RIP Congressman John B. Anderson...
John B. Anderson, an Illinois Republican who cultivated a free-thinking reputation during his 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, and who mounted a serious third-party bid for the White House in 1980, died Dec. 3 in Washington. He was 95.
After entering Congress in 1961, Anderson spent many years in lock step with Republican Party orthodoxy and was a supporter of ultraconservative Sen. Barry Goldwater's presidential bid in 1964.But Anderson, who had voted against many of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society economic and social programs, gradually came to embrace them. As part of his incremental political evolution, he spoke of being deeply moved while attending funerals for civil rights activists. He began to travel more widely, seeing the effects of housing discrimination and racism.
His signature legislative achievement came in April 1968, days after riots sparked by the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. tore through Washington. King's death and unrest so close to the Capitol prompted Congress to take up the Fair Housing Act, which, as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, would prohibit racial discrimination in housing.
Under pressure from both parties, Anderson broke with his fellow Republicans on the House Rules Committee and cast the deciding eighth vote to send the bill to the House floor. During debate in the House, he gave a rousing speech that championed the bill and led to its passage."We are not simply knuckling under to pressure or listening to the voices of unreasoning fear and hysteria if we seek to do that which we believe in our hearts is right and just," he said on the House floor. "I legislate today not out of fear, but out of a deep concern for the America I love. We do stand at a crossroad. We can continue the gadarene slide into an endless cycle of riot and disorder, or we can begin the slow and painful ascent toward that yet-distant goal of equality of opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race or color.The vote heralded Anderson's arrival as a voice on national affairs. He remained a fiscal conservative but sided with liberals on social issues.
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America sorely needs men and women of principle and truth. Men like the man described below. A Republican with values, integrity, and a conscience. Where have they all gone?
He was a good man. More of a Rockefeller Republican... socially more libertarian, fiscally more conservative. The GOP side of the Blue Dog Democrats.
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered if we might see an independent ticket soon with a person from each of these essentially extinct groups. Someone needs to reclaim the middle ground with a plan to govern for the vast majority of America.
Absolutely correct Dave. Being a cynic these days it is very hard for me to see this happening within my remaining lifetime.
DeleteOur republic is destroying itself from within. And all the finger pointing and hand wringing isn't going to correct that which is ailing us.
Seek first to understand and then to be understood.
Our political environment is so polarized and stuck in foolish paradigms it may take several generations before it completes a rational cycle of self correcting. If ever.
Probably the only guy whose campaign I actually got active in.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Nixon didn't seem so bad early on, and, he actually did a few good things. His darker side and paranoia finally got the better of him I suppose.
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