Duke Cunningham
Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham was an American politician, Vietnam War veteran and fighter ace. A member of the Republican Party, Cunningham represented three California districts in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2005, and later served prison time for accepting bribes from defense contractors.
Prior to his political career, Cunningham was an officer and pilot in the United States Navy for 20 years. Following the Vietnam War, during which he became one of just two Navy aviators to be confirmed as aces, Cunningham became an instructor at the Navy's Fighter Weapons School and commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 126, a shore-based adversary squadron at NAS Miramar, California.
In 1990, Cunningham ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating Democratic incumbent Jim Bates. He served in the House from 1991 to 2005, as the representative for California's 44th, 50th, and 51st congressional districts. Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28, 2005, after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and under-reporting his taxable income for 2004. He was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution. On June 4, 2013, Cunningham completed his prison sentence. He was granted a conditional pardon by President Donald Trump in 2021.
Early life and education
Cunningham was born in Los Angeles to Randall and Lela Cunningham on December 8, 1941, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Around 1945, the family moved to Fresno, where Cunningham's father purchased a gas station. In 1953, they moved to rural Shelbina, Missouri, where his parents purchased and managed the five-and-dime Cunningham Variety Store.Cunningham graduated from Shelbina High School in 1959. He attended Kirksville Teacher's College for one year, before transferring to the University of Missouri in Columbia. Cunningham graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1964; he obtained his MA in education the following year. He later earned an MBA from National University.
He was hired as a physical education teacher and swimming coach at Hinsdale Central High School, where he stayed for one year. Two members of his swim team competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics, where they earned a gold and a silver medal.
Military service
Cunningham joined the United States Navy in 1967. During his service, Cunningham and his Navigator/Radar Intercept Officer William P. Driscoll became the only Navy aces in the Vietnam War, flying an F-4 Phantom II from aboard aircraft carrier. He and Driscoll recorded five aerial victories against North Vietnamese MiG-21 and MiG-17 aircraft between January and May 1972, including three kills in one flight.In the final engagement, Cunningham downed a MiG-17, which was supposedly piloted by "Colonel Tomb", a mythical North Vietnam Air Force fighter ace loosely based on a North Vietnamese pilot from the 921st Fighter Regiment named Nguyễn Văn Cốc. It was later revealed by historians there was no such Colonel Toon and the story was fabricated by Cunningham himself. Văn Cốc retired from the Vietnamese People's Air Force in 2002.
While returning to the carrier after the final shoot-down, Cunningham and Driscoll were forced to eject from their F-4 over water near Nam Định after the aircraft was fatally damaged by a SA-2 surface-to-air missile, but they were rescued by Navy helicopter.
After returning to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1972, Cunningham became an instructor at the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego. He was reportedly nearly court-martialed for allegedly breaking into his commanding officer's office to compare his records and fitness reports with those of his colleagues—a charge denied by Cunningham but supported by two of his superior officers at the time. Cunningham served tours with VF-154, United States Seventh Fleet and as executive officer/commanding officer of the shore-based adversary squadron VF-126. In 1987, he was featured on the PBS broadcast of the NOVA special "Top Gun And Beyond", during which he recounted his engagement with the North Vietnamese fighter pilot thought to be the mythical "Colonel Toon".
Cunningham retired from the Navy with the final rank of commander in 1987, settling in Del Mar, a suburb of San Diego. He became nationally known as a CNN commentator on naval aircraft in the run-up to the Persian Gulf War.
Awards and decorations
Political career
Cunningham's visibility as a CNN commentator led several Republican leaders to approach him about running in what was then the 44th district, one of four congressional districts in San Diego. The district had been held for eight years by Democrat Jim Bates, and was considered the most Democratic district in the San Diego area. However, Bates was bogged down in a scandal involving charges of sexual harassment. Cunningham won the Republican nomination in 1990 and hammered Bates about the scandal, promising to be "a congressman we can be proud of." He won by just one percentage point, giving Republicans full representation of the San Diego area for only the second time since the city was split into two districts after the 1960 census.Cunningham's status as a Vietnam war hero made him a sought-after source, by colleagues and the media, in the debate on whether to use military force against Iraq in the lead up to the first Gulf War. Guy Vander Jagt of Michigan, longtime chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that Cunningham had considerable "drawing power" and was treated as a celebrity by his fellow Republicans.
