Voting Station

Alan Cranston

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U.S. Senator

The Resume

    (June 19, 1914-December 31, 2000)
    Born in Palo Alto, California
    Correspondent for International News Service
    California State Controller (1959-67)
    US Senator from California (1969-93)
    Ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination (1984)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was married and divorced twice.
    He was normally an arms control advocate, but he supported the B-1 bomber because it was built in California.
    His son was arrested for allegedly drugging one girlfriend (1973) and trying to strangle another girlfriend (1979).
    The Eagles broke up after playing a fundraising concert for him (July 31, 1980).
    He tried to make himself look more youthful for his presidential campaign by dyeing his hair, but it came out an unnatural shade of orange.
    He was fined $50,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violations of campaign finance laws during his presidential campaign (1989).
    He was reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee for 'improper conduct' in lobbying federal regulators on behalf of savings and loan operator (and contributor to Cranston's campaigns) Charles Keating (November 20, 1991).
    It was widely speculated that he avoided a harsher punishment because he had already announced he would not run for re-election (ostensibly because he was being treated for prostate cancer).

Why he might not be annoying:

    During World War II, he served four years with the Office of War Information (1940-44), then joined the Army.
    He became an advocate for nuclear disarmament after a meeting with Albert Einstein (1946).
    The year he entered the Senate, he ran a 100-yard dash in 12.6 seconds, setting a record for his age group.
    Lyndon B. Johnson praised with the comment, 'There are two types of Senators: show horses and work horses. You're a workhorse.'
    His son Robin died after being struck by a van (1980).
    In a poll of Washington reporters to name the 10 best Senators, he was the top-ranked Democrat (1983).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 95 Votes: 51.58% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 34 Votes: 52.94% Annoying