Candidates and Figures, A History

Benjamin Carson

Republican Candidate

Personal Background:

Ben Carson was born September 18, 1951 in Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in a low-income and low educated family, Carson struggled to keep his grades up while in elementary school but with effort and dedication, managed to graduate high school with an acceptance letter to Yale University. After meeting his future wife, Candy, he graduated Yale and worked a plethora of different jobs : an X-ray technician, bank teller, school bus driver, highway clean up crew supervisor, and steel factory crane operator. All these jobs came before Carson's acceptance to The University of Michigan School of Medicine. After graduating from medical school, Ben Carson moved to Baltimore, where he began his path toward becoming a direct pediatric neurosurgeon at John Hopkins Children's Center for 29 years. Some success stories Carson highlights on are the first separation of twins of Siamese twins joined at the back of the head in1987, the first complete separation of type-2 vertical carniopagus (Siamese) twins in South Africa, and the first successful placement of an intrauterine shunt for a hydrocephalic twin. 

In 1994, Dr. Carson and his wife founded the Carson Scholars Fund due to a strong belief in education and alarm that American school systems are falling behind the rest of the world. Awarding over 7,500 scholarships to young people of all backgrounds with exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. The program also establishes Carson Reading Rooms in schools across the nation to encourage students and their families to recognize the beauty of books and power of knowledge. In correlation to books, Carson is the author of eight books, two being New York Time's Bestsellers. 

As far as Carson's personal life, he is full of divergence: 20% European and 80% African Decent, 3 sons and several grandchildren, member of Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian.

Political Stances:

1. Abortion

As a pediatric neurosurgeon, Carson says his Pro-Life stance is backed by him taking the "First, Do Not Harm" Hippocratic Oath. 

2. Budget

Carson believes ratifying the Balanced Budget Amendment will restore fiscal responsibility to the federal government's budget. 

3. Education

The philosophy Carson holds about education is "education is the fundamental principle of what makes America a success. It is the foundation of what truly makes our country the Land of Opportunity." ("Official Ben Carson for President"). Rather than following the trouble trend of the U.S. Department of Education dictating how children are educated, Carson believes parents, teachers and principals must run the education system. Stating "any attempt by faceless federal bureaucracies to take over our local schools must be defeated", meaning common core and the Department of Education must be stopped for there to be any hope for the future.

4. Health Care

Adamantly believing Obamacare is a looming disaster, Ben Carson suggests re-establishing a strong and direct relationship between patients and their physicians; meaning, more freedom and less government in the health care system will result in lower costs, more access, and continued innovation.

5. Keeping Faith in Society

Dr. Carson wants the nation to realize and be proud of the country being founded in on Judeo-Christian principles. Wanting to reverse the the trend of secular progressives driving faith out of society and Carson being a strong believer in the First Amendment, he wishes the country would equally protect the freedom of no religion as the freedom of practicing religion. 

6. Russia

Carson finds that Russia has been destabilizing the Ukraine while endangering the rest of Europe, as well as fueling the destabilization of the Middle East. Recommending the U.S. to be resolute in the face of Russian transgressions. Dealing with President Putin must bring consequences in Dr. Carson's eyes.

7. The Second Amendment

Carson is a strong believer of protecting the 2nd amendment as it is the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms and provides defense for the people from threats foreign or domestic.

8. Standing by Israel

Noting that Israel is the nation's only democratic ally in the Middle East and being surrounded by nations that threaten it's very existence, Carson believes in standing with Israel and it's people.

9. Better Tax Codes

Ben Carson finds the current tax code, exceeding 74,000 pages in length, as an abomination. Encouraging wholesome tax reform, Carson wants to promote a fairer, simpler, and more equitable tax system. 

Ben Carson's Timeline:

• 1951 : Born September 18  in Detroit Michigan.
• 1973 : Graduated from Yale University with a major in Psychology.
• 1977 : Recieved M.D. from The University of Michigan School of Medicine.
• 1994 : Founded the Carson Scholars Fund.
• 2001 : Named as one of the nation's principal physicians and scientists; Selected by the Library of Congress as one of the 89 "Living Legends".
• 2006 : Recipient of the Spingarn Medal.
• 2008 : Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush.

