er na rd Sa nd er s' pol -

it ic al ca re er be gan

li ke a fa ir y ta le . He

had bee n in Verm on t

fo r abo ut a yea r, tr y' in gt o ma ke a g o o f it

as a free -lanc e write r.

I t

wa s 197 1 a nd Li b- ert y Union , the sta te' s rad ica l thi rd par - t y, ha d be en es ta bl i sh ed ab ou t si x mo nt hs ea rl ie r. Sa nd er s he ar d Li ber ty Un io n wa s hol di ng a me et in g at Go d- dar d Col leg e in Pl ain fie ld, and decid ed to at te nd. "I wal ked in to th e me et in g not k now ing any body ," he rec all ed thi s we ek , "a nd I w al ked out as the par ty 's can dida te for U. S. Se nat e."

Des pit e tha t aus pic iou s beg inn ing , po li ti cs - pa rt ic ul ar ly wi nn in g el ec - tio ns - has not bee n eas y for San der s.

I t

to ok hi m 10 ye ar s, fi ve ele ct io ns an d

hundred s of cam paign appe ara nces be-

fo re he fi na ll y wa s ab le to s av or th e

sweetn ess of succe ss.

Du ri ng th e pas t dec ad e, in w hi ch he

ra n tw ic e fo r th e Se na te , tw ic e fo r go v- er no r an d on ce fo r ma yo r, Sa nd er s ha s

become a

w ell kno wn fig ure in Ve rm ont .

His rumpl ed app ear anc e and har rie d sty le, his cha ris mat ic orat ory and fiery inv ect ive s agai nst corp orat e Ame ric a, his cham pio nsh ip of th e poo r an d dis-

ad va nt ag ed an d esp ou sa ls on be ha lf of

so cia lis m, ar e fam ili ar to the Ve rm ont ele cto ra te and ha ve bec om e wo ven int o

th e st at e' s po li ti ca l fo lk lo re . Ye t as San ders pre pare s to tak e ove r the hel m of Vermon t's larges t city, lit tle is known about the man . Who is Bernar d Sander s, wh at ha s he b een do in g fo r th e past 39

yea rs and wha t. exa ctl y, doe s he bel iev e in?

Sa nd er s wa s bo rn Se pt . 8, 194 1, i n Bro okl yn, N.Y. His f ath er was a Poli sh

im m ig ra nt wh o ca me to N ew Yo rk at

th e ag e of 17 and sp en t mo st of hi s li fe

as a pa in t sa le sm an . Hi s mot he r, bo rn in Am er ic a of R us si an pa re nt s, wa s a ho us ew if e. Hi s on ly sibl in g is hi s

broth-

er , La rr y, wh o is se ve n ve ar s hi s el de r

an d to da y re si des in En gl and wh er e he

is a soci al wor ker .

~

Sanders on Sanders

ME E T T HE l V I A Y OB

The Sa nde rs liv ed

in

a sm all, six-s tory

ap ar tm en t ho us e in t he Fla tb us h se c·

ti on of B ro ok ly n. Be rn ar d gr ew up i n wha t he desc rib es

as "a

sol id, low er - mid dle class " env iro nm ent . "My fat her

was

n ev er wit hou t wo rk, and the re wa s no a nx ie ty ab ou t no t hav in g th e bas ic nec ess iti es of

Ii

fe,"

h e say s. "Bu t mo ney - a nd th e la c k o f m o ne y - w a s a n ab - so lut e anx iet y

in

the house hol d; the re nev er wa s eno ugh :'

" 1

le a rn e d w ha t ha vo c a nd pa in is ca us ed by t he co ns ta nt wo rr y ov er mo- ne y, " he no w sa ys . "P eo pl e wh o co me fr om mo ne y so me ti me s do n' t un de r- sta nd tha t anx iet y. "

His pa ren ts, both of w hom died by t he

ti me he wa s

20,

w ere not part icula rly inter este d in p oliti cs or intel lectu alism . He r eli ed on his bro the r for hi s

introduc-

tion to endea vors

of the

mi nd. "He ha d

a

ve ry gr ea t inf lue nce on my chil dho od, "

