Paul Tsongas

Paul Efthemios Tsongas (/ˈsɒŋɡəs/; Greek: Παύλος Ευθύμιος Τσόνγκας; February 14, 1941  January 18, 1997) was an American politician and a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985, who had previously served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts's 5th congressional district (1975–1979) and held local political office. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1992 presidential election.

Early life

Tsongas was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, along with a twin sister, Thaleia, to a once working-class family who came to own a very successful dry cleaning business in Lowell. His father, Efthemios George Tsongas, was a Greek immigrant, and his mother, Katina (née Pappas; originally Panagiotopoulos), was of Greek descent.

Paul attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1962 with an A.B. in economics, then Yale Law School and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard before settling in Lowell, Massachusetts.

He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 19621964, and as Peace Corps Country Director in the West Indies from 19671968.

Podcasts:

Famous quotes by Paul Tsongas:

"When George Bush used the Willie Horton ad, he knew what he was doing."
"I have pretty much made up my mind to do this,"
"That's a good question. Let me try to evade you."
"Let's try winning and see what it feels like. If we don't like it, we can go back to our traditions."
"The great political tugs of the past 35 years have concerned the distribution of the golden eggs. In the 1980s and 1990s we must focus on the health of the goose."
"That sense of sacredness, that thinking in generations, must begin with reverence for this earth."
"A commencement is a time of joy. It is also a time of melancholy. But then again, so is life."
"Our only weapons in this war of your lifetime are the weapons of the mind."
"I am an American. I love this country."
"I have pretty much made up my mind to do this."
"Our destiny is greatness and we must return to its fulfillment."
"Two hundred years ago, our Founding Fathers gave us a democracy. It was based upon the simple, yet noble, idea that government derives its validity from the consent of the governed."
"From a viable economy to the full funding of Headstart, from a clean environment to true equality for women, from a strong military to a commitment to racial brotherhood, from schools that are honored to streets free of excessive violence."
"America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor."
"You are part of that horrid expression, the best and the brightest. It can be a terrible burden if you let it be, but it is the great challenge of your time. And being a warrior in that challenge should be wondrous."
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  Advertisement ... Take your pick ... Paul Simon's first campaign and then worked for the DCCC, before hitching onto Richard Daley's first mayoral campaign in 1989 ... Nathan Landow, the fund-raiser who backed the candidacy of Paul Tsongas, made it, too ... .
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