Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

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February 08, 2010

Murtha Passed Away

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) died this afternoon. He was 77.

Murtha had been hospitalized since last week for complications resulting from gall bladder surgery.

In 1974, Murtha was the first combat veteran of the Vietnam War elected to Congress. For decades, he held considerable power as the top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. His frustration over the Iraq war led him to call for an immediate pullout of troops in 2005.

In recent years, Murtha was dogged by campaign finance and ethics investigations.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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