Tom Harkin
Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is the junior United States Senator from Iowa. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Harkin was born in Cumming, Iowa. His father was a coal miner and his mother was a Slovenian immigrant who died when he was 10. Harkin graduated from Iowa State University in 1962 and from Catholic University of America Law School in 1972. He served in the United States Navy from 1962-1967. Harkin was stationed at Atsugi Naval Air Station in Japan, where he ferried damaged aircraft to and from the airbase, and at Guantanamo Bay, where he flew missions in support of U-2 planes reconnoitering Cuba. Harkin went to Vietnam in 1970 as an aide in a fact-finding mission for the Democratic Congressman Neal Smith. He took photographs of South Vietnamese political prisoners in so-called "tiger cages" on Con Son Island and sold some of the photographs to Life for $10,000.
Harkin was an attorney before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1974, and was reelected in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1982. In 1984, Harkin was elected to the United States Senate from Iowa and was reelected in 1990, 1996 and 2002. He is noted for his very liberal views. He is particularly interested in issues related to consumers.
He ran for President in 1992 and won the Iowa caucus, but ultimately lost the Democratic Party nomination to Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas.
In 1979 Harkin claimed to have flown combat air patrols in Vietnam during his Navy service. In 1991 during the run-up to the presidential primary season, a review of his military records revealed these claims to be false.
In 2004, as a consequence of the aggressive advocacy role he has taken on behalf of long time friend and fellow democrat John Kerry, Mr. Harkin came to the attention of FrontPageMag.com, which recently ran a about him, accusing him (among other things) of having in the past, misappropriated $10,000 of ".. what ethically was taxpayer-funded government property to pay off his own debts..."
