Charlie Wilson

Charles Nesbitt Wilson (June 1, 1933 – February 10, 2010) was an American politician and naval officer who was a 12-term Democratic Representative from Texas's 2nd congressional district. Wilson is best known for leading Congress into supporting Operation Cyclone, the largest-ever Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covert operation, which during the Carter and Reagan administrations supplied military equipment to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War. His behind-the-scenes campaign was the subject of the non-fiction book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by George Crile III and the subsequent film Charlie Wilson's War, in which he was portrayed by Tom Hanks. Early life, education and naval career Wilson was born on June 1, 1933, in the small town of Trinity, Texas, to Charles Edwin Wilson (1905–1981), an accountant for a local timber company, and Wilmuth Wilson (née Nesbitt; 1907–1985), a local florist. Wilson had one sister, Sharon, now known as Sharon Wilson Allison (who would go on to become a local chair of Planned Parenthood and then president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation). Growing up, Wilson attended Trinity public schools and, upon graduation from Trinity High School in 1951, he attended one semester at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, before being appointed to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. While at Annapolis, Wilson earned the second most demerits in the history of the Academy (his roommate, Robert Mullen, earned the most demerits). Wilson graduated eighth from the bottom of his class in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, specializing in electronics. Between 1956 and 1960, Wilson served in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant and serving as the Gunnery Officer on the USS John W. Weeks (DD-701). He was assigned to the Pentagon as part of an Office of Naval Intelligence unit that evaluated the Soviet Union's nuclear forces.