Wellstone, Paul (1944–2002)

Activist, political scientist, and critic of the status quo, Paul Wellstone was born in 1944 in Washington, D.C., and he died at 58, running for his third term as Minnesota's U.S. senator. Wellstone became sensitized to inequality from his father, who fled Russian anti-Semitism, and from his mother, a cafeteria worker. Wellstone credits civil rights sit-ins as inspiration for his organizing commitments—he witnessed everyday citizens redefining the nation's racial calculus. His 1969 dissertation for the University of North Carolina explored discontent in an African American community. That same year, Minnesota's Carleton College hired Wellstone as a professor. There he helped found Organizing for a Better Rice County (OBRC), where senior citizens, farmers, and welfare recipients advocated for themselves with pressure politics and Alinsky-style direct action. Wellstone's students did community research with these economically disenfranchised Minnesotans. Wellstone's How the Rural Poor Got Power: Narrative of a Grassroots Organizer, published in 1978, considers this experience. With Barry Casper, Wellstone wrote Powerline: The First Battle of America's Energy War in 1981.

Wellstone's populist ambitions were much larger than his 5-and-a-half-foot frame. Wellstone remained at Carleton until 1990 when he ran for the U.S. Senate. His opponent, a millionaire Republican incumbent, outspent Wellstone 7 to 1. Wellstone triumphed by involving untraditional voters like students and single mothers in a solid grassroots campaign and by employing confrontational, publicity-savvy organizing techniques.

Wellstone's activist methods gave him a clumsy beginning. He broke Senate protocol with public criticism of other members and angered veterans by using the Vietnam War Memorial as backdrop to a speech against the 1991 Gulf War. But Wellstone learned from mistakes and became adept at utilizing Senate rules. Insistent on political accountability, he demanded a roll vote on bailing out the savings and loan industry. When he voted for the bailout himself he gained the respect of Senate colleagues and home district constituents by sticking to principle. Wellstone nurtured unusual allies. With conservative Republican Kansan Sam Brownback, Wellstone coauthored legislation against human trafficking; and with Republican Peter Domenici of New Mexico he passed the Mental Health Parity Act in 1996, which forced insurers to cover mental illness like any other health condition. He also sponsored the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. Wellstone maneuvered Senate rules in his attack on the Republican Contract With America and against George W. Bush on tax cuts, worker safety, and veteran benefits. By his second term, the Congressional Quarterly rated Wellstone in the top 10% of legislators for effectiveness.

Considered one of Congress's most liberal members, Wellstone angered some progressives with votes for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and the 2001 Patriot Act. But Wellstone surprised many with his refusal to sanction unilateral action in Iraq. What appeared political suicide strengthened voter backing in a tight race. During this 2002 reelection bid, on October 25th, Wellstone, his wife, daughter, and three aides died in a plane crash. His supporters established Wellstone Action! in his memory as a leadership institute for citizen activism.