Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

4/11/2016

Secretary Chuck Hagel

Member of Advisory Committee

c/o Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission

1629 K Street, NW Suite 801

Washington, D.C.  20006

Dear Secretary Hagel,

My name is Matthew Winick and I like to study history, world culture, and public policy. The main reason I have a strong interest in these subjects is to learn the need to advance on Civil Rights to help protect people who are different from being discriminated, protect the environment from pollution, and many others. Secretary Hagel, I find your work as U.S. Senator from Nebraska and as Secretary of Defense to be very inspiring to me.

When you served as a Republican U.S. Senator from Nebraska for two terms from 1997-2009, I was very proud on how you worked with then Democratic Senator Barack Obama and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin to help expand The American With Disabilities Act of 1990 to help protect people with disabilities from being discriminated in public with education and expand protection for people with disabilities in higher education. Also when you were in the U.S. Senate I really appreciate you being a moderate on different issues like supporting clean alternative energy to protect the environment, being a co-sponsor for immigration reform to help immigrants including illegal immigrants with citizenship while having border security, supporting the GI bill to help troops including veterans get healthcare with education, and your courage to stand up against the War In Iraq when both political parties supported the war which cost our country to lose our troops and was unwinnable. In  2013 I was very excited to hear that President Obama had appointed you to be the Next Secretary of Defense because I liked on how you worked with President Obama on helping our country. Secretary Hagel, I felt sorry that you went through the process of a political witch hunt when testifying in the Senate committees and from the media. However, I was very proud on how you became Secretary of Defense under President Obama and working with him to make a great difference for America . When you served as Secretary of Defense, I liked on how you continue being a strong supporter of Civil Rights to help protect women, minorities, people with disabilities from being discriminated in the military.  Also I liked on how you pushed the National Guard to provide benefits for same-sex domestic partnerships.  Another thing that I liked in your role as Secretary of Defense was on how you worked with other international countries to continue protecting the Artic around Alaska from pollution and express the need to continue protecting the artic from being threatened by global warming or a threat. During the 2013 fiscal crisis, I like your courage to give a portion of your salary to help federal workers who faced 14 days of furlough get assistance.

Secretary Hagel, I have Autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects, sometimes I have trouble communication when speaking with other people, and sometimes I get teased.  Your support on expand the ADA legislation helped benefit me to get a higher education without being discriminated based on a disability. The expansion of the ADA helped set up accommodations for me like extra time on exams, allow a tutor work with me on different subjects, have educational software including a recorder to help me improve on comprehension with improve on note-taking skills, and have Learning Support Services help me set up accommodations with picking which classes to take. This resulted in me getting an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and graduating at Washenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2014. My main focus in my degree is government, history, some science, some business, and criminal justice. My future goal is to someday teach people about the need to improve society or work in public policy to help create good ideas to help move the country forward. I read your book “America: Our Next Chapter: Tough Questions, Straight Answers”. Your book was really great and I enjoy learning about your bio with your life as a businessman, serving in Vietnam War, and your political career, how the War in Iraq was a disaster, your ideas to improve the U.S. with ideas, and it helped me learn more about foreign policy about the Middle East and China.  Your work has inspired me to work hard on Autism and to continue my interest in history.

Secretary Hagel, I strongly believe that you made a great difference as Secretary of Defense and as U.S. Senator from Nebraska. I’m very proud on how you made great achievements, working with another political party on different issues, and working with President Obama. You have made a great impact on me to continue working hard on my disability, continue learning history, and reading your book.  Here is a story about working hard on my disability called “The Kid With No Words” where I dedicate you for inspiring me. I hope you get a chance to read it and feel proud for making a great difference for the world and me. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter including my story, making great achievements in your roles, and inspiring me. Please continue advocating to make a world a better place.

Sincerely,

Matthew B. Winick

Secretary Hagel sent me a book that he wrote

Secretary Hagel's kind words and appreciation of me.

Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle from South Dakota

4/19/2016

Senator Tom Daschle

Member of the Advisory Committee

c/o Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission

Suite 801

1629 K Street, NW

Washington, DC  20006 

Dear Senator Tom Daschle,

My name is Matthew Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a strong interest in learning history including public policy.  In these subjects, I like to learn the need to advance on Civil Rights to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, have healthcare reform to help people who can’t afford health insurance or have pre-existing conditions get the care they need, and many others.   The main reason I’m writing you a letter is because I find your work as U.S. Senator from South Dakota to be very inspiring to me.

