Biographical Summary 

Dennis Kucinich, an internationally renowned champion of diplomacy and peace has a distinguished public life, bringing to government a vision of a society which can live in peace and economic prosperity at home and cooperate with and live in tranquility with people  around the world. 

Kucinich’s ability to change the outcome was instrumental in organizing members of Congress to form effective counterweights on key domestic and international issues during his 16 years in the House of Representatives.

His landmark legislation to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace exemplifies his forward-thinking approach to addressing complex societal challenges which vex others.  

Kucinich questioned the legitimacy of wars in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.   He warned of and exposed the waste of  trillions in tax dollars on US military adventures.  He repeatedly  urged the US to abide by international law, in order to assure America’s long-term security.   

He insists  upon the Constitutional role of Congress in thwarting Administrative abuse of power inherent in doctrines of pre-emption, first strike and executive-ordered assassinations,  which violate international law, weaken America’s  moral authority and undermine Congress’ role as a co-equal branch of government while impelling a breakdown of the rule of law at home.  On several occasions he led members of Congress to take legal action to challenge presidential abuses of the war power.  

He introduced Articles of Impeachment against both President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney for lying to take the US into war against Iraq.

Kucinich, through his sixteen years in Congress was a prime defender of the US Constitution, repeatedly taking to the floor of the House of Representatives to uphold constitutional doctrines of separation of power and cherished principles governing free speech, freedom of religion, protections against search and seizure, and equal protection of the law.  He led the effort against passage of the Patriot Act.

A Brief Political Biography

Mayor of Cleveland: Taking on a Utility Monopoly, Banks, the Mob 

His career in local government included an extraordinary term as Mayor of Cleveland, where he protected school revenues by opposing tax abatements and  prevailed to save Cleveland’s municipal electric system, despite the punishing tactics of a corrupt business establishment.  Underscoring the dangers of going against the status quo in Cleveland, a city then infested with the mob, Kucinich escaped two assassination attempts during his mayoral term, (1977-1979) and one at the beginning of his campaign. 

Kucinich had extensive experience in local government before his election as mayor.  He was first elected to council in 1969 at the age of 23, on his second try.  As a member of Cleveland City Council he helped draft the city’s first air pollution code, was a key negotiator for a regional transit agreement with guaranteed fares and route miles, and helped establish a Consumer Affairs division.  In 1975, he was elected Clerk of the Cleveland Municipal Court, where he significantly cut case backlogs and eliminated corruption which had long plagued the court.   He served four terms  in the Cleveland City Council.   

 

Ohio Senate:  Protecting Taxpayers from Rip-offs by Team Owners

Kucinich’s accomplishments in the Ohio Senate included authoring a bill which is now the law in Ohio (ORC 9.67) which requires that any professional sports team which receives tax support cannot move the team without giving the city or local investors an opportunity to purchase the team.  This law was used to keep a professional soccer team in Columbus and is currently being cited as protecting fans and taxpayers from any sudden move from Cleveland by the Browns, such as happened in 1995.

 

Protecting the Environment.

He also spearheaded a state-wide effort to block plans to cite a radioactive waste dump in Ohio with waste from five different states in the U.S.   Kucinich also championed an effort to stop logging of old-growth forests in Ohio’s state parks.

 

US House of Representatives: The Leading Advocate for Peace

Introduction:  Kucinich questioned the legitimacy of wars in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.   He warned of and exposed the waste of  trillions in tax dollars on US military adventures.  He has urged the US to abide by international law, in order to assure America’s long-term security.   He insists  upon the Constitutional role of Congress in thwarting Administrative abuse of power inherent in doctrines of pre-emption, first strike and executive-ordered assassinations,  which violate international law, weaken America’s moral authority and undermine Congress’ role as a co-equal branch of government while impelling a breakdown of the rule of law at home.  On several occasions he led members of Congress to take legal action to challenge presidential abuses of the war power.  

He introduced Articles of Impeachment against both President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney for lying to take the US into war against Iraq.

