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Character Application and Information Sheet
NS Nation Name: Tehrangeles
Character Name: Charles “Chuck” Bloedel Ward, Jr.
Character Gender: Boy
Character Age: 71
Character Height: 6’1” (Used to be taller, has shrunk)
Character Weight: 190 lbs
Character Position/Role/Job: Democratic Presidential nominee (2004), United States Senator from Washington (1987-Present), Governor of Washington (1981-1987), Secretary of the Army (1977-1979), United States Representative (WA-1) (1975-1977), Staffer to Senator Frank Church (1965-1974), United States Army (Enlisted) (1951-1959)
Character Country/State of Birth: Washington
Character State of Residence: Bloedel Reserve Manor House, Bainbridge Island, Washington / Tacoma, Washington
Character Party Affiliation: Democratic
Faceclaim:
-Ward nowWard in Lebanon during Operation Blue BatMain Strengths: Widely respected as an statesman, experienced, strong fundraiser, strong foreign policy credentials
Main Weaknesses: Seen as aloof/elitist, career politician, baggage from 2004 campaign, perceived as having shifting political views
Biography:
Julius Bloedel, born in 1864, moved to Washington in 1890. As a speculator, he engaged in a number of high risk-high reward ventures in the Territory, including railways, timber, and ship-building. Ultimately, the man built a fortune and became an early magnate in the Pacific Northwest. The estate he built, Bloedel Reserve, is now a public park on Bainbridge Island. However, the home (named Bloedel Reserve Manor House) remains in the family. Bloedel had two sons and a daughter. The latter, Grace, married Charles Ward, the heir to another family of old money which had moved into the area from New England. Charles joined Grace’s brothers in managing the Bloedel family’s many holdings. The two gave birth to two sons, Richard and Charles Jr. While it was clear Grace’s brothers would inherit most of the Bloedel wealth, Charles Sr. still groomed his sons to seek prosperous careers in their own right. From a young age, it was clear that Richard, the elder son, would seek a career in investing, much like his speculator grandfather. Charles, the younger son, did not share his brother’s ambition, intelligence, or promise.
Rebelling against his parents, he fled the boarding school to which he was consigned. At the age of 16, he flirted with the burgeoning Beat Generation, reading early Kerouac and Holmes. His parents took notice of this, and promptly enlisted Charles in the Army following his graduation from high school, at the age of 17. Charles Jr. followed in the footsteps of his older brother, who fought in the Second World War, and his father who fought in the First World War years before.
Charles enjoyed his time in the Army, as it was an escape from the pressures of his blue-blooded family. Following the completion of his training, he fought in the last year and a half of the Korean War. He was assigned to the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment. His most noteworthy operation was the 1952 suppression of the prisoner rebellion at the Geoje POW Camp, wherein he sustained a bullet injury to the leg. Following the incident he spent six months in Japan for recovery, after which he rejoined his unit, which remained in Korea until 1955, two years after the effective end of the conflict. During that time, he was commended the Purple Heart for injuries sustained, and a Bronze Star for heroism in combat. After that, his unit was reassigned to Fort Bragg, where they remained until redeployment in 1958 to Lebanon, wherein he participated in Operation Blue Bat to allow for the ascent of the Chehab presidency. Charles became fairly bored on the peacekeeping mission, as his job mostly involved managing a street checkpoint in a village north of Beirut. As boredom overtook him, Chuck was the subject of constant sternly-worded situational reports, as he was frequently caught sneaking a retinue of Lebanese women in and out of the baracks. He redeemed himself during a short roadside exchange of fire with Shi’a rebels, in which he saved the life of his commanding officer to earn a Silver Star. In 1959 he returned to Fort Bragg, and almost immediately began the process of receiving an honorable discharge. Following eight years of service, he retired from duty as a relatively well-decorated Master Sergeant, even with his minor disciplinary incident.
At the direction of his parents, Charles (by then going as “Chuck,” a nickname he received in the Army) enrolled in Williams College, in Massachusetts- a liberal arts school which received funding from both the Boedel and Ward families. After graduating with a degree in history, Chuck wanted to continue his studies in order to become a professor of history. However, during his time in Massachusetts, his brother died in an automobile accident. Therefore, he became heir apparent to his wing of the family. So, he changed track and enrolled in law school at Yale. While his parents fully anticipated he would use the degree to better manage the family trust, Ward’s rebellious streak was rekindled once more as he fell in love with Clarice Goldsmith, the daughter of a wealthy marketing executive and an undergraduate at Barnard College in New York.
Clarice was very socially conscious, and shifted Chuck from the old money Republicanism of his family which he had somewhat absorbed, into a politically-aware liberal Democrat. Instead of moving back to Bloedel Reserve to manage the family estate, Chuck married Clarice in Manhattan after earning his law degree and followed her to Washington, D.C., where she was taking a job with the League of Women Voters. Clarice converted to Lutheranism from Judaism to provide at least some appeasement to his parents.
In the capital, Chuck took a job with Senator Frank Church of Idaho, first as a legislative assistant. He assisted with a number of responsibilities, including the Senator’s work on the Foreign Relations Committee. As time went on, Chuck became increasingly close with the Senator, spending nine years on his staff. By the end of his time, he ascended to legislative director for the Senator’s office. His most proud achievements were helping to draft the the Cooper–Church Amendment of 1970, and the Case–Church Amendment of 1973, both of which sought to curtail the Vietnam War.
