Wade Sanders
Encyclopedia
Wade Sanders is an attorney from in San Diego, California
and a retired United States Navy
Captain who served as Deputy Assistant United States Secretary of the Navy
for Reserve Affairs during the Clinton Administration. He was formerly California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi
's senior adviser for veterans and military affairs. As an attorney, he specialized in the legal practice of corporate governance and ethics, as well as employee owned companies and lobbying for major corporations. In December 2008 he pled guilty to one charge of possession of child pornography
.
aboard the USS Pensacola
, and Mary Houston, an artist.
A former Deputy Assistant United States Secretary of the Navy
for Reserve Affairs during the Clinton Administration, he contributed to the Post Cold War restructuring and modernization of the Armed Forces of the United States and worked with the United States Secretary of Defense
to achieve full integration of the Reserve and Guard Components of the U.S. Military.
Sanders sat on the board of the non-profit organization Vietnam Veterans of San Diego. He was a member of the San Diego Police Department Senior Oversight Committee and briefly ran for the United States Congress
as a Democrat
in 2000 before dropping out of the race, citing a lack of funding.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Sanders was a spokesman for presidential campaign of Democrat
John Kerry
. Sanders introduced Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
, made an appearance in the documentary Going Upriver
- The Long War of John Kerry (2004), and made public rebuttals to criticisms of Kerry's war record made by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
.
, where he served as Swift Boat
skipper
, PCF-98 and retired reserve Navy Captain, Sanders served nearly thirty years of active and reserve Naval service and received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart
, and in 1992 was awarded the Silver Star
. In August 2010, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus
stripped Sanders of the Silver Star. According to a Navy spokesperson, "Had the subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself been known to the secretary of the Navy in 1992, those facts would have prevented the award of the Silver Star."
from California State University, Long Beach
, his Juris Doctor
from the University of San Diego School of Law
, and is a graduate of the Naval War College
. He also attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
.
Sanders is the author of many published articles and opinion pieces in major newspapers and the Navy Institute Proceeding, and served as a columnist for Military.com
and a television commentator on national security matters and the war in Iraq for NBC
and Fox
.
, before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. Investigators found eight videos in addition to individual photos containing child pornography on Sanders' computers. After initially denying that he was in possession of child pornography, Sanders later stated that the material was for an article on child exploitation in foreign countries and was intended for scholarly purposes as he had previously worked in aiding child sex abuse victims in Yugoslavia
and stated that his motives were "pure and innocent". A therapist treating Sanders testified that he was not a danger to children, and several mental health experts concluded he was not a pedophile. Prior to the sentence hearing, more than 50 people expressed their support of Sanders, including senators Kerry, Cleland and congresswoman Schenk. On May 4, 2009, Sanders was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Whelan
to 37 months in prison.
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
and a retired United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Captain who served as Deputy Assistant United States Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
for Reserve Affairs during the Clinton Administration. He was formerly California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi
John Garamendi
John Raymond Garamendi is the U.S. Representative for , serving since November 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Garamendi was the California State Insurance Commissioner from 1991 to 1995, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 1995 to 1998, and the California State Insurance...
's senior adviser for veterans and military affairs. As an attorney, he specialized in the legal practice of corporate governance and ethics, as well as employee owned companies and lobbying for major corporations. In December 2008 he pled guilty to one charge of possession of child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
.
Early Life
Sanders is the son of a career U.S. Navy officer who was injured while serving as Gunner's MateGunner's Mate
The United States Navy occupational rating of gunner's mate also known as gunsmens mate is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" school training, or who "strike" for the rating as a deck seaman by...
aboard the USS Pensacola
USS Pensacola
There have been four United States Navy ships named USS Pensacola:*The first was a steamer launched in 1859 and was decommissioned in 1911.*The second was a German steamer seized when the United States entered World War I and used as a transport....
, and Mary Houston, an artist.
