The Heroic and the Notorious: U.S. Senators from Illinois

16. A Modern Republican

173 CHARLES HARTING PERCY ★ 16 ★A Modern Republican In 1970, Illinois, as we have just seen, made the exchange of a Republican senator for one from Democratic ranks. Four years earlier , the tide ran in the opposite direction when Charles H. Percy beat Paul Douglas. Both events seem to be in accord with the image we have of Illinois being politically a “swing” state. As a result of the latter one of those alternations, again Illinois was represented in the U.S. Senate by both a Republican and a Democrat. In the decade of the 1970s, it was Percy and Stevenson, as during most of the 1950s and into the 1960s it had been Dirksen and Douglas. During all of those years, on balance, it is probable that no state in the Union had better Senate spokesmen, even though there were often great differences between the two who represented Illinois. Charles Harting Percy (1967–85) During eighteen years in the U.S. Senate, Charles H. Percy fought for acceptance, understanding, and even sympathy. He wanted to be remembered as a political leader at the highest levels of the federal government. Colleagues, enemies, friends, and helpful critics have denied him the full measure of his wishes and instead have pronounced his period of Senate service as disappointing. 174 ★ A MODERN REPUBLICAN Notwithstanding this judgment, Percy labored to serve. In his own ways, he was mindful of the Illinois constituency and paid attention to its demands and needs. At the same time, he voted an independent line in the Senate, reflecting his long-held belief that senators must consider the national as well as the local interest. This middle-ground approach to his senatorial duties is a framework for evaluating his outlook on politics. From earliest involvements in Republican Party affairs in the 1950s, Percy steered a middle course in support of state and national leadership. He chose the Dwight Eisenhower model rather than that of Richard Nixon. He backed Nelson Rockefeller rather than Barry Goldwater, Gerald Ford instead of Ronald Reagan. He spoke out for moderation on issues and avoided the extremes. One who follows such a course may not arouse great enmity, but at the same time, he or she does not stir great enthusiasms. Critics looked at Percy’s choices of committee assignments and concluded that he had a self-serving agenda that did not include the interests he represented in Illinois. He never got past an early decision to leave the Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful in the Senate, for membership on the Foreign Relations Committee , one of the “show horse” committees with little Senate clout. Political operatives observed those choices and declared Percy to be naive and ineffective. He made no excuses for his allies or positions on issues. Unrepentant, his approach made it difficult for him to build coalitions and a deal-making base among his fellow senators. Percy charted a course designed to avoid being a captive of narrow interests. He proved that this independent route could win elections as he cobbled together a successful electoral majority from middle-of-the-road voters of both major parties, in 1966, 1972, and 1978. Prior to his tenure, only four Illinoisans in the states’s history had served three full terms without interruption. Finally, timing contributed to the judgment of those who observed Percy as senator. He had the unfortunate circumstance of being a moderate Republican in an increasingly conservative party. Leadership of the G.O.P. from 1967 to 1985 did not appreciate his only nominal support of the party’s right wing. Additionally, Percy served all but four of eighteen Senate years in the minority party, where his power would have been limited even if he had played ball with its leadership. Republicans exulted in winning a majority of the Senate in 1980, and Percy soon found himself surrounded by Reaganites. 175 CHARLES HARTING PERCY ★ Charles H. Percy was born on September 27, 1919, in Pensacola , Florida. His family soon moved to the Rogers Park area of Chicago. As a teenager, he worked at a variety of part-time jobs and contributed to the family’s meager finances during the Great Depression . During his student years at the University of Chicago, where he received a degree in economics, he earned much of his way by means of his own business ventures. Serving in the navy from 1943 to 1945, he enlisted...