What's this? This is an unbiased just-the-facts news timeline ('newsline') about Lincoln Chafee, created by Newslines contributors. Become a contributor

Lincoln Chafee

Lincoln Chafee6 posts
Latest News view > Click for Biography view
25 May, 2015

Memorial Day post

Makes Statement0 Comments

Chafee posts an image of American flags in front of headstones and McCrae’s famous war poem In Flanders Fields on Facebook.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

15 May, 2015

‘Disappointed’ with Tsarnaev sentence

Makes Statement0 Comments

Chafee weighs in on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence:

I was disappointed. Even some family members of victims had advocated to spare Tsarnaev, and I thought that was powerful testimony…The arguments for the death penalty are that it’s a deterrent. In this case, considering all the volatile relations we have with the Muslim world, and some of the brutality that ensues on innocent people by ISIS and the like, I just have concerns that this is going to be some kind of trigger. I hope not…It’s a big question that has been with human civilization for a long time. Is it a deterrent or isn’t it? Most civilized countries have banned capital punishment; we haven’t.

As president Chafee says he would support banning the death penalty at the federal level.

12 Apr, 2015

‘Hillary should not be President’

Makes StatementTV Appearance0 Comments

On the day of Hillary Clinton‘s presidential announcement, Chafee states that Clinton had “precious few” accomplishments as secretary of state. On Clinton’s vote for the Iraq war:

That was just a moment in time where the premise for going to Iraq was so false that there were weapons of mass destruction — she didn’t do her homework, and we live with the ramifications today…And so you may say, oh, that’s 12 years ago, but we live with it today, and it’s a big motivator for why I’m running. If you show lack of judgment, lack of doing homework then, what can we expect in the future?

Chafee says that as secretary of state:

[Clinton] was kind of a muscular, top-down, unilateral, too close to neo-cons, too Bush-like.

CNN: Hillary Clinton's Iraq War Vote is a Red Flag!

29 May, 2013

Runs for second term as Democrat

Makes Statement0 Comments

Chafee intends to run for a second term as a Democrat. Spokeswoman Christine Hunsinger says that Chafee made the decision based on principles and policy and not political calculation. With Chafee’s switch, there will be 30 Republican governors and 20 Democratic governors.

Obama welcomes Chafee

Makes Statement0 Comments

Upon hearing that Chafee plans to affiliate with Democrats for his 2014 gubernatorial re-election run, Obama issues a statement through the Democratic National Committee.

I’m delighted to hear that Governor Chafee is joining the Democratic Party. For nearly 30 years, Linc Chafee has served his beloved Rhode Island as an independent thinker and leader who’s unafraid to reach across party lines to get things done. I enjoyed working with Linc when he was a Republican in the United States Senate, and I look forward to continuing that collaboration on the issues that matter not just to the Democratic Party, but to every American.

White House Press Secretary Carney tells reporters at the daily press briefing.

The president welcomes Governor Chafee to the party. Governor Chafee’s been a longtime supporter of President Obama, and – not as a party member, but as a supporter of the president and his policies both – but I don’t have any other response.