Government and politics
Sanders was the senior adviser for veterans and military affairs to John Garamendi, D-Calif., while Garamendi served as California's Lt. Governor in 2008.A former Deputy Assistant United States Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
for Reserve Affairs during the Clinton Administration, he contributed to the Post Cold War restructuring and modernization of the Armed Forces of the United States and worked with the United States Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
to achieve full integration of the Reserve and Guard Components of the U.S. Military.
Sanders sat on the board of the non-profit organization Vietnam Veterans of San Diego. He was a member of the San Diego Police Department Senior Oversight Committee and briefly ran for the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in 2000 before dropping out of the race, citing a lack of funding.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Sanders was a spokesman for presidential campaign of Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
. Sanders introduced Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated John Kerry and John Edwards as the official candidates of the Democratic Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, in the 2004...
, made an appearance in the documentary Going Upriver
Going Upriver
Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is a documentary film on U.S. Senator John Kerry's military service during the Vietnam War and his subsequent participation in the peace movement...
- The Long War of John Kerry (2004), and made public rebuttals to criticisms of Kerry's war record made by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
Swift Vets and POWs for Truth
Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth , was a political group of United States Swift boat veterans and former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 presidential election campaign for the purpose of opposing John Kerry's candidacy...
.
Navy
A combat veteran of the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, where he served as Swift Boat
Swift Boat
Swift Boat may refer to:*a Patrol Craft Fast*Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, originally named Swift Boat Veterans For Truth*Swiftboating, political jargon for a particular form of character assassination as a smear tactic...
skipper
Skipper
Skipper may refer to:* Skipper , a person who has command of a vessel* Sea Scouting , name given to Leader of a Scout Troop* Skippers Seafood & Chowder House, an American chain of seafood restaurants...
, PCF-98 and retired reserve Navy Captain, Sanders served nearly thirty years of active and reserve Naval service and received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
, and in 1992 was awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
. In August 2010, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus
Ray Mabus
Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. is the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy. Mabus served as the 60th Governor of the U.S...
stripped Sanders of the Silver Star. According to a Navy spokesperson, "Had the subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself been known to the secretary of the Navy in 1992, those facts would have prevented the award of the Silver Star."
Education and associations
Sanders received his Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach is the second largest campus of the California State University system and the third largest university in the state of California by enrollment...
, his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from the University of San Diego School of Law
University of San Diego School of Law
The University of San Diego School of Law, commonly referred to as USD Law, is a law school located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California in the community of Linda Vista. Founded in 1954, the law school has held ABA approval since 1961...
, and is a graduate of the Naval War College
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
. He also attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Sanders is the author of many published articles and opinion pieces in major newspapers and the Navy Institute Proceeding, and served as a columnist for Military.com
Military.com
Military.com is the website created by Military Advantage to be a portal for U.S. military members. In early 2004, Military Advantage was purchased by Monster Worldwide. The company's main revenue streams are advertising, military-themed products and lead generation for military recruiters...
and a television commentator on national security matters and the war in Iraq for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
.
Personal
On December 22, 2008, Sanders pleaded guilty to one felony charge of possession of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conductChild pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. Investigators found eight videos in addition to individual photos containing child pornography on Sanders' computers. After initially denying that he was in possession of child pornography, Sanders later stated that the material was for an article on child exploitation in foreign countries and was intended for scholarly purposes as he had previously worked in aiding child sex abuse victims in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and stated that his motives were "pure and innocent". A therapist treating Sanders testified that he was not a danger to children, and several mental health experts concluded he was not a pedophile. Prior to the sentence hearing, more than 50 people expressed their support of Sanders, including senators Kerry, Cleland and congresswoman Schenk. On May 4, 2009, Sanders was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Whelan
Thomas J. Whelan (judge)
-Early life and education:Born in San Diego, California, Whelan received a B.A. from the University of San Diego in 1961 and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1965.-Career:...
to 37 months in prison.
External links
- Wade Sanders Archives at Military.com http://web.archive.org/web/20081127065244/http://www.military.com/Opinions/0,,Sanders_Index,00.html
- Wade Sanders on KPBS TV San Diego "Full Focus" http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22wade+sanders%22+kpbs
- Unites States of America v Wade Sanders
- Statement of Wade Sanders