Political Frailty

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Former Connecticut House Republican leader Robert Ward, a key player in state government for decades, has died at age 68.

Ward died Sunday at his home in North Branford. The cause of death was not released.  Ward served as a state legislator for 22 years, the last 12 as House Republican leader, a position he held for longer than anyone else in Connecticut history.

SC

[Octopus of Odstock 2,186]

Trevor Smith, Baron Smith of Clifton, Lib Dem member of the House of Lords, has died. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/09/lord-smith-of-clifton-obituary

 

Was at one point, their Northern Ireland spokesperson in the Lords. 

[Ulitzer95 12,576]

On 29/04/2021 at 11:33, Ulitzer95 said:

Lord Smith of Clifton (wiki), Lib Dem life peer and member of the House of Lords (1997–2019), dead from septicaemia, aged 83.

Also the former spokesperson for the Lib Dems on Northern Ireland, and Vice Chancellor of the University of Ulster from 1991 to 1999.

Times obituary.

 

Rare that OoO commits a cardinal sin.

[Octopus of Odstock 2,186]

29 minutes ago, Ulitzer95 said:

 

Rare that OoO commits a cardinal sin.

Because he was down as Lord Smith not Baron Smith... Lol

I did look - couldn't see anything but searching for Smith on here is hopeless. 

 

At least it's not as bad as Sir Creep's Tony Armatrading faux pas

[The Immortal 634]

Lester Wolff, the oldest living member of the United States Congress has died aged 102. Apparently the guy was quite active into his 100's and was still active in politics as recently as January 2021 much like George Shultz,  who also actively involved in politics until his death. Lester also seems to have a Twitter account https://twitter.com/RepWolff but I cannot tell if this is a satirical account or actually his.

[Ulitzer95 12,576]

Just now, TheSpinosaurus said:

Lester Wolff, the oldest living member of the United States Congress has died aged 103. Apparently the guy was quite active into his 100's and was still active in politics as recently as January 2021 much like George Shultz,  who also actively involved in politics until his death. Lester also seems to have a Twitter account https://twitter.com/RepWolff but I cannot tell if this is a satirical account or actually his.

*102.

[gcreptile 10,963]

Politico has a written confirmation:

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/huddle/2021/05/12/how-the-gops-vote-to-remove-cheney-will-go-down-492820

[arghton 6,695]

On 25/04/2021 at 14:31, arghton said:

Jyrki Kasvi update:

Got access to two experimental medicines. He has two mutations that cause the cancer to spread unstoppably despite treatment and medicines but still hopes that these will work.

As I've mentioned before his bladder, both kidneys, prostate and spleen have been removed. 60% of his liver still works.

He has planned his funeral, done all the paperwork but hopes he'll have more time. 

(https://www.iltalehti.fi/politiikka/a/f5b51676-f561-46a0-a746-d06b8bf6522d)

https://puheenvuoro.uusisuomi.fi/jyrkikasvi/kevat-on-toivoa-taynna/

New blog post. Says that he has already lived longer than what was expected at the start of this year, is in "better condition as expected" (not a corpse). Lives values are good and he says that his cancer hasn't spread in the liver. According to him, not having kidneys has helped with some of his meds.

He's in hospital dialysis.

 

CT scan at the start of June if he's still alive.

[Ulitzer95 12,576]

Washington Post obituary for Wolff.

 

May even get a QO… let’s see.

 

DDP pick.

[Ulitzer95 12,576]

On 22/04/2021 at 19:45, arghton said:

As the oldest living state leaders seem to be a pretty strong group, here's a list of the top 5 (plus the two "unclear status" ones) a picture of the person is above his name.

 

 

(101th birthday, March 2021)

(Unclear status) - Josip Manolić (b. 22th of March 1920)

Second Prime Minister of Croatia 1990-1991. Croatia was still a part of SFR Yugoslavia until 1991. A meme in his country for how youthful he is. Seems to still be very healthy.