Kucinich, through his sixteen years in Congress was a prime defender of the US Constitution, repeatedly taking to the floor of the House of Representatives to uphold constitutional doctrines of separation of power and cherished principles governing free speech, freedom of religion, protections against search and seizure, and equal protection of the law.  He led the effort against passage of the Patriot Act.

He was twice a Democratic candidate for President of the United States, in 2004 and 2008.

Though his passion for service stemmed from a mission and desire to ensure domestic economic equality, fair elections and the true embodiment of the US Constitution in the political realm, Kucinich’s leadership for peace best characterized his service in Congress. 

The floor of the House of Representatives was his arena, where he lobbied fellow members on key legislation, often distributing hundreds of informational leaflets to members of Congress prior to many debates.   Kucinich participated in debate from the floor of the House on almost every major issue over the span of 16 years he served.   

Kucinich led a bi-partisan coalition in Congress, to defeat a Senate Concurrent Resolution which would have approved the Clinton Administration’s bombing of Serbia.  He was part of a congressional delegation of Democrats and Republicans which travelled to Austria to work with members of the Russian Duma, to craft a peace plan for Serbia, which later provided a framework for a G-7 agreement to end the war.  

 

Architect of a New Structure for Peace 

On July 11, 2001, he authored an introduced into Congress legislation to create a cabinet-level Department of Peace which would make non-violence an organizing principle in the United States, through focusing on a coordinated, programmatic national approach to dealing with   domestic violence, spousal abuse, violence in the schools, gang violence, gun violence, racial violence, violence against gays and police-community relations challenges.  On international matters, the Department of Peace would have experts in conflict-avoidance on call to the White House, particularly for incipient crises.

 

Kucinich Tries to Guide America after 9/11

The day after the attacks of September 11, 2001, understanding that the heart of the world was open to the American people in a way it had not been in decades, Kucinich went to the floor of the House to caution America against initiating a global war of retribution and advocated instead a path to reconciliation and an altered foreign policy focus.  In October of 2002, he wrote a detailed analysis which categorically dismissed the Bush Administration’s cause for war against Iraq.   

 

Kucinich:  The Eyes that Saw through the Lies about  the War against Iraq

A full five months before “Shock and Awe”, when millions of bombs began to rain over the Iraqi people, Kucinich relentlessly lobbied hundreds members of Congress with his own carefully researched, detailed analysis of the war resolution.  Kucinich urgently pointed out Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, with Al Queda’s role in 9/11, that Iraq had neither the intention nor the capability of attacking the United States, that it had nothing to do with the anthrax attack on America, was not trying to get uranium from Niger, and that no credible evidence existed with respect to allegations that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) which they could or would use against the United States.  

He organized 125 Democrats to vote against the war in Iraq.   He and Republican Ron Paul warned America early on of the consequences of a war against Iraq.  Once President Bush initiated the war, Congressman Kucinich worked tirelessly to try to stop the war, including filing Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney.

 

Standing for Freedom and Constitutional Rights 

A tireless advocate for the upholding of the US Constitution and civil liberties, Kucinich was an early voice and vote against the so-called Patriot Act, which enabled the US government to extend massive surveillance of intruding into the lives of millions of innocent American citizens.  “I voted against the Patriot Act,” Kucinich said, “because I read it.”    After the Patriot Act passed, Kucinich began an intensive, unyielding effort to protect the Constitutional rights of the American people from abuse by the government.  He and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex) cosponsored legislation to review and set the stage for the repeal of the Patriot Act.  The bill, entitled the Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act, at one time had 27 co-sponsors.

Congressman Kucinich insisted upon Congress’ Constitutional obligations to decide whether to take America to war, as required under Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution.  

 

Challenging Presidential Abuse of Power - - In Court

He was a driving force in several law suits, challenging three presidents,  for usurping of congressional authority on matters of war and peace.  Ultimately the federal courts would not intervene.  

 

(1) Campbell v. Clinton. 2000.  (lead Democratic plaintiff)   Kucinich joined Rep. Thomas Campbell, (R-CA) in an effort to use the War Powers Act to overturn the President’s decision to commit troops to participate in NATO airstrikes against the government of the former Yugoslavia, in Belgrade.  

