The Way Politics Should Be...!

It isn't often that we give credit to young people for doing something extraordinary, but maybe we should do it more often.

If this young man showed us anything, it was that even at a young age he recognized the importance of doing things for others while in public office. Just think of what he might have done as he grew older.

Brian Zimmerman

Photo credit: Djmaschek

History is full of monarchs that were given power before reaching adulthood. But even though Brian Zimmerman acquired a relatively small amount of power compared to any of those young rulers, he came by it through work instead of by birth. In 1983, Zimmerman successfully campaigned for mayor of the unincorporated town of Crabb, Texas, (population 225 at the time) when he was only 11 years old. His campaign was no doubt helped by powerful rhetoric like: “The mayor isn’t there to sit and worry about keeping his job. He’s there to do what’s best for the people.”

Unfortunately, Zimmerman did not pull off his main campaign promise to prevent Crabb from being absorbed by the larger communities around it. At least, he had the consolation of becoming famous nationwide, with his story having been adapted into the film Lone Star Kid, which starred James Earl Jones and was produced by Ron Howard. Or at least that would have been consolation if the spotlight had appealed to Zimmerman at all. For example, he dismissed his appearance on Good Morning, America by saying of it, “I’m not jumping up and down.” You’d think the sort of person who becomes a successful politician would desire all the publicity they could get.

Sadly, Zimmerman died of a heart attack in 1996 at age 24

I can only hope that someone like him can be elected to Washington at some point. We can use all the help there that we can get, right?

Coffee out on the patio while it's still shady.