Bernie Sanders

Democratic Candidate

Personal Background:

Bernard "Bernie" Sanders was born September 8, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. His father came to the country at age 17 as a Polish immigrant with little money and education, whereas his mother graduated from high school in New York City. Sanders grew up in a small apartment in Brooklyn with his parents and brother, Larry. During the 1960's, in his 20's, Bernie Sanders was a strong activist in racial equality and desegregation. Starting from the bottom (now he's here), Sanders begins running for elections for the U.S. Senate but wins so little votes that he ends up backtracking to Mayor in Vermont; the next step, winning the sole Congressman seat for state of Vermont and being re-elected for eight terms. Finally, in 2006, Sanders wins the election as Vermont's Senator and works to pass and stand for and/or against several legislations, being an active participant in Democratic government. Being the longest independent Congressman in U.S. history, Bernie switched to Democrat in 2015 and is  now known as a Democratic-Socialist. Some interesting facts of Bernie Sanders are that he is Jewish, however,  not necessarily religious but did have a bar mitzvah and attended Hebrew school in the afternoons while in school; his father's family had been killed in the Holocaust, igniting his interest in politics : "A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932... and 50 million people died as a result... what I learned as a little kid is that politic is, in fact, very important" (Bernie Sanders); ran for high school student body president and turned out last; mother died in June 1959, shortly after Sanders' graduated from high school; attended the University of Chicago and participated in civil rights activism, as well as, several peace and antiwar movements.  

Political Stances:

According to Bernie Sanders, the country's riches are controlled by a handful of individuals. America now has more wealth and income inequality than any other country, and the gap between the rich and everyone else is wider than any time since the 1920s. Sanders notes that the Robin Hood principle is in reverse and must be stopped. Despite huge advancements in technology and productivity, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages. In order to reduce the income and wealth inequality, Bernie Sanders holds several ideas. 

• First, demanding that the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes, therefore, stopping corporations from shifting their profits and jobs overseas to avoid paying U.S. income taxes; by creating a progressive estate tax on the top 0.3% of Americans who inherit more than $3.5 million and will also enact a tax on Wall Street speculators who caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, homes, and life savings. 
• Secondly, increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2020, in order to ensure no one working 40 hours a week will be in poverty. 
• Next, putting at least 13 million Americans to work by investing $1 trillion over 5 years towards rebuilding the crumbling roads, bridges, railways, airports, public transit systems, ports, dams, wastewater plants, and other infrastructure needs. 
• Then, reversing trade policies like NAFTA, CAFTA, and PNTR with China that have driven down wages and cause millions to lose their jobs. 
• Another implication would be creating 1 million jobs for disadvantaged young Americans by investing $5.5 billion in a youth jobs program. 
• Bernie Sanders is also interested in fighting for pay equality by signing the Paycheck Fairness Act into law, finding it outrageous that women earn just 78 cents for every dollar a man makes. 
• Believing everyone in the country who studies hard should be able to get an education regardless of income, Bernie Sanders suggests putting into action making tuition free at public colleges and universities throughout America. 
• At a time when the senior poverty rate is going up, Sanders wants to make sure that every American can retire with dignity and respect through expanding social security by lifting the cap on taxable income above $250,000. 
• Sanders wants to guarantee healthcare as a right of citizenship by enacting Medicare for all single-payer health care system since the U.S should join every major industrialized country on earth and provide healthcare for all. 
• Real family values to Bernie Sanders are about making sure the parents have the time they need to bond with their babies and take care of their children and relatives when they are ill; thus, requiring employers to provide at least 12 weeks of family and medical leave, two weeks paid vacation, and 7 paid sick days. 
• Noting that every psychologist understands that the most formative years for a human being are between the ages of 0-3, Sanders wants to make sure every family in America has the opportunity to send their kids to a high quality childcare and pre-K program by enacting a universal childcare and prekindergarten program.
• Considering one of the most significant reasons for the 40-year decline in the middle class is that the rights of workers to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits have been surely undermined, Sanders wants to make it easier for workers to join unions by fighting for the Employee Free Choice Act.
• Seven years ago, the taxpayers of the country bailed out Wall Street because they were too big to fail. Yet, 3 out the 4 largest financial institutions are 80% bigger today than before they were bailed out. Senator Sanders has introduced legislation to break these banks up and wishes to turn this legislation to law. 

