Timothy Leary as an American Hero
The term "hero" brings to mind many ideas, many events, and many people. However, one face it generally fails to conjure is that of Timothy Leary. Dr. Leary managed to create a level of infamy few Americans have achieved since this country's inception; he is the poster-child of the mind-altering hallucinogen LSD and has been labeled by many as the subversive leader of the counter-culture movement of the sixties. Not many people appreciate this great man's long string of accomplishments, his devotion to scientific progress, or his cheery, irrepressible personality. It is a small circle of people indeed who would label this man a hero, but the truth is that Dr. Leary embodied the principles of courage, discovery, and benevolence, which none can deny are heroic trademarks. No man has shown more courage in the face of adversity than Timothy Leary. One great example of his valor comes from his early years as a cadet at West Point during the 1940's. After indulging in a quantity of alcohol with some upperclassmen after a football game one evening, Leary found himself before the Cadet Honor Committee of West Point awaiting punishment. The committee decreed that he must avoid social contact of any kind, despite the fact that dur
" No document has recorded an instance of Timothy Leary running into a burning building to save a baby. Leary revolutionized the profession and formed a great deal of modern-day psychotherapy with the concept of a more casual, social interaction between therapist and patient, in contrast to the strictly clinical form that was formerly practiced. Leary agreed on the condition that his innocence would be announced in the mess hall. As Nixon fueled propaganda against "acid" and the counter-culture movement, Timothy Leary championed LSD as a wonderful, mind-opening tool and promoted a responsible drug policy emphasizing education, not criminalization. His career was devoted to helping people mentally, whether they were psychiatrically ill or just in need of psychedelic inspiration. It was not long before he escaped the prison, dodging searchlights and escaping over barbed-wire fence. Nevertheless, shortly afterwards, the opportunity presented itself unto him to "trip," and Leary, intrigued by the natives' use of the mushroom as a religious sacrament, delved into the subject which would become his proverbial "calling card" throughout the Sixties. This did not deter the psychologist, however. Timothy Leary may not fit the conventional definition of "hero" as found in Webster's, but to many of his and future eras, he was everything for which that four-letter word stands. After the lengthy drug scandals he faced, Leary the Human Be-In and became socially active in the war resistance movement. Long afterward, after earning a doctorate in psychology and serving several professorships at prestigious institutions as Berkley and Harvard, Dr. He sang "Give Peace a Chance" with John Lennon and Yoko Ono; when he decided to run for governor of California, Lennon wrote "Come Together" in his honor.
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