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Tammy Duckworth is a veteran of the Iraq war
Who is Tammy Duckworth, the American senator from Illinois who is reportedly on the short list for the vice presidential seat on the Democratic ticket?
Born in Bangkok and wounded in the Iraq war, Tammy Duckworth has a Purple Heart and the instincts of a street fighter.
His name has appeared frequently during high-level discussions about the vice presidential space for the alleged Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. He has also become a target for Tucker Carlson of Fox News and other conservatives.
When he recently said on CNN that he was open-minded about the possibility of removing American monuments from American founders and slavers, Carlson questioned his patriotism.
She responded, saying that Mr. Carlson should “walk a mile on my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America.”
Her defiance of Mr. Carlson attracted national attention and attracted the attention of the people as much for his political acumen as for his military background. She was shot down in a helicopter during the Iraq war and lost her legs.
Many Democrats believe that his military record and tenacity during fights with conservatives, as well as his background as an Asian-American, would strengthen Biden’s candidacy. If he chose her as a running mate, her supporters say, she would help shore up the votes among veterans, minorities, and women.
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“Walk a mile on my legs,” said Tammy Duckworth.
However, many believe that Biden should choose a black running mate; instead, Senator Kamala Harris is frequently mentioned. On top of that, Ms. Duckworth’s home state is democratically secure. Other contenders for the Democratic ticket, a group that includes New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, could help Biden in states where he could use a boost.
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Choosing a running mate has added importance to Democrats due to Mr. Biden’s age and his own assessment of his role.
He is 77 years old, and if elected, he would be 82 at the end of his term. He sees himself as a “transition candidate”, and even his staunch supporters assume that if elected he would not seek a second term.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden sees himself as a “transition candidate”
That means the person who serves as your vice president could one day become president.
Mrs. Duckworth, 52, is best known for her work on veterans affairs. In addition, she has worked on health care policy and has spoken frequently about national security. She fought in the Iraq war, but believes it was a mistake.
“It is a difficult lesson,” she says. “And I hope this nation is much more skeptical about the reasons for going to war.”
She also has a compelling personal story. She and her husband, Bryan Bowlsbey, have two daughters, Abigail and Maile Pearl, and she was the first to have a son while serving as an American senator.
His father, Frank, a US citizen, worked for the United Nations, and his mother, Lamai, is originally from Thailand.
Thai-speaking Ms Duckworth lived with her parents in Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia due to her father’s work at the UN.
The family was in Cambodia, living in Phnom Penh during a period of violence shortly before the Khmer Rouge took power in the mid-1970s.
She remembers going to her market with her mother when, suddenly, bombs began to drop. Her mother pushed her onto the floor of the car, says Duckworth, “so she won’t see the blood.”
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Mrs. Duckworth later enlisted in the military, following in the footsteps of her father, a Vietnam veteran. She once told me that she did not see herself running for president.
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Joe Biden has reportedly brought a shine to Tammy Duckworth
“I don’t have that fire in my belly,” she says. But she is a fierce advocate for Mr. Biden, and he has given her a sparkle.
During an online fundraiser, he praised his bravery in battle and in politics. “I can’t think of anyone who has shown more courage,” he said. Addressing her directly, he said, “I am thankful for you here with me in this fight.”
Ideologically, Mrs. Duckworth is a good match for Biden, a centrist Democrat. Among Democrats in the United States Senate, she also appears in the middle of the ideological spectrum.
In recent weeks, she has messed with President Donald Trump and his “failure to lead our nation,” showing his willingness to act like Biden’s attack dog during the campaign.
Biden’s aides recently interviewed her for the vice presidential job, she said during a live Washington Post conversation Thursday. She described the job interview as “positive”.
Who could be Joe Biden’s running mate?
Presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised that he would choose a woman as his running mate. Those on the rumor list include:
- California Senator Kamala Harris
- Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice
- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
- Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth
- Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren
- Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin
- Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema
Read more about Mr. Biden’s potential running mate here
After retiring from the military, Ms. Duckworth worked on veterans affairs at the state and national levels and was elected to Congress in 2012. She won a Senate seat in 2016, becoming a junior state senator and following in the footsteps of President Barack Obama. Its rise from state politics to national prominence has been rapid.
Dick Simpson, head of the political science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says she has moved faster than anyone in politics he has seen in half a century. Obama, who also started his career in Illinois politics, rose more than Mrs. Duckworth. But as Simpson points out: “It took a little longer.”
Peter Levin, founder of a software company in Washington, worked with her in the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and says he has an innate talent for politics.
“She naturally brings out the best in people, even when there is tension in the room,” he says, explaining that she is adept at tuning “her language, her emphasis, to the person she is talking to” to achieve a consensus.
However, his political record is far from perfect.
She has struggled to pass legislation in Congress and has been criticized for her work on veterans’ affairs. She said all the right things, according to her detractors in Illinois, but many of the veterans programs she spoke of were never launched.
Criticism has barely slowed her, and throughout her career she has shown unusual resolve. While recovering from her war wounds at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland in 2004, she received “strong blocks of pain,” she says, but they hardly cushioned the agony of losing her legs.
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Tammy Duckworth is the first Thai-American woman elected to Congress
However, during her recovery and in the years that followed, she showed almost no self-pity: “For me, it’s just about the fact that I’m so grateful to be alive. I know that sounds very corny.” She says. “But I think about what my friends did to get me out and the pilot who took me to safety. I can’t be depressed.”
Her supporters hope Biden will choose her as his running mate so that he can bring his enthusiasm to the campaign. She is expected to announce her decision this week.