In 1974, with Church’s support, Chuck sought his own political office. He and Clarice had started spending time in Tacoma and becoming acquainted with Washington’s first district beginning in the early 1970s, buying their “primary” residence in the city in 1972, and becoming involved in the VFW of Eastern Washington. While Clarice thought it would be wise to begin his own pursuit of elected office in the part of the state closest to Church’s own base of support, Chuck genuinely enjoyed the natural beauty and down-to-earth nature of the city. It was different from the stuffy lifestyle with his cousins at Bainbridge Island, and was far from their tendrils which permeated throughout Seattle. Moreover, his parents began to write him off as a lost cause, becoming somewhat embittered. Ultimately, Chuck was elected in the Watergate wave, flipping a longtime Republican seat.
His success did not last- in 1976 the seat returned to its natural leanings, and Chuck was given the boot. He supported major legislation, but was generally a backbencher with minimal real impact. Though he supported Church in the 1976 primary, he eventually switched his support to Jimmy Carter, who he got along with on a personal level. He supported the Georgia Governor vocally in the 1976 election, even as Ford narrowly carried his state and district, which some say may have contributed to his defeat. As a result of his efforts, Carter appointed Chuck as Secretary of the Army, which he was confirmed to soon after his departure from the House.
As Secretary of the Army, Chuck’s most notable work included completing and improving the shift to the all-volunteer force, stressing programs to enhance professionalism, and emphasizing the award of contracts to minority businesses to fulfill the new federal commitment to encourage diversity. In 1979, following the midterms, he left the position and returned to Tacoma. Political operatives in the state had urged him to seek a comeback to elected office, requiring him to leave the cabinet.
The incumbent governor was increasingly unpopular due to a number of reasons, including management of the Mount St. Helens disaster. Chuck had the opportunity to win the blanket primary from the Governor’s left- which he managed to accomplish. He went on to narrowly win the general election, distancing himself from his former ally, President Carter, in the process. This political comeback seemed like a Trojan horse at first, as Washington was immediately struck by rising unemployment, indications of recession, and subsequently, disapproval for Governor Ward. Ward pushed for new sources of revenue, such as a small sales tax increase. This filled the 2.5 billion dollar budget shortfall. Additionally, Chuck strengthened environmental protections. Against pressure from business groups and many legislators, he vetoed a bill permitting for an environmentally-risky development project by Chicago Bridge & Iron in a sensitive shoreline area of Whatcom County. He also successfully blocked a proposed oil pipeline that would have crossed under the Puget Sound over potential endangerment of the waterway's ecology and refused to back down amidst public support of the project. He also helped develop and implement land-use and growth-management policies that made Washington an early environmental leader. This came to pass with the advice and support of his wife, Clarice.
Ultimately, due to his unpopularity, Ward faced a strong primary challenge from the Democratic State House leader, and a strong field of Republican challengers. However, Chuck pointed to his principled leadership, and refusal to back down from important causes, and promised to establish a program which would provide medical insurance to the working poor. Through this campaign strategy, he narrowly won re-election. In his second term, he oversaw the implementation of his promised policy, and Washington’s economic recovery, With an increasingly collaborative legislature, steered hundreds of millions of dollars of increased spending toward state universities, increased standardized testing in public education, and improved legal protections for LGBTQ people.
In 1986, halfway through his second term, he launched a campaign for United States Senate. While initially unenthusiastic about the prospect, Democratic operatives saw the popular governor as the best means through which to win the competitive Senate seat. After a tough campaign, he won against the incumbent by a narrow margin. Ward quickly became a prominent member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, much like his former mentor. He took a seat on the commission investigating missing service-members in Asia, contributing significantly to the report. He also established a liberal voting record, and became a frequent fixture of cable television. In 1994, Chuck’s father died at the age of 100, with his mother dying weeks later at the age of 86. Chuck inherited the family trust from the somewhat estranged couple, which he turned into a non-profit trust called the Grace and Charles Ward Foundation, which is used to support charitable causes under the direction of Clarice.
In 1996, Chuck began to enter the imagination of the pundit class as a potential presidential contender, after he delivered a forceful DNC address, and published memoirs about his military service, which were credited for being genuine and introspective. These ambitions, though, could not come to fruition in 2000, as the incumbent Vice President opted to run. Though Chuck was on the Vice-Presidential shortlist, he was not selected. This was something for which he has remained grateful. However, Chuck still made yet another forceful and memorable speech at the 2000 DNC, allowing him to remain in the public eye.
In 2004, he all but coasted to the nomination. Running with a fairly liberal platform, President Cush attacked Chuck for being a “Left Coast Liberal,” elitist (despite his own background), and a flip flopper. Additionally, controversy arose when a group called “Geoje Vets for Justice” emerged to falsely challenge the legitimacy of Chuck’s combat experience and commendations. This phenomenon is now referred to as being “Geojed.” Chuck also had a moment which garnered significant negative attention, wherein he saluted at the DNC and said “I’m Sergeant Chuck Ward, and I’m reporting for duty!” These issues came to a head after the RNC, as Cush maintained a near 15-point lead over Chuck. Chuck worked hard to close the gap, however. He decisively crushed the incumbent in the debates, and criticized the President’s own military record when compared to his own.
Despite starting the race as an underdog, Chuck nearly won- with the electoral college coming down to a few thousand votes in Ohio, and a narrow win for the president in the national popular vote. Chuck took the defeat with dignity, and returned to his work in the Senate. In 2006, he won re-election to the Senate, and continues to criticize the ongoing war in Iraq. Pundits have speculated that he could become involved in the ongoing primary, if not outright launch a campaign or his own.
Other Info: Practicing Lutheran, on the Board of Trustees of Williams College, married for 48 years, has three adult children, two of whom are politically involved.
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