After the 1990 census, redistricting renumbered the 44th district as the 51st and created the 50th district, splitting off a significant portion of San Diego County. At the same time, the 51st added several areas of heavily Republican North San Diego County. The new district included the home of Bill Lowery, a fellow Republican who had represented most of the other side of San Diego for the past 12 years. They faced one another in the Republican primary. Despite Lowery's seniority, his involvement in the House banking scandal hurt him. As polls showed Cunningham with a substantial lead, Lowery dropped out of the primary race, effectively handing Cunningham the nomination. Cunningham then breezed to victory in November.
Even though the district was not nearly as conservative as the other two Republican-held districts in the San Diego area, Cunningham was re-elected six times with no less than 55 percent of the vote.
Cunningham was a member of the Appropriations and Intelligence committees, and chaired the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Human Intelligence Analysis and Counterintelligence during the 109th Congress. He was considered a leading Republican expert on national security issues. He was also a champion of education, using his position on the Appropriations Education Subcommittee to steer federal dollars to schools in San Diego. After surgery for prostate cancer in 1998, he became a champion of early testing for the disease.
Cunningham was known for making controversial comments. For example:
- Making a comment about gay Congressman Barney Frank, where he called the rectal examination for prostate cancer "just not natural, unless maybe you're Barney Frank".
- Displaying his middle finger to a constituent and "for emphasis, the two-word meaning of his one-finger salute" during an argument over military spending.
- Suggesting that the Democratic House leadership should be "lined up and shot"—a call he had previously made about Vietnam War protesters.
- Referring to gay soldiers as "homos" on the floor of the House of Representatives when he said backers of an environmental amendment were "the same people that would... put homos in the military." He later apologized for his comments.
In September 1996, Cunningham criticized President Clinton for appointing judges who were "soft on crime". "We must get tough on drug dealers," he said, adding that "those who peddle destruction on our children must pay dearly". He favored stiff drug penalties and voted for the death penalty for major drug dealers.
Four months later, his son Todd was arrested for helping to transport of marijuana from Texas to Indiana. Todd Cunningham pleaded guilty to possession and conspiracy to sell marijuana. At his son's sentencing hearing, Cunningham fought back tears as he begged the judge for leniency. After the sentencing, Cunningham was seen leaving the courthouse crying. Cunningham's press secretary responded to accusations of double standards with: "The sentence Todd got had nothing to do with who Duke is. Duke has always been tough on drugs and remains tough on drugs."
Legislative achievements
Cunningham was the lead sponsor of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, which banned the practice of shark finning in all U.S. waters, and pushed the United States to the lead on efforts to ban shark finning worldwide. For his efforts, Cunningham was named as a "Conservation Hero" by the Audubon Society and the Ocean Wildlife Campaign. Cunningham also unsuccessfully advocated for the death penalty for all those convicted of shark finning.Cunningham co-sponsored, along with Democrat John Murtha, the so-called "Flag Desecration Amendment", which would add the following sentence to the Constitution of the United States:
The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the Flag of the United States.
The proposed amendment has passed the House many times, but narrowly missed the requisite 2/3 majority vote for passage in the Senate. Cunningham also advocated for the death penalty for all those convicted of flag desecration.
Cunningham was the driving force behind the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act which was passed and signed into law by President George W. Bush in July 2004. The law grants the authority to non-federal law enforcement officers from any jurisdiction to carry a firearm anywhere within the jurisdiction of the United States.
Cunningham supported reinstitution of the Selective Service draft.