruiter] said, ‘Sorry, but you have to be 21.’ So I came back later and I had aged. I was 21. [laughter]”

And he was still lying about his age, just a little bit.

“I do not feel that I am any older than you are [laughter],” said Buckles.

In fact, he was more than twice as old as any of the Pentagon reporters who interviewed him that day.

On Monday, anonymous Pentagon workers put white roses and a handwritten note on his portrait. The note reads, "Thank you for your service to our country. May you and your generation rest in peace."

Three years ago, Buckles captivated the crowd from his wheelchair in the Pentagon auditorium, as speakers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, offered their praise and thanks.

“We cherish the memory of those who have passed away," said Gates. "We cherish the chance to say thank you in person to Corporal Frank Buckles. We will always be grateful for what they did for their country 90 years ago, and feel glad, too, for the longevity that they enjoyed on this earth.”

Buckles also was welcomed at the White House that week, by then-president George W. Bush.

“It has been my high honor to welcome Mr. Buckles, and his daughter, Susannah, here to the Oval Office," said Bush. "Mr. Buckles has a vivid recollection of historic times. And one way for me to honor the service of those who wear the uniform in the past and those who wear it today is to herald you, sir, and to thank you very much for your patriotism and your love for America.”

Buckles wanted to serve when World War I broke out, and his lie to the recruiter made it possible. Shortly afterward, at age 16, he deployed to Europe as an ambulance driver. He saw the horror of war close up, ferrying the wounded from the trenches to primitive field hospitals. Later, he drove German prisoners back to Germany.

Buckles left the army in 1920 and years later he went to work for a shipping company in the Philippines. When World War II broke out, he and other Americans there were put in prison camps by the occupying Japanese forces. Although he was not a soldier at that time, he spent more than three years in the notorious Los Baňos prison. The cup he ate out of for all that time is in the background of his 2008 portrait, which now hangs with eight others along one of the Pentagon’s many corridors.

In a statement issued Monday, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle praised Buckles, saying he continued to serve America until his death, as the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation. The Obamas said they join the Buckles family “in celebrating a remarkable life that reminds us of the true meaning of patriotism and our obligations to each other as Americans.” 

In one sense, Frank Buckles was not much different from millions of other World War One veterans. With his enthusiasm to serve and his longevity, however, it certainly was possible to say about him what he said about that Pentagon ceremony three years ago.

“Really, it was remarkable. I enjoyed every minute of it here.”

World Leaders, Officials Honor Late US Diplomat Holbrooke

Richard C. Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (01/26/2009 - 12/13/2010). Photo: U.S. State Department.

World Leaders, Officials Honor Late US Diplomat Holbrooke
Kent Klein
White House
14 January 2011

President Barack Obama has eulogized U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke as a clear-eyed realist whose legacy of peace reaches around the world. World leaders and U.S. officials crowded the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Friday to pay tribute to the late ambassador.

President Obama says Richard Holbrooke was an extraordinary diplomat, who served his country until his final moments. "Speaking truth to power from the Mekong Delta to the Paris Peace Talks, paving the way to our normalization of relations with China, serving as ambassador in a newly-unified Germany, bringing peace to the Balkans, strengthening our relationship with the United Nations, and working to advance peace and progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.

Holbrooke collapsed while meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department on December 11. He died two days later at the age of 69.

Holbrooke’s greatest success came in 1995, when he persuaded the two sides in Bosnia-Herzegovina’s bloody ethnic conflict to accept the terms of the Dayton Peace Accords.

At Friday’s memorial, Mr. Obama said Holbrooke’s hard-headed, clear-eyed realism about how the world works was a driving force behind the Bosnia accord. "And that coupling of realism and idealism, which has always represented what is best in American foreign policy, that was at the heart of his work in Bosnia, where he negotiated and cajoled and threatened, all at once, until peace was the only outcome possible," he said.

Richard Holbrooke began his career in the early 1960’s as a civilian representative for the Agency for International Development in South Vietnam.  He joined the State Department and worked for the U.S. ambassadors in Saigon.  And before the age of 30, Holbrooke was part of the American delegation to the Paris Peace Talks.

Holbrooke later led the Peace Corps in Morocco, advised presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in his 1976 campaign, and worked as an executive at a Wall Street investment firm.

