John Wayne never lived in Waterloo, IA. Bachmann asserted that he did. It’s a mistake, albeit no big deal.
John Wayne Gacy apparently lived in Waterloo for a time, but was in fact born in Chicago, which I know because I lived there all during his notorious capture and murder spree. It was BIG news there.
John Wayne the actor was born in Winterset Iowa, ( a fact I somehow knew from an early age) but his parents lived for a time in Waterloo.
So, for all practical purposes, they’re “even”.
The Gacy connection is exploited in this Bachmann story because it usefully plays into the ‘she’s nuts and unreliable as someone who can’t even get the simplest facts
straight, even while making a pandering remark to Iowans by associating herself with a patriotic American icon. A simple gaffe turns to gold because one of her researchers or fact-checkers got the facts wrong (probably by googling John Wayne Waterloo, and what came up was a factoid about Wayne’s parents living there before or after he was born) and a second reporter doing his own research
found the same fact about Gacy having lived there.The fact is, if nobody had found this fact about Gacy, Michelle’s gaffe would’ve barely registered, instead of now being utilized as a cornerstone in the ‘GET MICHELLE’ project.
Bachmann’s campaign pointed out to ABC News today that actor John Wayne’s parents did live in Waterloo, although the actor himself did not.
And a little internet research proves that point correct.
According to the book “Duke: We’re Glad We Knew You” by Herb Fagen, Clyde and Molly Morrison - actor John Wayne’s parents – lived in Waterloo early in their marriage – but they moved to Winterset before the birth of son Marion Mitchell Morrison (he changed his name to John Wayne professionally).