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Pete du Pont

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Politician

The Resume

    (January 22, 1935-May 8, 2021)
    Born in Wilmington, Delaware
    Birth name was Pierre Samuel du Pont IV
    Governor of Delaware (January 18, 1977–January 15, 1985)
    Member of the Delaware House of Representatives from the 12th district (January 7, 1969–January 3, 1971)
    Represented Delaware's at-large district in the United States House of Representatives (January 3, 1971–January 3, 1977)
    Ran for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1988

Why he might be annoying:

    His (obscenely wealthy) family probably bankrolled his political career.
    He had to be talked out of primarying Senator J. Caleb Boggs by the Nixon administration.
    He was one of Nixon's last remaining loyalists at the end of the Watergate scandal and impeachment.
    He was expected to primary then-Senator Joe Biden for his Senate seat in 1988, but opted for a long-shot Presidential bid instead.
    Despite winning the endorsement of New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, he finished second-to-last in the state’s primary and ended his campaign shortly afterward.
    His wife ran for his former U.S. Congressional seat, but lost to incumbent Tom Carper.
    Considering that Biden also ran for President the same cycle (only to bow out of the race due to a plagiarism scandal), many believe that he gave up an easy shot at a Senate seat.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served a four-year stint in the U.S. Navy.
    He once went on a blind date with Jane Fonda in college.
    He opted to forgo a comfortable career with his family’s chemical company to go into politics.
    He signed landmark legislation that loosened Delaware’s banking laws as Governor.
    He established a nonprofit employment counseling/job placement program for high school seniors not going to college (the model would be adapted by states nationwide).
    He frequently wrote opinion pieces for the Wall Street Journal.
    He co-founded the online public policy journal IntellectualCapital.com.

Credit: BoyWithTheGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 23 Votes: 43.48% Annoying