Kucinich found fame early, fell, then found himself

[maddezmom]

'He's always had a destiny'

Kucinich found fame early, fell, then found himself
By ED PILOLLA
Monitor staff


Dennis Kucinich was 33 when Cleveland voters threw him out as mayor. Just two years after he was elected in 1977, he was out of politics - and out of a job.

Kucinich, the Ohio congressman who's now running for president, would not earn a steady paycheck for four years. It would be 11 more years before he would make a political comeback. For a decade and a half, he borrowed money, worked odd jobs, moved to California, sought spiritual enlightenment in New Mexico, and returned to Cleveland to run and lose several times before finally winning another election.

"He couldn't get a job anywhere," said Dr. Javier Lopez, Kucinich's physician and friend. Kucinich met Lopez while working as an orderly after college at Cleveland's St. Alexis Hospital. Lopez and Kucinich would routinely talk on the phone and share meals together.

"Dennis always believed he would return to political office," Lopez said. "He always believed that. After he was mayor, we would go for walks or to a baseball game and people would recognize him and come up to him and say hello. You could see how important that was to him."

He was elected the youngest mayor ever of a major American city on his promise not to sell Cleveland's public utility system. While in office, he kept his word and steadfastly refused to sell, although the business community, led by local banks, was in favor of the sale.

~snip~

much more:http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/front2004/kucinich_again_2004.shtml


Read the whole article...kind of long, but great bio on Dennis. :)

[JohnKleeb]

1. His story is so inspiring

Hell gives me hope, I am much better off than he was at my age yet he worked hard and now is a congressman/presidential candiate. So if he can do it, I can get in to a good college at the very least. Thanks for this bio, this man is probably one of my biggest modern heroes, I know about his showing in DC and I am disappointed but still supporting him.