Dennis Kucinich (Kučinić in Croatian) (born October 8, 1946) is an American politician of the Democratic party. He served as the 53rd mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1978 to 1979 and today serves as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, for the 10th District of Ohio. He also sought the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2004 presidential election. Though he won no primaries, he continued campaigning for months with the goal of influencing the Democratic Party to shift its platform in the progressive direction, especially on the issue of withdrawing from Iraq. On July 23, 2004, Kucinich ended his campaign and endorsed Democratic Senator John Kerry for President. Kucinich, who used to co-chair the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is a self-described "Wellstone Democrat." He has been praised as "a genuine progressive" by Ralph Nader. In 2003, Kucinich was the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award.