Being reported on various news outlets online that Manolic had COVID last month, which caused a mild case of pneumonia. Didn’t require hospitalisation and now recovered. 

[msc 18,436]

11 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

Being reported on various news outlets online that Manolic had COVID last month, which caused a mild case of pneumonia. Didn’t require hospitalisation and now recovered. 

 

"I was able to recover from the corona. I can't wait to get coffee." Said Terminator Manolic to the press. Going to take a lot to get rid of him - I saw some recent footage of him a few months ago and he could have passed for circa 20 years younger even when speaking.

[arghton 6,695]

On 30/04/2021 at 14:47, arghton said:

There's a lot of talk about the oldest state leaders alive...but what about the earliest ones alive?

 

1940s

1943 - Simeon II (b. 1937) Tsar of Bulgaria (1943-1946) and later Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2001-2005). Earliest living former state leader.

 

1950s

1950 - Gyanendra (b. 1947) King of Nepal 1950-1951 and later 2001-2008

1952 - Elizabeth II (b. 1926) Queen of the United Kingdom (1952-present) Currently longest ruling state leader and monarch.

Fuad II (b. 1952) King of Egypt and Sudan (1952-1953)

1954 - Mustafa Ben Halim (b. 1921) Prime Minister of Libya (1954-1957) Oldest living state leader, earliest non-royal head of a country.

1956 - Queen Sirikit (b. 1932) Queen Regent of Thailand (1956)

 

1960s

1960 - César Yanes Urías (b. 1931) and Rene Fortín Magaña (b. 1931) El Salvador junta members 1960-1961

1963 - Jamshid bin Abdullah of Zanzibar (b. 1929) Sultan of Zanzibar (1963-1964)

1964 - Constantine II (b. 1940) King of the Hellenes (1964-1973)

Trần Thiện Khiêm (b. 1925) South Vietnam Member of the Provisional Leadership Committee (1964) and Prime Minister (1969–1975)

Kenneth Kaunda (b. 1924) President of Zambia (1964-1991)

1965 - Pié Masumbuko (b. 1931) Acting Prime Minister of Burundi (1965)

1966 - Yakubu Gowon (b. 1934) and Emmanuel E Ikwue (b. 1940) of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeria (1966-1979)

1967 - Hassanal Bolkiah (b. 1946) Sultan of Brunei (1967-present)

Mohsin Ahmad al-Aini (b. 1932) Prime Minister of Yemen Arab Republic (1967, 1969, 1970-1971, 1971-1972 and 1974-1975)

 

1970 - Abdou Diouf (b. 1935) Prime Minister of Senegal 1970-1980, President 1981-2000

Lubomír Štrougal (b. 1924) Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia 1970-1988

Luis Echeverría (b. 1922) President of Mexico 1970-1976

Added 1970.

Have I missed anyone? Please mention if I have.

[Bibliogryphon 9,569]

Wes Streeting is taken time off from his new front bench shadow cabinet role to receive treatment for kidney cancer

[roaming_comrade 471]

Today now marks 3 months (Carlos Menem on 14th of Feb) since the last death on Wikipedia's 'Top 100 oldest living State Leaders' list (plus the addendum of 5-10 more unconfirmed leaders).

Literally none of them has died for a quarter of a year and the youngest of them are a few months from 89 and the average age is 93 or so i'd guess.

Given even Western Life expectancies, that seems to be a real oddity and rather unlikely to happen (didnt do the math tho ).

[arghton 6,695]

1 hour ago, roaming_comrade said:

Today now marks 3 months (Carlos Menem on 14th of Feb) since the last death on Wikipedia's 'Top 100 oldest living State Leaders' list (plus the addendum of 5-10 more unconfirmed leaders).

Literally none of them has died for a quarter of a year and the youngest of them are a few months from 89 and the average age is 93 or so i'd guess.

Given even Western Life expectancies, that seems to be a real oddity and rather unlikely to happen (didnt do the math tho ).

