Rep. Allen West grew up in the inner city of Atlanta and now represents one of the wealthiest districts in the country. Townhall Magazine featured West on the cover of the June 2012 issue.
“I’m living the American dream,” GOP Florida Rep. Allen West tells Townhall as he sits in his congressional office in Washington, D.C.
Now a freshman congressman, West grew up in the inner city of Atlanta in a healthy, old-school style, twoparent home. Both of his parents are from southern Georgia. West’s father served in Gen. George Patton’s III Corps in the European theatre during World War II and worked in a Veterans Affairs hospital when West was growing up. His mother worked for 6th Marine Corps District headquarters.
“My hair has always been quite short and cropped closely,” West jokes. ...
“In 1961—when I was born in the inner city of Atlanta, Ga.,—the district that I represent right now [in Florida], someone like me or my parents could not have gone to those beaches,” West says. “But that’s the greatness of the exceptionalism and that’s what the American dream means: that no matter where you come from, no matter where you were born, just based upon your own drive and determination, you can achieve whatever greatness you want in this country. That is what my parents taught me. America is about equality of opportunity.”
Fresh off of the speech given last night by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, where she talked about growing up in the Jim Crow South, West explained to Townhall how he relates to her personal story and their shared passion for a strong America. West also talked about the space program and the 2012 election.
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