BIOGRAPHICAL
FACTS:
POLITICAL:
Campaign Manager, McGovern for President, 1972; US Senator,
1975-1987 (elected in 1974, re-elected in 1980, retired in 1986);
Co-Chair, US Commission on National Security/21st Century, 1998-2001.
Member, Council on Foreign Relations. Candidate for President, 1984
and 1988.
PROFESSIONAL:
Attorney; Consultant; Author.
EDUCATION:
B.A., Bethany (Okla.) Navarene College, 1958. B.D., Yale
Divinity School, 1961. J.D., Yale Law School, 1964; D.Phil., Oxford
University, 2001.
PERSONAL:
Born November 28, 1936, in Ottawa, Kansas. Married to Lee
Hart. Two children.
ANALYSIS:
EXPLORATORY
CANDIDATE: Senator Gary Hart was once a rapidly rising star
on the national political scene -- until he destroyed himself politically
in an embarrassing sexual scandal in the late 1980s. 
Hart,
a former divinity student and lawyer, first gained attention as
the manager of anti-war Senator George McGovern's 1972 Presidential
campaign. In 1974, Hart was elected to the US Senate -- defeating
a GOP incumbent. He was re-elected in 1980, despite the Reagan landslide
in his state. In 1984, Hart made his first run for President. Starting
as an underdog, Hart's "New Ideas" campaign scored a major
upset win in the NH primary over favored candidate Walter Mondale.
Hart waged a tough fight for the nomination -- winning several key
primaries -- but Mondale prevailed (based in large part on party
rules that gave a large number of "super-delegate" seats
to party insiders). After Mondale's landslide defeat in the general
election, Hart was instantly proclaimed the Democratic frontrunner
for the 1988 race. Hart did not seek re-election to the Senate in
1986 in order to concentrate on the Presidential race. Polls showed
him far ahead of the field of rival -- until the sex scandal broke.
Hart was rumored for years to have engaged in extramarital affairs
but, when asked in 1987 by a reporter, he answered "Go ahead,
follow me -- you'll be bored." They did follow him and within
just days caught him in an affair with a woman named Donna Rice.
The press even found a photo of Rice sitting in Hart's lap -- taken
in the Bahamas aboard a boat named (appropriately) "Monkey
Business." Hart quit the race -- then jumped back in a few
months later, but performed dismally in the few primaries he entered.
Of course, all of this was before the Bill Clinton sex scandals
-- which made Hart's indiscretion look trivial by comparison. Since
leaving politics in 1988, Hart has practiced law in been actively
involved with national security and international policy think tanks
-- writing extensively and passionately on those topics. He also
served on the US Commission on National Security, which had endorsed
creation of a homeland security agency before the 9-11 attacks.
He even became a novelist. In March 2003, Hart announced his plans
to open an exploratory committee to start his Presidential fundraising
activities. Hart acknowledges that he misses playing a serious policy
role on the national stage -- and hopes his candidacy will reassert
him into a policy leadership role within the Democratic Party. However,
he said that he would never again run for US Senate -- nor would
be ever run for Congress or accept the VP spot. For Hart, the Presidential
race itself seems to be his favored vehicle for conveying his serious
policy message of warning.
LINKS:
Gary
Hart News - Official Exploratory Committee Site.
Coudert Brothers: Gary Hart - Hart's Law Firm.
US Commission on National Security/21st
Century - Official Government Site.
National Hart in 2004 Meet-Up
Day - Grassroots Supporters (Unauthorized).
Democracy
in Action (GWU): Gary Hart - University Resource.
HART
IS ENDORSED BY:
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OFFICIAL
CAMPAIGN CONTACT INFORMATION:
Gary
Hart News (Exploratory Committee)
950 17th Street, 18th Floor
Denver, Colorado 80202
Email: volunteer@garyhartnews.com
THE HART
LIBRARY:
Restoration
of the Republic: The Jeffersonian Ideal in 21st-Century America
by Gary Hart (2002). Arguments between right and left over individual
freedom, states' rights and big government have been a staple of
American politics. In this reassessment of Thomas Jefferson's political
theories, former US Senator Gary Hart attempts to secure a middle
road that would promote the political participation of individual
citizens while fostering a more effective federal structure. Hart
suggests urban and suburban neighborhoods could consolidate such
functions as schools, police and health services. Thus, by becoming
"local republics," they would "rationalize fragmented
municipal governments." If it sounds a bit academic, that's
probably because this book had its origins as Hart's doctoral dissertation
at Oxford. While this is a valiant attempt to mine the past in order
to plan the future, it may strike many as existing too much in an
ivory tower rather than in the vibrant "local republic"
Hart so admires. This is the most recent of several books authored
by Hart. Price: $12.95. Your Price: $10.36 (You Save 20%)! Paperback.
