The 7 Biggest Deaths in Politics (2009)
by Dick Polman
DECEMBER 16, 2009 TAGS:
Whenever a political player is summoned to the Great Beyond, the unwritten rules dictate that we in the media shall highlight the player’s presumably meaningful contributions to our civic life, and that we shall stress the positive, if only out of respect for the player’s passing.
But the truth is never that simple. Those who toil in politics, or frolic at its fringes, tend to acquire baggage over time. Sometimes their legacies are largely negative, or decidedly mixed, or simply ephemeral. For proof, just check out the Seven Most Noteworthy Political Deaths of 2009.
Consider John Rarick, who died this year at age 85. It’s tough to say much good about a guy who forged a career as a staunch segregationist, as one of the last racist Southern Democrats.
He won the first of four congressional races in 1965, by tagging his opponent as “the black power candidate.” He ultimately lost his seat when his district became one-third black. He resurfaced in 1980, running for president under the banner of a segregationist third party; nationwide, he didn’t draw enough votes to fill a big-league ballpark. But he had his good side, too. While in Congress, he once proposed that our currency designate the dollar amount in Braille, to help aid the blind. And he never once insisted that Braille money be restricted to blind white people only.
So much for the Old South. Jody Powell, who died at 65, was New South. As aide and confidante to Jimmy Carter, Powell was instrumental in elevating the one-term Georgia governor to the White House, in part by showcasing Carter’s liberalism on race. Indeed, Powell was often tasked to defend Carter’s race stance during the gubernatorial era; when one citizen denounced Carter as “communistic,” Powell responded in writing by calling the denouncer a moron and instructing him thusly: “I respectfully suggest that you take two running jumps and go straight to hell.”
Powell sometimes tangled with the Washington press corps during his four-year stint as President Carter’s chief spokesman. As he later recalled, he once spilled wine on ABC’s Sam Donaldson “with sure intent and malice aforethought.” But he was mostly an upside kind of guy. Unlike most White House press secretaries, he was truly in the loop with his boss; as Washington scholar Stephen Hess put it, “You could take what he told you to the bank.”
Plus, he had a quick wit on deadline. Carter often feuded with Georgia segregationist Lester Maddox. During one episode, Powell told the press: “Being called a liar by Lester Maddox is like being called ugly by a frog.”
Wit was also Paul Fay’s stock in trade. You’ve probably never heard of Fay, who died at 91, but he once played an important political role. He was the archetypal presidential pal. Fay earned a measure of fame because his best Navy buddy, John F. Kennedy, brought him along for the ride.
Fay and JFK convalesced together after their PT boats were sunk. Two decades later, Fay was the court jester who made Kennedy laugh. Kennedy was so appreciative that he gave Fay a fancy gift: the job of Navy undersecretary. If Barack Obama did that for a friend today, the blogosphere would explode, but those were gentler times, when a little cronyism barely moved the needle. Besides, Fay was a sweetheart; when he and JFK went to church, he’d slip Kennedy $10 for the collection plate so everyone would think Kennedy had made a contribution.
Ron Silver, who died at 62, was a nice guy as well. This trait probably saved him from being blackballed by Hollywood. The award-winning actor had long been a liberal Democrat – until the terrorists struck on 9/11. By 2004, Silver had morphed into a George W. Bush supporter, arguing that the president deserved a second term on the strength of his hawkish foreign policy. He essentially spoke that year for all the swing Democrats who tilted Republican on the security issue and sealed Bush’s thin win.
The liberal Hollywood crowd was aghast at Silver’s political incorrectness – few left-leaning artists have crossed to the other side so publicly – but Silver got away with it, mostly because his liberal friends still admired his brains. They may have had mixed feelings about his apostasy, but, as Lawrence O’Donnell, one of The West Wing writers, fondly recalled when Silver died, “I never argued with him … because I knew he could knock me over with the force of his energy before mounting his attack on my logic.”
And speaking of a mixed legacy, consider Anne Wexler, who died at 79. She was a feminist trailblazer in Washington. As late as 1968, she was a doctor’s wife; by 1978, she was a powerful White House aide, widely respected for her negotiating skills. But after her boss, Jimmy Carter, was defeated for re-election, she cashed in and became a lobbyist – blazing a new trail of sorts, as the first woman to found and run a major lobbying firm.
And what clients she had: General Motors, American Airline, Kellogg, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, and so many more. Wexler became a top influence peddler, contributing mightily to Washington’s burgeoning special-interest culture. She once defended lobbyists by insisting that “government officials are not comfortable making these complicated decisions themselves,” which was her way of saying that lobbyists of all genders are happy to tilt the playing field for those who can pay the tab.
Jack Kemp, too, was a bit of a disappointment in the end. The one-time conservative hero, who died at 73, envisioned an America cleansed of its economic woes thanks to a steady diet of tax cuts. And he envisioned a pluralistic Republican party with strong minority outreach; as one of his supporters once remarked about Kemp’s pro football career, “Jack has showered with people whom most Republicans would never even talk to.”
Kemp fought on both fronts, as a congressman, Cabinet member, and vice presidential candidate. But today the GOP remains predominantly white, and those Kemp-style tax cuts, enacted during the Reagan era and again during the second Bush era, brought us crippling budget deficits. His visions may have been flawed, or even delusional, but his personality was his upside: upbeat and free of rancor, he was an instinctive builder of coalitions.
And so, too, was Edward Kennedy, who died at 77. We all know his dark side – the drinking, the philandering, the girl in the car in the water. But ultimately he will be most remembered for his behavior on the job, toiling for the underdog over a span of 46 years – while crafting legislative minutiae and seeking bipartisan consensus. He was a throwback to a less fractious era, when senators routinely viewed today’s adversary as tomorrow’s potential ally. If only today’s Senate combatants could drop their rhetorical weapons and tap the Kennedy legacy, perhaps he will not have died in vain.
