A little know United States politician until the release of the 2007 movie based on his political career during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980’s and his CIA covert mission to aid Afghanistan. The release of the movie coincided, quite by accident, following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.

Born to father Charlie and mother Wilmuth Wilson on June 1^st 1933 in Trinity, Texas, Charlie Wilson attended Trinity High School from which he graduated in 1951. Following his university education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas Charlie was appointed to the US Naval Academy where he only aspired to eighth from bottom in his class when he graduated with a B.S. in 1956.

Wilson reached dizzier heights when he joined the US Navy in 1956 where he attained the rank of lieutenant by 1956. Later he was assigned to the Pentagon as part of the intelligence unit that evaluated Soviet nuclear forces.

It was chance and person loss that brought Wilson to the field of politics at the tender age of thirteen after a next door neighbour, Charlie Hazard, put broken glass in Charlie’s dog’s food causing the dog to die of internal bleeding.

In retaliation, Charlie realizing that the neighbour was running in the local elections, ferried car after car full of voters from the poorer areas who normally never voted and after reaching the poll impressed upon them that one of the candidates, Hazard, had killed his dog. The voters instantly made up their minds to vote against Hazard and he lost the vote by 16.

After he had influenced the outcome of the election, Charlie paid a visit to his neighbour and subtly told him, ‘he shouldn't poison any more dogs’.

That was Charlie’s last involvement with politics until he became a volunteer for John F Kennedy’s presidential campaign. This inspired him to once again return his interest to politics when he took time away from the Navy to enter his name for the position of Texas State representative of his own district in 1960.

In 1961 Charlie was sworn into office u=in Austin, Texas as the age of just 27.

Charles Nesbitt "Charlie" Wilson (born June 1, 1933) is a former United States naval officer and former Democratic United States Representative from the 2nd congressional district in Texas.

He is best known for leading Congress into supporting the largest ever CIA covert operation, which supplied the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

For the next 12 years, Charlie Wilson fought for Medicaid and was known to be pro-choice abortion but it was his social life that brought him most recognition with his womanizing and drinking he gained the nickname of ‘Good Time Charlie’.

Wilson continued his political career when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972 and went on to be elected a further eleven times and resigned after not becoming a candidate for the One Hundred Fifth Congress. In 1996.

Wilson took on the force of the U.S. government when he gave his strong support for the Nicaraguan leader Somoza whom he believed had been betrayed by the US. In an attempt to gain support for the Nicaraguan leader Wilson threatened to wreck Jimmy Carter’s administration’s Panama Canal Treaty if the US did not resume support of Samoza. However, after Samoza behaved inappropriately with Wilson’s girlfriend and Somoza asked for $100 million to pay for a force to fight on Samoza’s behalf in the Panama Canal crisis.

But it was Charlie’s’ knowledge of the plight of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing from Soviet attacks 1980 that brought him to the attention of the U.S. government when, as the recently appointed Defense Appropriations subcommittee member, he requested a twofold increase in the appropriation for Afghanistan.

By 1983 Wilson had convinced the committee to earmark $40 million to artillery that could be used by the Afghan’s to shoot down Soviet helicopters before they could strike at civilians.

Wilson was approached directly by CIA officer Gust Avrakotos, who, breaking the CIA's rule against lobbying Congress for money, asked Wilson for $50 million more. Wilson agreed to the increase and convinced his colleagues in Congress by saying that "The U.S. had nothing whatsoever to do with these people's decision to fight ... But we'll be damned by history if we let them fight with stones." Wilson later succeeded in moving $300 million of unused Pentagon funds into the Afghan operation right before the end of the fiscal year. In this way, Wilson had a significant influence on the level of support the Afghan Mujahideen received from the United States.

In 1999 Wilson became married for the second time, having divorced his first wife Jerry, to a ballerina he had previously met in 1980 and in 2007 he was the recipient of a heart transplant after having been on the waiting list for two years.

Wilson's efforts in the Afghanistan war against the Soviets were revealed in the book titled Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile III published in 2003 and in 2007 the book was made into a movie of the same title starring Tom Hanks as Charlie, Julia Roberts as his close friend Joanne and Amy Adams, of Enchanted fame as his secretary.

Charlie retired from congress and took up residence in Lufkin, Texas.

ABB