Overall, the political stances that Bernie Sanders' supports are making college tuition free and debt free, getting big money out of politics and restoring democracy, creating decent paying jobs, a living wage, clime and environmental change, a fair and humane immigration policy, fighting for women's rights, fighting for LGBT equality, caring for Veterans, strengthening and expanding social security, fighting to lower prescription drugs, reforming Wall Street, real family values, peace, and war being the last option thus the iran deal being beneficial. 

Bernie Sanders' Timeline: 

• 1941 : Born on September 8 in Brooklyn, New York.
• January, 1962 : As a Congress of Racial Equality officer, 20 year old Bernie Sanders lead students in multiple sit-ins to oppose segregation in off-campus housing at the University of Chicago. 
• August, 1963 : Sanders takes an overnight bus with friends to Washington D.C. to hear Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. 
• 1972 : Wins 2% of the vote in his first statewide election for U.S. Senator in Vermont and only 1% during his run for statewide office.
• 1974 : In his second campaign, Sanders merely wins 4% of the vote while running for the U.S. Senate.
• 1976 : Sanders wins 6% of the vote in the race to replace Governor Thomas Salmon.
• 1981 : Sanders won the mayoral race in Burlington, Vermont by 10 votes. Running as an independent, he shocks the city by winning over a six-term local mayor.
• 1983 : Winning 52% of the vote, Sanders defeats his challenger by 21 points and gets re-elected as a second term mayor. 
• 1984 : Mayor Sanders establishes the Burlington Community Land Trust, the first housing land trust in the country for affordable housing. 
• November, 1990 : Sanders wins seat as Vermont's only congressman, being the first independent elected in the House in 40 years. 
• January, 1991 : Congressman Sanders votes against the use of military force in the Gulf War. 
• October, 1992 : Congress passes Sanders' first signed piece of legislation to create the National Program of Cancer Registries, having all 50 states run registries to help cancer researchers gain important insights.
• November, 1993 : Sanders votes against the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement.
• July, 1999 : Sanders stands up against the pharmaceutical companies, saying they are far too expensive for the people and takes seniors across the border to Canada to buy low-cost prescription drugs almost one-tenth the price sold in America.
• November, 1999 : Sanders votes no on a bill to undo decades of financial regulations enacted after the Great Depression, predicting it would "lead to fewer banks and financial service providers, increased charges and fees for individual consumers and small businesses, diminished credit for rural America and taxpayer exposure to potential losses should a financial conglomerate fail." (Bernie Sanders). 
• October, 2001 : Votes against the USA Patriot Act and subsequently votes against reauthorizing the law in 2006 and 2011. 
• October, 2002 : Sanders votes against the Bush-Cheney war in Iraq, believing it could result in anti-Americanism, instability and more terrorism." 
• June, 2005 : Sanders passes an amendment in the House to stop the government from obtaining library and book-buying records on Americans.
• November, 2006 : Bernie Sanders defeats Rich Tarrant, Vermont's richest man, to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Running as an Independent, Sanders was endorsed by the Vermont Democratic Party.
• December, 2007 : Sanders' authored energy efficient and conservation grant program passes into law.
• September, 2008 : Funding the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Sanders' manages to provide millions of low-income Americans heat their homes in winter.
• February, 2009 : Sanders works with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley to pass an amendment to an economic recovery bill preventing Wall Street banks that take taxpayer bailouts from replacing laid-off U.S. workers with exploited and poorly-paid foreign workers.
• December, 2009 : Through passing language in the Affordable Healthcare Act, Sanders helped allow states to apply for waivers to implement pilot health care systems  by 2017. This legislation allowed states to adopt more comprehensive systems to cover more people at lower costs.
• March, 2010 : Sanders secures $12.5 billion in funding for the Affordable Healthcare program which now serves more than 25 million Americans.
• July, 2010 : Sanders works with Republican Congressman Ron Paul works to pass a measure as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to audit the Federal Reserve. 
• December, 2010 : Sanders delivers an 8 and a half hour filibuster speech on the Senate floor in opposition of the deal that would extend Bush-era tax breaks for America's wealthiest families.
• December, 2012 : Sanders becomes chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
• April, 2013 : Sanders introduces legislation to break up major Wall Street banks so large that the collapse of one could send all the economy in a downward spiral.
• August, 2014 : A bipartisan $16.5 billion veterans bill written by Sanders, Senator John McCain, and Representative Jeff Miller to include $5 billion for the VA to hire more doctors and health professionals, is signed by President Barack Obama. 
• January, 2015 : Sanders uses the platform to fight for his economic agenda for the American Middle Class to take over as the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. 
• January, 2015: Sanders votes against the Keystone XL pipeline which would allow TransCanada to transport dirty sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
• May, 2015 : Sanders declares his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. 

