(I found this image on the dude's Wikipedia page.)
An explanation: Since the name Gary is going extinct, I thought it incumbent upon me to celebrate more notable Garys than myself. This is the second of a series!
Gary Hart is, according to the Wikipedia, a "diplomat, politician, lawyer, author, professor, & commentator." He was a senator from Colorado when I was in high school, & ran for President of the United States twice, most notably in 1987 & 1988 when I was in college. He flamed out because he got caught cheating on his wife, which was headline news for much of that year.
When did you first become aware of him? When he was running for president the second time, in 1987, especially because people talked about him being "Kennedy-esque." I was born after the Kennedy administration, but his presence loomed large in politics then. I must've known he was running for president in 1984, but I don't have any memory of that.
Did you support him? I was going to support anyone who wasn't involved in the Reagan administration. My god, when I hear how that awful man has been deified, I have to wonder if his admirers lived in a different 1980s than I did.
Did you ever see him speak while he was running for president? I did, actually, after his campaign was basically over. After the scandal broke, he had suspended his campaign for most of 1987, but returned at the end of the year. I saw him sometime early in 1988, in a room in Burdine Hall, if I recall.
Were you on the news that night? I was! I didn't know about it till the next day, but apparently the local news videotaped me watching him speak.
How did you find out about it? One of my professors told me about it the next day. He said I looked "skeptical."
Did you ever see him/think about him/etc. after he lost the nomination? He kinda disrespected the name Gary so I didn't really know or care about him. He was stupid - stupid like John Edwards would later be - with his indiscretions, so, you know, he kinda go what he deserved in that regard.
Is his name really Gary? Yes, Gary Warren Hartpence.
Do you know why he was named Gary? I can't say for sure, but he was born in 1936, the year Gary Cooper starred in Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, so that doubtless played a big part. Many Garys were named after Gary Cooper.
Do you know what he's doing now? It says on the Wikipedia page that he's U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.
What's that? Like an ambassador, but lesser?
Did you know he's written five novels? Oh good lord.
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