Some politicians may be full of crap, but that list has a couple of horrible names:

 

2. Francisco Morales-Bermúdez (b. 1921) Military dictator. Life imprisonment for "forced disappearances", a nicer word for ordering murders and the disposal of the corpses of the victims.

3. Luis Echeverria (b. 1922) Had a role in the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre and the 1971 Corpus Christi massacre, the later happened during his tenure. Halcones death squads. Political opponents tortured and assasinated. "Forced disappearances". Cartel connections in his family. Charged with genocide but federal court ordered his absolute freedom in 2009.

4. Khamtai Siphandon (b. 1924) Unelected dictator of a one-party country. According to Amnesty, Lao People's Army kills and rapes civilians. During Siphandon's presidency, 30 young people were arrested for protesting peacefully and sentenced to 10 years in jail. One died in jail. Not as horrible as Sayasone, but still a horrible dictator.

6. Kenneth Kaunda (b. 1924) Freedom fighter but also a despot who ruled for nearly 30 years.

8. Lubomír Štrougal (b. 1924) Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia 1970-1988. During his tenure, the secret service obtained forced "confessions" by means of torture, including the use of psychoactive drugs, blackmail and kidnapping.

9. Guillermo Rodríguez (b. 1924) Military dictator but apparently great for the country's development.

10. Ali Hassan Mwinyi (b. 1925) Another African despot. Corrupted.

12. Mahathir Mohamad (b. 1925) Ancient antisemite, anti-LGBT racist, claimed that muslims have the right to kill millions of French people.

13. Yang Hyong-sop (b. 1925) Pro-nuclear weapons North Korean former Presidium Chairman

18. Abdoulaye Wade (b. 1926) Corrupted nepotist, tried to constraint the press.

19. Jiang Zemin (b. 1926) Became the leader of China after the Tiananmen protests, before that closed a newspaper for reporting about the protests.

24. Arturo Armando Molina (b. 1927) Attempted to silence opposition, murdered dissidents and priests.

27. Kim Yong-nam (b. 1928) Good friend of the Kims.

37. Zhu Rongji (b. 1928) Another Chinese leader.

41. Sam Nujoma (b. 1929) Freedom fighter/despot

 

And that's just some of the ones in the top 50!

[drol 11,916]

I disagree on Zhu Rongji, he has tried to modernize the country and spent his career battling hardliners. 

[arghton 6,695]

On 12/05/2021 at 17:53, arghton said:

https://puheenvuoro.uusisuomi.fi/jyrkikasvi/kevat-on-toivoa-taynna/

New blog post. Says that he has already lived longer than what was expected at the start of this year, is in "better condition as expected" (not a corpse). Lives values are good and he says that his cancer hasn't spread in the liver. According to him, not having kidneys has helped with some of his meds.

He's in hospital dialysis.

 

CT scan at the start of June if he's still alive.

Appeared in his political party's video conference today or yesterday for around 10-20 minutes before going to dialysis. Talked a bit unclearly, worse than in February but looked great

[YoungWillz 21,025]

43 minutes ago, arghton said:

Appeared in his political party's video conference today or yesterday for around 10-20 minutes before going to dialysis. Talked a bit unclearly, worse than in February but looked great

Thomas Dolby T Shirt.

 

Must be a good guy.

[arghton 6,695]

Mike Carter, popular pick in a few pools dead aged 67 from pancreatic cancer:

https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43893797/tennessee-rep-mike-carter-passes-away-from-pancreatic-cancer

 

Wikipedia's List of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer has around 70 names of which all but two are dead:

Harry Reid (1939-2021) US politician, survived.

Tim Keller (b. 1950) Pastor and Christian apologist. Alive, but for how long?

[arghton 6,695]

It's been 50 years since Charles Colson (1931-2012) compiled the Master list of Nixon's political opponents. John Dean (b. 1938) provided the list to the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973.

 

 

Well, who's still alive from the list? Organizations are not listed. 