Charlene Spretnak

Green Party Figure

Personal Background and Political Stances:
Charlene Spretnak was born in 1964 in Pittsburgh and raised in Columbus, Ohio. She holds a B.A. from St. Louis University, and an M.A. in English and American Literature from the University of California at Berkley. She has written eight books, several of which have proposed eco-social analysis and vision in the areas of social criticism, feminism, cultural history, religion, and spirituality. In fact, her book Green Politics (1984) was a major contributor of the formation of the U.S. Green Party movement, of which she was the cofounder. Her political stances involve social and ecological justice.

Charlene Spretnak's Timeline: 

• 1964 : Born in Pittsburgh.
• 1978 : Published "Lost Goddesses of Early Greece : A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths". 
• 1982 : Published "The Politics of Women's Spirituality : Essays on the Rise of Spiritual Power within the Feminist Movement".
• 1984 : Published "Green Politics".
• 1986 : Published "The Spiritual Dimension of Green Politics".
• 1991 : Published "States of Grace : The Recovery of Meaning in the Postmodern Age". 
• 1997 : Published "The Resurgence of the Real : Body, Nature, and Place in a Hypermodern World". 
• 2004 : Published "Missing Mary : The Queen of Heaven and Her Re-Emergence in the Modern Church". 
• 2006 : Named by British government's Environment Department as one of the "100 Eco-Heros of All Time" for her writings in ecology, politics, and spirituality.
• 2011 : Published "Relational Reality". 
• 2012 : Received the Demeter Award for lifetime achievement as "one of the premier visionary feminist thinkers of our time" from the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology. 
• 2014 : Released "The Spiritual Dynamic in Modern Art : Art History Reconsidered, 1800 to the Present" 

Eugene V. Debs

Leading figure in Socialist Party in early 1900's

Personal Background:

Eugene V.Debs was born in 1855 and began to rise in prominence as a labor organizer and socialist leader in Indiana's Terre Haute lodge of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. Entering politics as a Democratic City Clerk in 1879, in 1885, he was elected to the Indiana Assembly with broad support from the Terre Haute's workers and businessmen. Debs organized the American Railway Union, which waged a strike in 1894 against the Pullman Company of Chicago. Once embracing his socialist views, Debs became the party's standard-bearer in five presidential elections.

Political Stances:
At first, as a firm proponent of organization of workers by their separate crafts, Debs resided in the industrial organization implicit with efforts of the Knights of Labour and ordered his members to report to work during the Knights' 1885 strike against the southwestern railroads. However, during this strike, he had a couple changes in point of view. He now thought craft organization a division between working people's efforts to secure fair wages and working conditions. He also realized concentrated corporate power had a debilitating effect on political rights and economic opportunity for many Americans.  Resigned his position from the brotherhood, Debs began organizing another organization for industrial union of railroad workers and created the ARU. During their 1894 strike against the Pullman Company of Chicago, but the unified power of railroad management working intimately with federal authorities broke the strike. Federal judges sentenced Debs to jail terms and he emerged from this experience with two jail terms. He ended up questioning the ultimate ability of trade unions to combat successfully capital's economic power and looked upon socialism as the answer to the working people's problems. From 1900 to 1920, Debs was the Socialist party's standard-bearer in five presidential elections. Between campaigns, Debs was a tireless speaker and organizer for the party. Although many workers applauded Debs' vision, few endorsed his political program. He conducted his last campaign for president as prisoner 9653 while serving ten years for his opposition of World War I. As the American Socialist party fragmented in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, Debs remained with the party he had led for so many years.

