Lawrence Eagleburger: Statesman, Tea-Partier, unusual child-namer

By Hawes Spencer |
Published online 2:14pm Sunday Jun 5th, 2011
and in print issue #1023 dated Thursday Jun 9th, 2011

Retired high-level diplomat Lawrence Eagleburger, an Albemarle County resident, has died at the age of 80, according to various reports. Eagleburger, who served George H.W. Bush briefly as Secretary of State, was a widower who lived on Owensville Road near Meriwether Lewis Elementary School.

An outspoken conservative, Eagleburger challenged authority by various means including questioning the readiness of Sarah Palin, participating in a Jefferson Area Tea Party rally, and giving all three sons his own first name, the latter an ego-fueled bid to vex the Social Security Administration– or so he once quipped.

At the 2009 Tax Day rally held at what's now called the nTelos Wireless Pavilion, Eagleburger told the crowd that "Don't Tread on Me" would be an appropriate motto for the Tea Party's lower-tax philosophy.

County records indicate that Eagleburger bought his 21-acre Owensville Road farmette in 1989 and that his interest in low taxes included keeping the place enrolled in Albemarle's so-called "land use" taxation program, with the result that the County discounts its tax value by about $400,000. Eagleburger also owned an additional house in Albemarle, a four-acre spread near Batesville.

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6 comments

democracy June 5th, 2011 | 6:07pm

And here's Eagleburger taking back his criticism of Palin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulxItYwnBhk&feature=related

And here are some comments from Palin showing just how much of a nitwit she is, and making clear that Eagleburger's retraction was unwarranted.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/sarahpalin/a/palinisms.htm

This historically inaccurate quote from Palin on Paul Revere's ride helps to underscore just how obtuse she is:

"He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed." --Sarah Palin, on Paul Revere's midnight ride, June 3, 2011

Gas Bag Self Ordained Expert June 5th, 2011 | 7:44pm

Nothing relevant to add here, just need to comment on every single story.

i make you laugh? June 5th, 2011 | 8:45pm

Maybe Sarah Palin has a point. Just like Obama warned the Pakistanis we would come get bin Laden! So she would have to agree that Obama is a modern day Paul Revere!!

Gasbag Self Ordained Expert June 5th, 2011 | 10:56pm

Not nice to impersonate me. But, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I do have a comment to add here.... he and Marshall Dillion died on the same day.

john gault June 6th, 2011 | 9:34am

http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/cdp-news/2011/jun/04/ex-secretary-sta...

Eagleburger died at the age of 80 at the University of Virginia Medical Center on Saturday.

Robert Arthur June 7th, 2011 | 2:19pm

I remember one thing admiringly about him.
On the radio one day, in the middle of the Chimp's long run-up of flag-waving hysteria that ushered in that fake war, Eagleburger repeatedly argued that we should accept an Iraq with biological w.m.d., chemical w.m.d., and even "dirty bombs," the expected kind of nuclear w.m.d.,-- the costs of invading would far outweigh they damage we could sustain at home.
I don't even think he was considering the costs of making the conversion to a war economy, where employment by the defense dept. and sub-servants has become "honorable."