Chickenhawk/NHG/About the Chickenhawk Database
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Originally published on the New Hampshire Gazette website. Used with the express permission and encouragement of Steven Fowle, editorius. Formatting has been altered in the transition to the wiki.
Note to well-meaning copyeditors: The text below is a faithful reproduction of previously published material. Any misteaks, tyops, and other errors are from the original document, and should be left unchanged.
[edit] Definition
Chickenhawk -n. - A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person’s youth.
Some individuals may qualify more for their political associations than for any demonstrated personal tendency towards bellicosity. Some women may be included for exceptional bellicosity.
There is another, less savory definition of the term chickenhawk. It is not relevant to this discussion; we intend no such associations to be drawn here.
This list is provisional. The management of the Gazette is proud to have served the vital public function of assembling the best known list of American chickenhawks, but we confess – we declare and emphasize – that we have not the resources to tend to it properly. Therefore we declare it provisional: we acknowledge there may be faults – hell, we know there are.
[edit] Errors and Omissions
Anyone falsely characterized as a chickenhawk is particularly welcome to correct any errors. We encourage every interested American to feel free to nominate chickenhawks, or to fill in missing information. Nominations are solicited from all sources.
[edit] History
The Chickenhawk Database is brought to you by The New Hampshire Gazette. We assembled an earlier version of this database by merging two or three less complete lists. We then added more than a score of names ourselves. We posted the list to the Gazette's website in March, where it seemed to catch the public's interest. Twenty or more names were then added to create the database as you see it here .
The alleged "gentlemen" listed in this database are here because they share three qualities: bellicosity (a warlike manner or temperament), public prominence, and a curious lack of wartime service when others their age had no trouble finding the fight. (Sorry, Dan and George W. and Dan Q. – your safe, cushy National Guard slots won't help you now.) The fact that they's almost all Republicans is . . . well, curious, don't you think? No doubt this list is incomplete. Readers are encouraged to nominate their favorite overlooked chickenhawks.
