Charles Timothy “Chuck” Hagel (born October 4, 1946) is the senior Senator from Nebraska. Sen. Hagel is Episcopalian. Hagel was first elected in 1996 and was reelected in 2002. He is often characterized as a political maverick, similar to fellow Vietnam War veteran Republican Senator John McCain. Born in North Platte, Nebraska to German-American parents, he graduated from the Brown Institute for Radio and Television in 1966 and from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1971. He served in the U.S. Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant (E-5) from 1967-68 while serving during the Vietnam War. Hagel is a Vietnam War veteran, receiving the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

In August 2004, Hagel acknowledged that he is considering a presidential campaign in 2008. He spoke to the Iowa delegation at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Background

In 1996, Chuck Hagel ran for the US Senate against Ben Nelson, who was the governor of Nebraska at the time. Although many people believed he had no chance of winning at all, he won a stunning upset in the election, receiving 54% of the votes (Nelson was later elected to Nebraska’s other Senate seat, in 2000). Six years later in 2002, Hagel overwhelmingly won re-election with over 83% of the vote, the largest margin of victory in any statewide race in Nebraska history.

Since his election to the Senate in 1996, Hagel has served as deputy whip for the Republican Caucus. He has been chair of both the Senate Global Climate Change Observer Group and the Senate Oversight Task Force. He serves as co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He also serves on the NATO Observer Group. Hagel is a member of four Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Hagel is the former CEO of American Information Systems Inc. (AIS), which changed its name to Elections Systems & Software (ES&S) in 1997.

In 2006, the University of Nebraska Press will release the only official biography of Hagel, Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward by Charlene Behrens.

Criticism of Bush Administration

On August 18th, 2005, Hagel became the first Republican U.S. senator to publicly criticize the Iraq War and to call for withdrawal. He has compared the war to Vietnam, openly mocked Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertion that the Iraqi Insurgency was in its “last throes,” and called for a withdrawal of troops to begin “within the next year.”

In November 2005, Senator Hagel made a much-publicized statement saying “To question your government is not unpatriotic — to not question your government is unpatriotic.” This was in reference to the increasing amount of debate surrounding the Iraq War, and his assertion that the United States should withdraw its troops.

In December 2005, in reference to Bush, the GOP, and the Patriot Act, Hagel made a much-publicized statement: “I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn’t take an oath of office to my party or my president,”

In January 2006, Hagel took issue with Karl Rove over controversial statements the White House advisor made concerning the mindset of Republicans and Democrats. Hagel said, “Well, I didn’t like what Mr. Rove said, because it frames terrorism and the issue of terrorism and everything that goes with it, whether it’s the renewal of the Patriot Act or the NSA wiretapping, in a political context.” He also said that “dark clouds” are hanging over the Republican party,” and “If you look at the environment and the atmospherics politically in this town, read any poll. The sixth year of a governing party usually … is not good … the country is tired, a lot of complications in these international issues, we’re at war.”

Hagel further criticized the Bush administration, saying, “National security is more important than the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. And to use it to try and get someone elected will ultimately end up in defeat and disaster for that political party.”

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Biography Source: Wikipedia

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