 

(2) Kucinich v. Bush. 2002. (lead plaintiff) and (3) Kucinich v. Obama. 2011.  (lead plaintiff).  President Bush withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missiles Treaty with Russia, without consulting with the Senate, which was required to approve the treaty. 

 

(3) Doe v. Bush 2003.  This lawsuit involved a coalition of soldiers, parents of soldiers and members of Congress who attempted to stop the Iraq War on Constitutional grounds, arguing Congress had unlawfully handed over its war-making powers to the president.  Kucinich was one of the lead congressional plaintiffs.   The war against Iraq began three days after the lawsuit was rejected by the court.

 

(4) Kucinich v. Obama. 2011.  (Lead Plaintiff).  The suit challenged President Obama’s intervention in Libya, without the permission of Congress.

 

Notwithstanding Kucinich’s relentless constitutional challenges to the misuse of executive power, federal courts have since held that Congress’ ultimate authority to stop any Executive from waging war  rests with the power of the purse.  That is, if Congress denies or cuts off funds for a specific military action, that war cannot continue.    Money is the essential ingredient of war.  Provide money and war continues.   Consequently, Kucinich opposed every Defense Authorization, Defense Appropriation bill, and supplemental spending  bills before the full House during his service in Congress.   Kucinich brought forth resolutions to cut off funds for war in Iraq and Libya.  Below is a study of some war-funding votes in Congress during the early years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Organizing Against War in Iraq

He continually demanded inquiries into the cause of the war and the destructive effect it had on the people of Iraq. He drew up and circulated workable plans to end the war, held briefings for members of Congress, and, at every opportunity, called into question the rationale and so-called justification for the war.   

On a day when millions of people gathered around the globe to protest the build-up to war against Iraq, Kucinich was one of the keynotes for the largest peace rally in the United States, held in New York City.

In 2003, in order to alert the America people to the dangers of an unnecessary war, Kucinich declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President and began a relentless national campaign across America, delivering thousands of speeches for peace, rallying people not simply against the war, but for a new role for America in the world, as a national among nations, abiding by international law.   Many of his key speeches from that time are reprinted in a collection entitled “A Prayer for America.”

As a result of his tireless efforts two national grass-roots organizations sprung up, the Progressive Democrats of America, and the Alliance for Peace.   In a span of 12 years, Kucinich delivered an astonishing 341 speeches in Congress calling for an end not only to the War in Iraq, and also an end to US interventionism, which he saw as destructive of America’s needs at home.  In the same time period he delivered another 155 speeches in Congress, urging diplomacy to settle disputes with Iran.  Using all parliamentary procedures possible, Kucinich forced numerous votes in an attempt to end the wars in Iraq and  Afghanistan.  

Truth, Forgiveness, Reconciliation

Kucinich continues to advocate that the US conduct a process of Truth and Reconciliation relating to  the Iraq War, where US officials responsible for taking us into war would be called to testify about their decisions, be given a chance to explain exactly how they were drawn into approving the war, be afforded the opportunity to apologize, and be subject to punishment for failing to acknowledge their role in precipitating or continuing the Iraq War.    The US visited a terrible injustice upon the people of Iraq.  The only way we will be able to lift the weight of this injustice from our own souls is to engage in an open process of bringing forward the truth and on the strength of the truth, find the means to seek forgiveness and reconcile with the people of Iraq

 

Iran

As plans were being developed in official Washington to attack Iran, Kucinich again and again called for diplomacy, in no less than 155 speeches in the House of Representatives, warning of the great danger of a nuclear attack on Iran, and serving as a calm, analytical counter-balance to inflammatory rhetoric which fanned the flames of war.  It took official Washington a dozen years to recognize that Kucinich was right in both his assessments of the War against Iraq and the need to engage Iran with diplomacy.    Instead of bringing about peace, US policy became an incubator of wars.  