 

Senators (12 in total):

Fred R. Harris (b. 1930)

 

Members of the House of Representatives (9 in total):

Pete McCloskey (1927-2024)

Elizabeth Holtzman (b. 1941)

 

Black Congressmen and Congresswomen (12 in total):

Charles Rangel (b. 1930)

Bill Clay (b. 1931)

 

Other politicians: None alive

Labor: None alive

 

Media (61 in total):

Carl Bernstein (b. 1944)

Bob Woodward (b. 1943)

James S. Doyle (b. 1935)

Martin F. Nolan (b. 1940)

Morton Kondracke (b. 1939)

Ted Knap (1920-2023)

Milton Viorst (1930-2022)

Garry Wills (b. 1934)

Dan Rather (b. 1931)

Marvin Kalb (b. 1930)

Unknown if alive: James H. Laird

 

Celebrities (13 in total):

Bill Cosby (b. 1937)

Jane Fonda (b. 1937)

Joe Namath (b. 1943)

Barbra Streisand (b. 1942)

 

Business people (24 in total):

Unknown if alive: George Hillman

 

Business additions: None alive

 

Business (24 in total):

Clifford Alexander (1933-2022)

Victor Palmieri (b. 1930)

 

Academics (22 in total):

Derek Bok (b. 1930)

Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)

Daniel Ellsberg (1931-2023)

Matthew Meselson (b. 1930)

George Drennen Fischer (1925-2021)

 

"Nixon's Enemies List" memo, 1971 (20 in total):

Morton Halperin (b. 1938)

Sidney Davidoff (b. 1939)

 

 

[DCI Frank Burnside 3,881]

Former Governor of Louisiana Buddy Roemer

 

 

 

[arghton 6,695]

29 minutes ago, DCI Frank Burnside said:

Former Governor of Louisiana Buddy Roemer

 

 

 

Kathleen Blanco in 2019 (governor 2004-2008), Mike Foster in 2020 (governor 1996-2004), and Buddy Roemer in 2021 (governor 1988-1992)

 

Edwin Edwards (b. 1927) is both earliest the oldest Governor of Louisiana alive. The other two were born in 1966 and 1971.

[Ulitzer95 12,576]

2 hours ago, arghton said:

It's been 50 years since Charles Colson (1931-2012) compiled the Master list of Nixon's political opponents. John Dean (b. 1938) provided the list to the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973.

 

 

Well, who's still alive from the list? Organizations are not listed. 

 

Media (61 in total):

Unknown if alive: James Laird (b. unknown)

 

Business people (24 in total):

Unknown if alive: Holmes Brown, George Hillman and William Ruder

*snip*

 

Love the Nixon Master list. Been a few years since we last visited it.

Researched the first two unknowns from the list.

James H. Laird or Jim Laird was only with the Philadelphia Inquirer briefly (a few years or so) in the early 70s. He was a Methodist pastor in Detroit, Michigan from as early as the late 1950s so probably dead but who knows. Here's a newspaper clipping with some more info:



As for Holmes M. Brown of Continental Can Co., he died in Albemarle County, Virginia in early 2015, aged 100. Local obit (EU blocked). States he was very fit and active to the end. It was his own wish not to have a death notice, date of death released etc. Quite a private man, but the same local paper interviewed him about the Nixon enemies list in 2011 and he joked about it.

I'll do the other two names in a bit. Just finishing some work first.

[YoungWillz 21,025]

Any reason why the discussion on President's Men could not be on the dedicated thread for that purpose, rather than being buried in here? Most of them aren't politicians, I think.

[Ulitzer95 12,576]

@arghton, had a look at the other 2 names.

Can't find anything for George Hillman, but given that he set his first company up in the 1940s, he's likely deceased.
William Ruder died in February 2011, aged 89. NY Times death notice.

@YoungWillz, yeah you're probably right. The enemies list was part of the whole Watergate incident. I'm sure you remember the whole thing well.