When you served as U.S. Senator from South Dakota from 1987-2005, I liked on how you were a strong supporter of advancing Civil Rights to help protect women, minorities, and people with disabilities from being discriminated.  Also on Civil Rights, I liked your commitment to support funding women including minorities businesses to help them compete in the economy and expand programs to help minorities including women get an education in college. I was very proud on how you supported the American With Disabilities Act of 1990 to help protect people with disabilities from being discriminated in public places and in education with other U.S. Senators from both political parties like Senator Tom Harkin, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Alan K. Simpson, Senator Richard Lugar, Senator Bob Dole, and many others.  Expand funding stem cell research to reduce different disease and support Children’s Health Insurance Act to help children get the medical care they need is common sense to improve health care.   To protect the environment I was very proud on how you supported the Clean Air Act of 1990 to reduce air pollution, support funding for renewable energy including alternative energy to reduce pollution including addiction to oil with gas, and protect national parks from being disturbed.

Senator Daschle, I have Autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects, sometimes I struggle with communication when speaking with other people, and sometimes I get teased.  Your support for the ADA of 1990 helped benefit me to be protected from being discriminated based on a disability and get an education. In education, The ADA of 1990 helped set up accommodations like extra-time on exams, have T.A. or tutors work with me on different subjects, have educational technology to help improve my comprehension, have special education program to help set up accommodations for me, and use a recorder to record lectures to help improve my note-taking skills.   As the result, the ADA of 1990 helped me get a great education from elementary school through high school and even in my community college.  In 2014,  I graduated from Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts. My main focus in my degree is history, government, criminal justice, some business, and some science. My main future goal is to continue learning history, someday teach people about the need to improve society, work in public policy to help create good common sense ideas to move the country forward or make the world a better place.  Your work as U.S. Senator got me interested in being motivated to be interested studying history and reading your books. “Like No Other Time: The 107^th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever”, “Critical: What We Can Do About The Health-Care Crisis”, and “The U.S. Senate: Fundamentals of American Government” are great books because it helped me learn about the need to have universal healthcare to help people who can’t afford it or have pre-existing conditions get the care they need, and understand how the U.S. Senate works with how they play a role in American Government, and  learn about how you dealt with different issues in your role as U.S. Senator.

Senator Daschle, I strongly believe that you made a great difference as U.S. Senator from South Dakota on different issues.  Your support for the ADA of 1990 really helped made a great impact on me.  Your books have helped me continue to expand on learning more about government.  You have inspired me to continue my interest in history including public policy and work hard on Autism.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, making great achievements, and inspiring me. I was wondering if you could share some advice about bipartisanship to reduce gridlock.

Sincerely,

Matthew B. Winick

He sent me a picture of himself with a nice message along with the letter

Ms. Sophie Okonedo

4/5/2016 

                                     Ms. Sophie Okonedo

                                     Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (Until Jul 17^th 2016)

                                     c/o Walter Kerr Theatre

                                     219 West 48^th Street

                                     New York, NY  10036

Dear Ms. Okonedo,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I enjoy your acting career in different movies. My favorite movies that you played in were Hotel Rwanda, Skins, and Mrs. Mandela.  Hotel Rwanda was a great movie because I enjoyed learning about how Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana helped save lives of refugees with giving them shelter in a hotel during the Rwandan Genocide and I enjoyed learning on what his perspective including his wife’s perspective of the Rwandan Genocide.  Also in the movie I enjoyed learning about how different refugees from Tutsi and some moderate Hutu worked hard to trying to survive a genocide. I thought you did a great job portraying as Tatiana Rusesabagina because I liked on how you made Tatiana have confidence during the Rwandan Genocide and working hard to not give up surviving.  I thought you and Mr. Don Cheadle did an excellent job making Hotel Rwanda a great movie with a great message about the need to help refugees and to end oppression.  I wanted to say congrats on being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2004 for your role in the movie.  Another movie that I liked was Mrs. Mandela.  In Mrs. Mandela, I enjoyed learning about Winnie Mandela’s life from her early life, meeting Nelson Mandela, and working to end apartheid in South Africa.  Ms. Okonedo, you did such an excellent job portraying Mrs. Winnie Mandela because I liked on how you expanded on Mrs. Mandela’s traits on not giving up campaigning against apartheid when her husband was in prison or when she was arrested where she dealt with abuse.

