Word: du
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...worst political crises occurred in 1977, his first year as Governor. Determined to cut state spending, he vetoed the legislature's budget. Those were impassioned, partisan days; the morning of the vote, one Democrat opened the session by praying, "May the nays be forgiven." When du Pont lost, his aides were distraught and defiant. Not the Governor. "He was very, very quiet," recalls Nathan Hayward III, a second cousin who was then head of Delaware's economic development office. Du Pont shifted to a more conciliatory approach that eventually won over the legislature and even labor...
...time he left office, Delaware's unemployment rate had dropped to 7% from a high of 13%, the top income tax rate had fallen from nearly 20% to 9%, and new businesses flooded the state. The experience converted du Pont to the supplyside philosophy of lower taxes and a strong free-market approach to the economy...
...While du Pont was Governor, his wife startled Delaware's voters and her husband's family by commuting to law school in Philadelphia, juggling classes with her duties as first lady and mother of four. Outwardly, Pete and Elise du Pont seem like opposites -- he relaxed and playful, she rather cool and proper. Their friends contend that deep down, they are very much alike. Both are efficient, highly organized and quietly but fiercely competitive. She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1984 with a combative but haughty campaign. (One columnist, in a wicked play on her name, dubbed her "Elite Bouffant...
...dynasty, the du Ponts are different from the Kennedys, Roosevelts or Rockefellers. In their 188-year history in America, very few du Ponts have pursued elective office. Public service -- or, as du Pont describes it, "giving something back" -- was expressed through quiet philanthropy. Today, Delaware's du Pont plants are liberally matched with du Pont libraries, museums and foundations. If one trait unites the 2,000 far-flung du Pont descendants, it is their sober quest for privacy. They have spent two centuries perfecting their seclusion from the prying public...
...affability, Pete du Pont is no exception. When he decided to run for President, he told aides that he had only four rules: "No debt, no PAC money, no family, no house." Du Pont did not want reporters interviewing him at Patterns or in Maine, counting the servants and priceless antiques. He has always shielded his four children from the political spotlight. His son Ben, 22, an engineer at the du Pont company, had to beg his father to be allowed to campaign part-time...