Difference between revisions of "William Ayers"
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==Relationship with Barack Obama== | ==Relationship with Barack Obama== | ||
| − | Obama and Ayers worked together at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), from 1995-1999, an [[organisation]] | + | Obama and Ayers worked together at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), from 1995-1999, an [[organisation]] that was guided to contribute money to organisations such as ACORN (The Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now). From 1999 to 2002, Senator [[Barack Obama]] joined Ayers again in a paid nine-member board of the Woods Fund of Chicago, an [[poverty|anti-poverty]] foundation. While running for the state Senate in [[Illinois]] in 1995, Ayers meet with Obama and would later introduce him at his house. In 2001, Ayers supported and contributed $200 to Obama's state Senate campaign<ref>http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor.phtml?d=330121189</ref>. Barack Obama was asked about the relationship in an April 2008 Presidential debate by moderator George Stephanopoulos: |
:''"Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?"'' | :''"Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?"'' | ||
Revision as of 05:01, October 7, 2008
William Charles "Bill" Ayers (born 1944) is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and former Chicago community organizer. He is best known as a radical left-wing activist in the 1960's and 1970's and founder of the violent terrorist organization the Weatherman group.
Contents
Early Life and Upbringing
Ayers grew up in a wealthy home as the son of Thomas G. Ayers, former Chairman and CEO of Commonwealth Edisonin. [1] He lived in Glen Ellyn, a suburb of Chicago. Ayers attended public schools and received a bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1968. At age 21, Ayers became director of the Children's Community, a small school in a basement that did not have grades, report cards, and had children address teachers by their first names. It was part of a "free school movement."
Work with Radical Groups
In 1968, Ayers became leader of the Students for a Democratic Society, and then a prominent leader of the violent "Weatherman group." Ayers and other members of the Weather Underground group created a bomb factory in New York, and the organization would go on to bomb buildings such as the United States Capitol, The Pentagon, the United States Department of State. The aim of these acts was never to kill or injure human beings but rather to intimidate the government and sway popular opinion -- the organization always announced its targets beforehand and allowed time for evacuation. The only instance of a fatal Weatherman explosion was in Greenwich Village in New York City, when an accidental explosion killed three members of the Weather Underground organization. In 1969, Ayers planted a bomb at a statue dedicated to police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot. The statue was blown into pieces, but was rebuilt in 1970. It was blown up again by Ayers, five months later.
In a 2001 interview with the New York Times, Ayers said, "I don't regret setting bombs" and "I feel we didn't do enough."
Today, Ayers and his wife -- fellow former Weather Underground fugitive Bernardine Dohrn -- live in Hyde Park, where they moved after surrendering in 1980. Federal charges against the two were dropped because of improper surveillance, so they avoided prison. [2]
Relationship with Barack Obama
Obama and Ayers worked together at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), from 1995-1999, an organisation that was guided to contribute money to organisations such as ACORN (The Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now). From 1999 to 2002, Senator Barack Obama joined Ayers again in a paid nine-member board of the Woods Fund of Chicago, an anti-poverty foundation. While running for the state Senate in Illinois in 1995, Ayers meet with Obama and would later introduce him at his house. In 2001, Ayers supported and contributed $200 to Obama's state Senate campaign[3]. Barack Obama was asked about the relationship in an April 2008 Presidential debate by moderator George Stephanopoulos:
- "Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?"
To which Obama replied,
- "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis. And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was eight years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense, George"
In February of 2008, Obama Chief Strategist David Axelrod said:
- "Bill Ayers lives in his neighborhood. Their kids attend the same school … They’re certainly friendly, they know each other, as anyone whose kids go to school together." He called Ayers current defense of his 1960s bombings "objectionable, and I think Barack would also say that was objectionable. I don't think he's ever had an in-depth discussion [with Ayers] about them."[4]