Eugene Debs' Timeline: 

• 1855 : Born in Terre Haute, Indiana.
• 1875 : Elected secretary of the Terre Haute lodge of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. 
• 1881 : He was national security of the brotherhood, increasingly its spokesman on labour issues, and most tireless organizer.
• 1879 : Debs enters politics as a Democratic candidate for city clerk.
• 1881 : Debs reelected over Republican and Greenback-Labor party.
• 1885 : Elected to the Indiana State Assembly with broad support from Terre Haute.
• 1883 : Resigned his position as secretary of the brotherhood and began organizing an industrial union of railroad workers, the American Railway Union (ARU). 
• 1894 : ARU strikes against the Pullman Company of Chicago.
• 1912 : Debs wins 6% of the vote in the Presidential Election. 

Ron Paul

Libertarian Candidate in 1988

Personal Background:

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul was born August 30, 1935 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania as the third of five sons. As a child, he helped with his dad's dairy business, then working as paperboy and later in a drug store. Through high school, Paul was a member of the track and wrestling teams and president of the student council; he also met his future wife Carol while in high school. Before graduating college, Paul and Carol got married and upon graduation, moved to Durham, North Carolina, where he attended the Duke University school of Medicine. Finishing his degree in 1961, Ron Paul soon set out to become a military doctor and moved his family to Detroit, Michigan. Specializing in obstretics and gynecology, Paul opened his own practice in Texas. In 1970's, Paul became active in politics.

Political Stances:
Ron Paul's first stint in House of Representatives was only a matter of months. He did not retain his post in the general election later that year. Trying agin in 1978, Paul was elected and even re-elected twice. Emerging as a strong critic of the country's banking and financial systems, he began writing economic theories which were later published in 1981, Gold, Peace and Prosperity : The Birth of a New Currency. He later expressed pro-life and anti-federal government views in 1983's Abortion and Liberty. After an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 1984, Paul was succeeded in the House of Representatives by Tom DeLay. Paul returned to his private practice. A career Republican, Paul jumped ship in 1988 to become the presidential candidate for the Libertarian party. In many ways, he was a good fit for the party in his interest in lowering taxes and reducing the size of the federal government; however, he differed with them on issues such as abortion, since the Libertarian party supports personal liberty and opposes laws and other restrictions on the lifestyles of individuals. While he came in third, Paul received 500,000 votes in the general election. In the mid-1990's, Paul returned to the Republican Party and fought Greg Laughlin - a Democrat turned Republican - for his party's nomination for a seat in the House of Representatives. Although the odds had been against him, Paul won the election in 1996. Over the years, Paul has maintained a steadfast consistency on executive power, taxation and pro-life issues. Unlike many other Republicans, Paul voted against the Patriot Act and against the Iraq war; he has voted against farm subsides and regulating the Internet, which is in line with his interest in reducing government spending and the role of the federal government. In addition, he has expressed his opposition to the war on drugs, saying that the government's efforts have actually been a war on doctors. It was this mix of traditional conservatism and libertarianism that made Paul such an unusual candidate. When throwing his name into the 2008 presidential election, he gathered a lot of support from diverse circles. Some like his ideas about economic policies whereas others see him as the anti-establishment candidate. Although Paul didn't win the nomination, he did come in 5th at the Iowa caucus with approximately 10% of the vote but finished last two days later in Wyoming's caucus. Paul saw the campaign as a way to promote important issues as much as a race to win the White House. Paul ended his run for the Republican nomination in June, which went to John McCain then. Some thought Paul would run for the Libertarian candidate but decided to pass that idea up, and instead, endorsed the Constitution Party's candidate, Chuck Baldwin.

Darryl Perry's Timeline: 

• 1935 : Born August 30 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1961 : Graduated Duke University's with a degree in medicine.
• 1970's : Ron Paul becomes active in politics.
• 1978 : Runs for the second time as a Representative and wins.
• 1981 : Published "Gold, Peace, and Prosperity : The Birth of a New Currency".
• 1982 : Published "The Case for Gold : A Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission". 
• 1983 : Published "Abortion and Liberty". 
• 1984 : Loses U.S. Senate election against Phil Gramm.
• 1984 : Succeeded in the House of Representatives by Tom DeLay. 
• 1988 : Ron Paul excitingly jumps at the opportunity to become the presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. 
• 1990's : Fights Greg Laughlin for his party's nomination for a seat in the House of Representatives. 
• 1996 : Ron Paul wins against Greg Laughlin for House of Representatives seat. 
• 2008 : Ran for Republican presidential candidacy.