Best known as: Youthful mayor of Cleveland (1977) and presidential candidate (2004, 2008)
31-year-old Dennis Kucinich became the youngest-ever mayor of a major American city when he was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977. A feisty liberal Democrat from a blue-collar background, Kucinich soon made waves by refusing to sell the city's municipal electric system to private competitors during a budget crisis, thereby pushing the city into temporary bankruptcy. (Though it was a controversial move at the time, saving the "Muny" has since become a positive cornerstone of Kucinich's image.) Kucinich lost his bid for reelection in 1979; after a long period away from electoral politics, he was elected an Ohio state senator in 1994 and in 1996 was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He ran for president in 2004 and carried his campaign all the way to the Democratic convention, where John Kerry was nominated. He announced as a candidate for president again in December 2006 but withdrew in January 2008.
Extra credit: It's pronounced, "koo-SIN-itch"... Kucinich is a vegan (he does not consume animal or dairy products); his 2004 campaign website called him "one of the few vegans in Congress"... He was 58, and the former Elizabeth Harper was 27, when they married in August 2005. His two previous marriages had ended in divorce; he has one daughter from his marriage to the former Sandra Lee McCarthy (1977-86)... According to a 1977 profile in The New York Times, Kucinich is 5'7" tall.
