Heroes, Hacks, and Fools: Memoirs from the Political Inside

Preface

PREFACE Angry constituent: “Congressman Smith is a liar, a thief, a womanizer, and irresponsibly lazy.” Political insider: “Quite so. There are millions like him and they deserve representation.” An enterprising researcher explored in 2005 the backgrounds of a highly selective and well-publicized group. He found that 36 had been accused of spousal abuse;7 had been arrested for fraud;19 had been accused of writing bad checks; 117 had directly or indirectly bankrupted at least two businesses; 3 had done time for assault; 71 could not get a credit card because of bad credit; 14 had been arrested on drug-related charges; 8 had been arrested for shoplifting; 21 were current defendants in lawsuits; and 84 had been arrested for drunk driving in the prior year. No, the data did not relate to the 350 players in the National Basketball Association,but to our 535 elected representatives in the U.S.Senate and House of Representatives. If comparable data were available for earlier Congresses,they might diªer. But they would also show the vast majority of current and prior senators and representatives to be honest, hardworking, and trying to do their best for the home folks—if not always wisely. Ours is a representative government, and our elected representatives generally reflect their constituencies. By the same token, outlooks and conditions in those same constituencies generally are reflected in the content of national policy and politics. We are at present a red-state, blue-state country, polarized and unable to agree on a wide range of social, economic, and international issues. The moderate middle—where compromises and agreements are found—has shrunk perceptibly. It should not surprise us that relations between White House and Congress, liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats should be in the same condition. vii We have passed through such periods before.For large parts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries we were fractious and had trouble governing ourselves. In the nineteenth century we endured not only civil war but several presidencies that charitably could be called mediocre. Third-party and independent movements have recurred as the Democratic and Republican parties both came to be considered by millions of citizens as incapable of eªective governance.The country was polarized and bitterly divided even on the eve of World War II, as Germany and Japan overran Europe and Asia. The United States is the world’s richest and most powerful country. Nonetheless, we are squandering our advantages—at federal, state, and local levels—by spending money we do not have;making promises we cannot keep; overreaching internationally; allowing our education system to deteriorate; tolerating unacceptable inequities in our midst; and postponing policy decisions that will only become more di‹cult with time. We also have accepted ever-lower public and private ethical standards. Yet it seems only yesterday that President John F. Kennedy, in his 1961 inaugural address, asked us to consider “not what your country can do for you [but] what you can do for your country” and pledged “to get America moving again.” Where there is lethargy, eªective leaders can help shake us out of it. Over a half century, I have seen such leaders make a real diªerence in the political process. I have had the privilege of working with Jean Monnet, Lyndon Johnson,Hubert Humphrey,the Kennedys,George McGovern,Paul Tsongas,and others who shared two qualities.First,they were moved by purposes larger than themselves. Second, they generated idealism and loyalty among those around them. Although I disagreed with Ronald Reagan’s politics , I saw him do the same. I also was privileged to work with countless dedicated leaders and ordinary people in the civil rights and peace movements of the 1960s and 1970s who saw beyond themselves. Not such a big thing,you might say,except that you should consider which of our current leaders could be so described. Who are they? My own first thought is of our GIs in Iraq and Afghanistan. This much can be seen in our immediate future: There will be a new president in 2009. It is far too early to predict which among the Democratic and Republican aspirants will succeed. Some of the leading contenders are sitting senators. Yet only Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy have moved directly from Congress to the White House in the PREFACE viii USE (2024-04-20 05:39 GMT) past century. Given present international instability, voters will want someone who is seen...