Ms. Okonedo, your roles in Mrs. Mandela and in Hotel Rwanda got me really inspired to take African History course in Winter 2012 at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In my African History class I enjoyed learning about different African countries, history about how African countries where colonized, the anti-apartheid movement, and different Africans who shaped Africa with history. My African history teacher did emphasize about the need to end genocide, help refugees from oppression, and many others.   Another thing in my class we did was we watched Hotel Rwanda to learn more about the Rwandan Genocide and how two Africans from different backgrounds worked hard to save many lives.  My future goal is to continue studying history, watch more biopic movies along with historical drama to help me understand what the famous person did or learn more about the different events, and learn more about how diversity plays a big role in society.

I strongly believe that you made a great difference in acting in different movies especially historical based movies because you do such a great job expanding on your character’s traits or their story of working to overcome different struggles.  You have made a great impact on me to take a course about African History and inspire me to continue my huge interest in history. Here is $5 as a gift to you for working hard or you can donate it to fund the arts. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make historical movies great to watch, and inspiring me. I wish you well for the future in acting and to do well on your Broadway.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick

Add caption

Honorable Walter F. Mondale

3/14/2016

The Honorable Walter Mondale

Member of Advisory Committee

c/o Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission

Suite 801

1629 K Street, NW

Washington, DC  20006

Dear Honorable Mondale,

My name is Matthew Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a strong interest in studying history and public policy. The main reason I have a strong interest in studying these subjects is to learn the need to advance on Civil Rights to protect people who are different from being discriminated, protect the environment from pollution, and many others. The main reason I’m writing you a letter is because I find your work as U.S. Senator from Minnesota and as Vice President of The United States under President Jimmy Carter to be very inspiring to me.

When you served in the U.S. Senate from 1964-1976, I liked on how were a strong supporter of advancing Civil Rights to help protect minorities, women, and people with disabilities from being discriminated and pushing to desegregate public schools to end discrimination.   I liked on how you were a chief sponsor of federal Fair Housing Act which ending discrimination in housing and created HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity to make sure that housing follows the law. Also in the U.S. Senate, I liked on how you pushed for the need for fair housing to help the poor get affordable housing and working to support Great Society programs to help give health care to children, expand on food stamps to help the poor, and many others.  On the Church Committee, I liked on how you worked with Senator Frank Church, Senator Gary Hart, Senator Howard Baker, and Senator Charles Mathias on investigating intelligence gathering to see if there was any thing illegal and advocating for the need to protect people’s civil liberties from being violated.   In 1976, I was very proud on you accepting Jimmy Carter to be his vice president and running mate when Jimmy Carter was running for president. In your role as Vice President of United States under President Carter I liked on how you had good working relationship with President Carter, helping him work hard to help our country, advocate for the need to have Equal Rights Amendment to help protect women from being discriminated, and express the need to protect the environment from pollution. Another thing that I liked about your role as Vice President was helping President Carter work on finding ways to improve relations with countries like helping end the war between Egypt and Israel and improving relations with Panama through the Panama Canal Treaty.

In August 2012, I visited Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta Georgia. At the museum I enjoyed learning about President Carter’s life, his achievements as President of U.S., his post presidency, and learning about your life including your role as vice president.  Also the museum got me very interested in President Carter including you and to call both of you my true inspiration to me.  Honorable Mondale, I have Autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble with comprehending on learning different subjects and sometimes I struggle with communication.  Also I get teased about having it. Your role as U.S. Senator and as Vice President on supporting Civil Rights with being a strong supporter for people with disabilities and President Jimmy Carter’s support for Civil Rights really inspires me to work hard on Autism. You and President Carter really inspire me to continue learning history and studying people who work hard to make a great difference.

Honorable Mondale, I strongly believe that you made a great difference in your role. I’m very proud of you for working hard to make society better and even working with President Carter to work hard on helping our country.  I believe that you and President Carter made a great team.  You have made a great impact on me to continue being interested in history, visiting The Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and Library, and working hard on Autism.  Here is a story of my life about working hard on my disability called “The Kids With No Words” where I dedicate you and President Carter for making a great impact on me. I hope you get a chance to read it. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make a great difference, and inspiring me. I hope I get a chance to meet you and President Carter.

Sincerely,

Matthew B. Winick