 

Strength through Peace

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth brought forth a new doctrine in peace-building, moving from the military and force-laden command of “Peace through Strength” to summon the moral organizing force of “Strength through Peace.”    Their commitment to the power of peace as an organizing principle in our society remains a central part of their work together as they travel the world to explore strategies, policy, models and education to create more peaceful, prosperous societies.

In July of 2008, as a result of years of extensive research, Kucinich brought forward 50 Articles of Impeachment against President Bush and Vice-President Cheney for lying to take America into a war against Iraq.  However, the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives refused to bring the resolutions forward for a vote.

No one in the Bush Administration was held accountable for a war based on lies, which resulted in deaths of 5,000 American soldiers and one million innocent Iraqis, while causing the US to borrow trillions of dollars from China and other countries, driving up the national debt towards $35 trillion and destroying hopes for a domestic agenda for jobs, education and health care for all.  

 

Middle East

In 2006, after much consultation with actors from all sides, Kucinich brought forth a peace plan to end the Israel-Lebanon conflict.  He and his wife travelled to south Lebanon, and, walking through bombed out villages amidst unexploded ordnance, met with countless victims who lost homes, businesses and family members during punishing Israeli airstrikes.   The couple was especially touched by the horrific tragedy which befell the village of Qana, Cana of Biblical fame, where an airstrike demolished an apartment building, killing over 50 women and children.  The Kuciniches met with high-ranking government officials from all parties in Lebanon to gauge the potential for peaceful resolution.  They met with Israeli officials in Jerusalem to learn first hand the government’s security concerns and to see the puzzle of settlements, barricades, walls, and checkpoints, which have thwarted Palestinians efforts to live normal lives.

In Syria, in 2006 and 2007, they met with both President Assad and opposition leaders, engaged the Syrian government with draft proposals for averting conflict through constitutional changes.  Kucinich held open town hall meetings with the people of Syria, attended by academics, business people, students and citizens of Damascus.  From the initial contact in Syria in 2006, where they witnessed a secular society living, if not in harmony, certainly without bloody conflict, the Kuciniches returned as war began to percolate, to understand the seeds of the conflict and to urge the United States not accelerate the war either by providing help to forces external to Syria through intrigue, subversion, covert arms shipments, spawning insurrection, or through direct military intervention. His prime time interview with President Assad on the Fox national network  is credited with causing the U.S. to forestall an imminent military attack on Syria, the intent of which  quickly  dissipated. 

 

Libya

It was Kucinich who led the challenge to the Obama Administration’s decision to attack Libya.  He organized a bi-partisan congressional coalition which for a short period stopped the war in its tracks.  He challenged the rationale for the war, and the justification given by the US government as to the reason for intervention and determined that the war against Libya was planned a full year before its execution, thus raising questions about the veracity of Administration’s claims  of the necessity of the war.   

Kucinich’s voice traveled far, and sparked debate abroad.  As the Administration ignored appeals from Muammar Gaddafi to forestall the war,   the Gaddafi regime contacted Kucinich directly, with Saif Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi’s son, asserting the intervention was based on fictions similar to the false “WMDs” narrative which took the US into war against Iraq.   Kucinich alerted the Obama Administration to all such contacts, but pleas for peaceful resolution were swept aside with the US and NATO accelerating the attacks, deposing Gaddafi and inadvertently creating an opening for a whole new wave of terrorists to sweep across the region, with stolen Libyan arms, and weapons paid for by the US, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.  

Russia

Kucinich worked towards improving relationships with Russia.  Through the course of his service in Congress, he made many trips to meet with Russian government leaders.  He was a founding member,  of the bi-partisan “Russia Caucus” in Congress, an endeavor which met with the Russian Ambassador to set in motion a series of initiatives and exchanges to facilitate communications directly between members of Congress and the Russian Duma.  Kucinich has had a long-standing commitment to nuclear abolition, through his work in Congress and his participation in the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Disarmament.  US- Russia cooperation is key to such an endeavor.