But the truth is never that simple. Those who toil in politics, or frolic at its fringes, tend to acquire baggage over time. Sometimes their legacies are largely negative, or decidedly mixed, or simply ephemeral. For proof, just check out the Seven Most Noteworthy Political Deaths of 2009.Consider John Rarick, who died this year at age 85. It’s tough to say much good about a guy who forged a career as a staunch segregationist, as one of the last racist Southern Democrats.
He won the first of four congressional races in 1965, by tagging his opponent as “the black power candidate.” He ultimately lost his seat when his district became one-third black. He resurfaced in 1980, running for president under the banner of a segregationist third party; nationwide, he didn’t draw enough votes to fill a big-league ballpark. But he had his good side, too. While in Congress, he once proposed that our currency designate the dollar amount in Braille, to help aid the blind. And he never once insisted that Braille money be restricted to blind white people only.
So much for the Old South. Jody Powell, who died at 65, was New South. As aide and confidante to Jimmy Carter, Powell was instrumental in elevating the one-term Georgia governor to the White House, in part by showcasing Carter’s liberalism on race. Indeed, Powell was often tasked to defend Carter’s race stance during the gubernatorial era; when one citizen denounced Carter as “communistic,” Powell responded in writing by calling the denouncer a moron and instructing him thusly: “I respectfully suggest that you take two running jumps and go straight to hell.”
Powell sometimes tangled with the Washington press corps during his four-year stint as President Carter’s chief spokesman. As he later recalled, he once spilled wine on ABC’s Sam Donaldson “with sure intent and malice aforethought.” But he was mostly an upside kind of guy. Unlike most White House press secretaries, he was truly in the loop with his boss; as Washington scholar Stephen Hess put it, “You could take what he told you to the bank.”
Plus, he had a quick wit on deadline. Carter often feuded with Georgia segregationist Lester Maddox. During one episode, Powell told the press: “Being called a liar by Lester Maddox is like being called ugly by a frog.”
Wit was also Paul Fay’s stock in trade. You’ve probably never heard of Fay, who died at 91, but he once played an important political role. He was the archetypal presidential pal. Fay earned a measure of fame because his best Navy buddy, John F. Kennedy, brought him along for the ride.Fay and JFK convalesced together after their PT boats were sunk. Two decades later, Fay was the court jester who made Kennedy laugh. Kennedy was so appreciative that he gave Fay a fancy gift: the job of Navy undersecretary. If Barack Obama did that for a friend today, the blogosphere would explode, but those were gentler times, when a little cronyism barely moved the needle. Besides, Fay was a sweetheart; when he and JFK went to church, he’d slip Kennedy $10 for the collection plate so everyone would think Kennedy had made a contribution.
Ron Silver, who died at 62, was a nice guy as well. This trait probably saved him from being blackballed by Hollywood. The award-winning actor had long been a liberal Democrat – until the terrorists struck on 9/11. By 2004, Silver had morphed into a George W. Bush supporter, arguing that the president deserved a second term on the strength of his hawkish foreign policy. He essentially spoke that year for all the swing Democrats who tilted Republican on the security issue and sealed Bush’s thin win.
The liberal Hollywood crowd was aghast at Silver’s political incorrectness – few left-leaning artists have crossed to the other side so publicly – but Silver got away with it, mostly because his liberal friends still admired his brains. They may have had mixed feelings about his apostasy, but, as Lawrence O’Donnell, one of The West Wing writers, fondly recalled when Silver died, “I never argued with him … because I knew he could knock me over with the force of his energy before mounting his attack on my logic.”
And speaking of a mixed legacy, consider Anne Wexler, who died at 79. She was a feminist trailblazer in Washington. As late as 1968, she was a doctor’s wife; by 1978, she was a powerful White House aide, widely respected for her negotiating skills. But after her boss, Jimmy Carter, was defeated for re-election, she cashed in and became a lobbyist – blazing a new trail of sorts, as the first woman to found and run a major lobbying firm.And what clients she had: General Motors, American Airline, Kellogg, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, and so many more. Wexler became a top influence peddler, contributing mightily to Washington’s burgeoning special-interest culture. She once defended lobbyists by insisting that “government officials are not comfortable making these complicated decisions themselves,” which was her way of saying that lobbyists of all genders are happy to tilt the playing field for those who can pay the tab.
Jack Kemp, too, was a bit of a disappointment in the end. The one-time conservative hero, who died at 73, envisioned an America cleansed of its economic woes thanks to a steady diet of tax cuts. And he envisioned a pluralistic Republican party with strong minority outreach; as one of his supporters once remarked about Kemp’s pro football career, “Jack has showered with people whom most Republicans would never even talk to.”
Kemp fought on both fronts, as a congressman, Cabinet member, and vice presidential candidate. But today the GOP remains predominantly white, and those Kemp-style tax cuts, enacted during the Reagan era and again during the second Bush era, brought us crippling budget deficits. His visions may have been flawed, or even delusional, but his personality was his upside: upbeat and free of rancor, he was an instinctive builder of coalitions.
And so, too, was Edward Kennedy, who died at 77. We all know his dark side – the drinking, the philandering, the girl in the car in the water. But ultimately he will be most remembered for his behavior on the job, toiling for the underdog over a span of 46 years – while crafting legislative minutiae and seeking bipartisan consensus. He was a throwback to a less fractious era, when senators routinely viewed today’s adversary as tomorrow’s potential ally. If only today’s Senate combatants could drop their rhetorical weapons and tap the Kennedy legacy, perhaps he will not have died in vain. RELATED CONTENT
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