San ders expl ain s. "Bo oks and intell ec-

tua l ide as wer e not topi cs of d isc uss ion

wi th my pa re nt s. My b ro th er br ou ght

bo ok s in to th e hou se . He in tr od uc ed me

to poe tr y an d br ou ght Si gm und Fr eu d

an d po li ti ca l id ea s ho me wi th hi m. He wa s th e gat ew ay fo r me f or m an y in te l-

le ct ua l id ea s. " La rr y Sa nd er s wi ll fl y back from England next month to at-

tend

hi s

br ot he r' s in au gu ra ti on as mayor.

Al th ou gh he d es cr ib ed hi ms el f as a

"ser ious kid," Sand ers' prim ary inter est a s a y o u t h w a s a t h l e t i c s . H e w a s a

Bro okl yn Dod ger s fan , and was cap tai n of hi s hi gh sc ho ol t ra ck an d cr os s-

count ry team s. Hi s fi rs t lo ve , ho we ve r, wa s

basket- ball. He fondly remembers that as an el em en ta ry sc ho ol stud ent at P .S . 19 7 he pl ay ed on the Br oo kl yn Bo ro ug h

cha mp ion shi p tea m. His

fai lure to

make

th e va rs it y bas ke tb al l te am at J am es Madi son Hig h School still ra nks as "th e

ma jor di sap oin tm ent of my l ife ."

st ud en t of me di ci ne. He th er ef or e to ok

off a sem est er and

"s pent days

and days

in th e ba se me nt of t he Un iv er si ty of Chi cag o lib rar y rea din g."

I t

was the n th at Sa nd er s' in te ll ec tu al is m an d pcl it .

ica l acti vis m we re tru ly spar ked . "Th at

wa s pr ob abl y th e ma jo r pe ri od of in te l. lec tua l fer men t in my li fe, " he s ugge sts . He re ad ab out psy ch ia tr y, po li ti cs , eco .

nom ics and so cia lis m, and e nte re d wha t he cal ls a "ti me

of real

searching."

At a bo ut th e sa me ti me , he b eg an de . veloping

con ce rn s ab ou t th e arm s ra Ce nu cl ea r we ap on ry an d ra ci sm .

It

wa~ th e ea rl y 19 60 s an d th e ci vi l ri gh ts

mo ve me nt wa s be in g bo rn in th e Sou th

but Sanders and his colleagues saw ugly

si gn s of ra ci sm in C hi ca go as w el l.

H e

bec am e act ive in civ il rig hts ca mpa ign s

aga ins t seg reg ate d scho ols and housi ng in Chi cag o. "Th at was the fir st pol iti cal act ivi ty I unde rto ok," he r eca lls . Sa nde rs gr ad ua te d fr om the Un iv er - si ty of Ch ic ag o in 196 4 wit h a deg re e in

po li ti ca l sc ie nc e. He g ot ma rr ie d

an d

hea ded Eas t. The y h-a d nev er been

to

New England an d kn ew not the sl ig ht es t th in g ab out purchasing property; nonetheless, they

dr ov e to V er m on t, wo un d up i n Mid -

dl es ex , an d bo ugh t an 85- ac re pa rc el of lan d for $ 2,50 0. Ba ck in N ew Yor k Sa nd er s fo un d a job as an aide at the Psychiatric Insti- tu te of N ew York , a hos pi ta l ru n by C o- lu mb ia Un iv er si ty . He re ma in ed at th e hos pi ta l fo r hal f a y ea r, th en to ok a po - si ti on wi th t he He ad st ar t pr og ra m wo rk in g wi th lo w- in co me yo ut hs . He cal ls the work wi th Hea dst art "pr obab ly th e ni ce st jo b I ev er ha d."

Du ri ng th e su mm er s he wo ul d vi si t Ve rm on t. He a nd hi s wi fe ha d a so n,