10 Things You Didn't Know About Dennis Kucinich
Compiled by the U.S. News library staff
1. Born in Cleveland in 1946, he is the eldest of seven children born to a mother of Irish ancestry. He left home at age 17.
2. Kucinich was elected to the Cleveland City Council when he was 23. At 31, he was elected mayor of Cleveland.
3. As mayor, he earned the nickname "Dennis the Menace," when he refused to sell the city-owned electric company. As it turned out, that pushed the city into default.
4. He is a vegan and is outspoken about genetically modified foods.
5. Because of a heart murmur, he didn't serve in the military.
6. A Roman Catholic, Kucinich is twice divorced and has one grown daughter. In the summer of 2005, he married again to a 27-year-old Englishwoman, Elizabeth Harper. Wedding guests included his longtime friends Shirley MacLaine and Sean Penn.
7. His bachelorhood captured headlines in 2004. Known for his self-deprecating sense of humor, he was a guest on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno and acted in a Dating Game-type sketch.
8. He describes himself as a pacifist and has sponsored legislation to create a cabinet-level Department of Peace.
9. His 2005 congressional voting record earned him a perfect score of 100 from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action.
10. He spearheaded the opposition to the Iraq war in the House of Representatives.
Sources:
The Hill
Associated Press
Congressional Quarterly Weekly
The Almanac of American Politics 2006
Politics in America 2006