Voting Station

Caspar Weinberger

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Politician

The Resume

    (August 18, 1917-March 28, 2006)
    Born in San Francisco, California
    California State Assemblyman (1952-58)
    Chair of the Republican Party in California (1962-68)
    Chair of the US Federal Trade Commission (1970-72)
    Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1972-73)
    Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1973-75)
    Secretary of Defense (1981-87)
    Received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom (1987)
    Named an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the British Empire (1988)

Why he might be annoying:

    He said the Pentagon's policy was 'We don't believe a nuclear war can be won, but we are planning to prevail if attacked,' without explaining the distinction between winning and prevailing.
    He was second only to President Reagan as a booster of the expensive but unworkable 'Star Wars' anti-missile defense system.
    A General Accounting Office study concluded that under his watch, the Pentagon regularly overpaid for weapon systems, overestimated the effectiveness of the weapons, and exaggerated the threat posed by the Soviet Union.
    During a state visit to Grenada, he snapped several photos without removing the lens cap from his camera (1986).
    He was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice following the discovery of documents indicating that he knew more about the Iran-Contra Affair than he had previously claimed (1992).
    He avoided trial when he (along with several other Iran-Contra figures) received a pardon from outgoing President George H.W. Bush.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was married to Jane Dalton for 63 years.
    He served in the Pacific during World War II, earning a Bronze Star and becoming an intelligence officer on General Douglas MacArthur's staff.
    His response to charges of Pentagon overspending was, 'In the end, we won the Cold War, and if we won it by too much, if it was overkill, so be it.'
    He was mentioned in a poem by Opus in 'Bloom County': How I love to watch the morn with golden sun that shines/Up above to nicely warm these frosty toes of mine/The wind doth taste bittersweet like jasper wine and sugar/I bet it's blown through others' feet, like those of Caspar Weinberger.'
    He responded by sending a rhyming request for the artwork to Berkeley Breathed: 'Many a morn I've longed to see/A comic strip be kind to me/On 30 March, before my eyes/A penguin watched a warm sunrise/In this land of so much bounty/Could I have that great Bloom County?'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 18 Votes: 72.22% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 59 Votes: 52.54% Annoying