Charles Boyette | Council For Citizens Against Government Waste

Charles Boyette

Old-Fashioned Values Inspire CAGW President’s Club Member

6/23/2005

Spend a few minutes talking to CAGW President’s Club member Charles Boyette, and before long you will hear a great love of America and a burning desire to preserve what’s best in our country and pass it on to future generations. 

Born in 1928 in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, Charles was raised on his grandfather’s farm.  At the age of eight, he was running a team of horses plowing the fields.  He feels this  upbringing fostered his lifelong belief in hard work and personal responsibility.  At the time,  he didn’t understand why his grandfather, a successful businessman and entrepreneur, required him to perform this manual labor.  But later in life, he understood the value of possessing a strong character and that this was the greatest gift his grandfather could impart to him.

Charles served in the Unites States Navy during World War II, and later as an officer in the Air Force, retiring at the rank of Major.  His career included 37 years in government service, 20 in the military, during which he became aware of the pork and waste not only in the military, but moreso in other areas of government.  His desire to keep his job constrained him from revealing the waste while on active duty; however, he made a personal pledge that once retired he would seek out the “most effective and efficient organization at discovering and exposing un-requested and unauthorized pork-barrel spending.”  He turned to CAGW, over 15 years ago.

When asked what his greatest concern is for the nation, Charles says, “political gridlock.”  Indeed, he feels both political parties are more interested in public relations, than in working together for the good of the nation.  In addition, he’s gravely concerned about the need to strengthen our borders against terrorist infiltration.  He feels it’s simply irresponsible for our elected officials not to place securing our borders at the top of their political agenda, and the question is “not if, it’s when weapons of mass destruction will come across our borders,” unless they are secured today.

In addition, Charles is a strong supporter of the Base Realignment and Closure process. He contends, “Some in Congress have been deceiving the public by claiming that not a single base should be closed during wartime when actually there is no better time to close unneeded and unwanted bases, which are an enormous drain of funds direly needed for legitimate Department of Defense weapons or related items.” 

As one of CAGW’s most loyal President’s Club members, Charles has attended CAGW events in New Orleans, Naples, Tampa and most recently in Washington, D.C.  On April 13, he drove his 1980 Nissan 280ZX over 2,500 miles roundtrip from Mississippi to Washington, D.C. and back again, all to attend CAGW’s 21st Anniversary “Coming of Age Party,” honoring Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), Governor Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Syndicated Columnist Cal Thomas.  He stayed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.  A man of principle, he holds himself accountable to the same virtues of frugality and sense of value for the dollar that he wishes for the government; therefore, for him, it’s a badge of honor that his 1980 Nissan has 252,000 miles on it and is still in excellent condition due to his personal care. 

In life, Charles’ inspirations are his wife Ethel, three children and work for the Methodist church.  As long as there are Americans like Charles Boyette, who are willing to back up their concern about the future of America with action, there is good reason to be hopeful.  CAGW is grateful to him and the many other President’s Club members whose financial support and participation in countless government waste battles provide the underpinning of CAGW’s many victories in the “war on waste.”

Charles' waste-fighting efforts were recently profiled in an article in his local newspaper, The Commercial Dispatch (free registration required to view article). 

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