 

Chairman of Domestic Policy – Holding the banks accountable

From 2007 to 2009, Kucinich served as chair of the subcommittee on Domestic Policy of Government Oversight.  In that capacity he exposed the Federal Reserve’s laxness in policing the conduct of big banks which invested heavily in mortgage-backed securities, practices which pyramided into the subprime mortgage meltdown which imperiled the nation’s banks and economy.  Kucinich’s committee unearthed facts which showed that the Bank of America, the nation’s largest,  accelerated the financial collapse through the untimely acquisition of Merrill Lynch, a condition which the bank falsely tried to blame on the US government.  

 

Taking Back the Money Power

Kucinich was introduced to monetary policy by his future wife, Elizabeth Harper, in 2005.  She traveled from her native England to work with Stephen Zarlenga and the American Monetary Institute.  She met Kucinich in Washington and working with him and his staff,  helped develop landmark legislation, the National Employment Emergency Defense Act (NEED Act), which reclaimed for the government its  constitutionally-based role in creating monetary policy, to protect the economic needs of the American people.   The experience with the Fed’s quantitative easing and its role in propping up banks “too big to fail” convinced Kucinich that monetary reform is central to  rebuilding America, gaining full employment, advancing educational opportunities, expanding health care and protecting retirement security.  Kucinich introduced the bill in two successive Congress, the 110th and 111th.  

 

Ohio Dem Bosses knock Kucinich out of Congress through Redistricting

Kucinich’s service  in Congress came to an end when, after eight terms, his congressional district was carved into four pieces at the demand of Democratic leaders in the Ohio House, who were under the influence of various special interest groups in the state capital.  Republican leaders, who backed a plan which protected Kucinich’s Cleveland-based district, yielded after threats by state Democratic leaders to put the entire state map on the ballot, throwing the redistricting plan into chaos.   Upon national news of Kucinich’s district disappearing, supporters in several states requested the eight-term congressman relocate and run for Congress from a new constituency.  He decided not to move from Cleveland, maintaining the same home he has lived in on the city’s West Side since 1971.  Kucinich, who was one of four candidates to defeat a Republic incumbent in 1996,  left Congress on January 3, 2013.

 

Workers Rights

Kucinich, father, Frank Kucinich, Sr., was a 35-year member of Teamsters Local 407 in Cleveland.  As a boy, Dennis attended union meetings with his father and learned from early on the importance of worker solidarity on matters of wages, working conditions and benefits.    A every level of government in which he served, Kucinich brought forward a platform of workers rights, including the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining, the right to strike,  the right to a safe workplace, the right to be able to sue an employer who maintains an unsafe workplace, the right to decent wages and benefits, and the right to a secure retirement.  He sought to place those rights into several international trade agreements.  When he began his first presidential campaign in 2002, Kucinich  delivered a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, “The Soul of the Worker and the American Restoration,” which states his philosophy in defense of  the rights of working people.   In 2007, in a Presidential debate at Soldier’s Field in Chicago, Illinois, he electrified 15,000 union members with his straightforward, hard-hitting answers to questions important to workers.  He has been a featured speaker at countless national conventions of major American unions.  

 

Labor Membership. 

Kucinich was a member of Local Number 1 of the American Newspaper Guild, during his time at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  He was a member of the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA) during his work at WJW-TV in Cleveland, Ohio.   He was also a twenty-year member of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, as a Director of Photography.  He holds an honorary membership in two Teamster Locals, Local 407 and Local 436, for his extraordinary effort to preserve the locals which were under extreme pressure.

Elizabeth Kucinich

Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth, were married in Cleveland, Ohio in 2005.  In addition to monetary policy and helping Congressman Kucinich on a wide range of peace initiatives, Elizabeth Kucinich is a Professor at Coventry University, UK, on the Vice Chancellor’s Advisory Board.  She served on the board of the Rodale Institute, America’s oldest organic farming organization, the board of Sean Penn’s Haitian Relief Organization; the US board of UNRWA, the Palestinian relief organization.   Elizabeth is also an award-winning documentary producer of GMO-OMG and executive producer of an upcoming film, Hot Water, about uranium contamination of water supplies.  The couple travel between Cleveland and Washington, DC, where both remain engaged in local and national politics and policy.  They have two rescue dogs, which makes for a merry time at home.