He also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany and to the United Nations, and finally as President Obama’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The president said Friday Holbrooke created a lasting impact on American diplomacy and everyone affected by it. "His legacy is seen in the children of Bosnia who lived to raise families of their own, in a Europe that is peaceful and united and free.  And young boys and girls from the tribal regions of Pakistan, to whom he pledged our country’s friendship.  And in the role that America continues to play as a light to all who aspire to live in freedom and in dignity," he said.

In his eulogy, Mr. Obama announced the creation of an annual award named for Holbrooke, to honor excellence in U.S. diplomacy. 

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were among others who spoke at the memorial.

Obama Pays Tribute to Arizona Shooting Victims

Intern Daniel Hernandez, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, astronaut Mark E. Kelly and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano at a memorial for the victims of the 2011 Tucson shooting.

Obama Pays Tribute to Arizona Shooting Victims
Dan Robinson
White House
12 January 2011

In an emotional visit to Tucson, Arizona late Wednesday, President Barack Obama has visited the wounded from last Saturday's mass shooting and with families of the six people killed. The president and first lady Michelle Obama attended a memorial honoring victims of the shooting spree, and urged Americans toward more civility amid ongoing national debate sparked by the tragic event.

The president, his wife, and other officials accompanying them went almost immediately to the University of Arizona Medical Center. 

There, they briefly visited U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition in the early days of recovery from a gunshot to the head suffered in last Saturday's attack.

Altogether, the Obamas visited with five of the 13 people wounded in the shooting, and with family members of the six people killed, and hospital staff.

Like other presidents before him at moments of national trauma, Mr. Obama in remarks at a memorial called "Together We Thrive" focused on a process of national healing, and on honoring and paying respect to the lives of those killed and wounded. 

But he did not shy away from addressing the national debate in the wake of the shootings.  Referring to what he called a "sharply polarized" national discourse, he urged Americans not to allow the tragedy to create additional divisions.

"Yes, we have to  examine all the facts behind this tragedy.  We cannot and will not be passive in the face of such violence.  We should be willing to challenge old assumptions in order to lessen the prospects of violence in the future.  But what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other.  That we cannot do," he said.

Results of a new USA Today/Gallup poll found that only 20 percent of Americans believe heated political rhetoric was a major factor influencing the alleged gunman in Tucson.   Forty two percent said it was not a factor, 22 percent said it played a minor role.

As the president was visiting shooting victims and families, a university student, Greg McKormack, commented to reporters about the national debate and what the president's visit meant to him. "You know what, I don't think tonight has anything to do with that.  I think it's basically just saying we in the United States, we're going to stand up against this, it's moments like this that actually pull our country together and who better to be at the center of that than the president of the United States of America," McKormack said.

In his remarks, President Obama cautioned against "simple explanations" for the tragedy.  Referring to Christina Taylor Green, the nine-year-old girl killed in the shootings, he urged Americans toward reflection that avoids what he called "the usual plane of politics, point scoring and pettiness."

"If, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let us remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy.  It did not.  But rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation, in a way that would make them proud," he said.

Others taking part were Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, all of whom read bible portions.  Also addressing a crowd estimated at over 14,000 was Daniel Hernandez, the young volunteer credited with saving congresswoman Giffords life.

Mr. Obama said the selflessness of the heroes on the day of the shootings, along with the loss of the fallen, pose a challenge to Americans to be true to the memories of those who died.

The comparisons for Mr. Obama in Tucson were to speeches other presidents delivered in times of national trauma.  But the national debate surrounding the Arizona shootings has only intensified.

Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, released a video statement on her Facebook page criticizing journalists and political pundits for suggesting that heated political rhetoric was to blame for the Tucson shootings. "Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible," she said.

Palin was sharply criticized before the November congressional elections for posting a map containing what appeared to be gunsight crosshair symbols marking districts of Democratic lawmakers, including that of Democratic Congresswoman Giffords.

There is now also renewed debate about gun control and security for members of Congress.  Some lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban certain types of high capacity ammunition magazines for guns.

From Tucson, President Obama and his wife Michelle headed back to Washington where among other things the president will be preparing for next week's state visit by China's president.

But he will also be working on drafts of the State of the Union Address he will deliver on January 25, a speech he may use to amplify the strong points he made in Arizona about civility and the tone of the nation's politics.