When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky because it is 20 years behind the rest of the world.” Mark Twain
By Scott Crass
Early in his Senate career, Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft presented his fellow Republican from Kentucky, John Sherman Cooper with a question? “Are you a Republican,” Taft asked, “or a Democrat? When are you going to start voting with us?” Cooper’s reply was for the books. “If you`ll pardon me. I was sent here to represent my constituents, and I intend to vote as I think best.“ A Democratic colleague, Robert Kerr, an Oklahoma Governor turned Senator, also espoused a similar view, once explaining that he votes his beliefs first, his state second, and his party third.
And that’s what we need. In this hyper-partisan age, a statesman or two would be nice. Politicians who neither posture, nor worry about offending colleagues by straying from the line. Folks who don’t read polls, strain for public opinion. Simply doing right by country. And conscience. Cooper and Kerr were among two mid-20th century public servants who lived by that. And the result from their colleagues was not detachment, but respect.
It may’ve mattered little that Cooper and Kerr were both men of fortune. Not all who have been blessed with such good fortune have had a “to hell with popular opinion” approach. That’s what makes Cooper and Kerr so remarkable.
Cooper
Cooper was first and foremost, to quote the 1989 documentary about his life is entitled, the “Gentleman from Kentucky.” With that characterization came a stubborn advocate for independence. His party unity score was just 51%, almost unimaginable today and if not a maverick, his independent streak was noted by colleagues early on.
Cooper (Photo Kentucky Public Broadcasting.net)
Early in his career, the Senator from Somerset, Kentucky opposed his party’s plan to reduce funding for the Marshall Plan, GOP attempts to override Truman’s tax cuts, and sponsored legislation increasing highway and education funding He turned on Joseph McCarthy before it was common, was a fierce advocate of Civil Rights, even fighting Jim Crow Laws. The issue on which he tangled with Taft was war bonds. But the latter, who was in name and in deed was “Mr. Republican,” learned real quickly that to know him was to work productively with him, as Cooper and Taft would sponsor the first federal education bill that was enacted into law.
Down With Tyranny blogspot.com
Cooper, whose friendship with President Kennedy was well-known, also proved his mettle as a sponsor of Medicare, becoming one of four Republicans (New York Republicans Javitz and Keating and Kuchel of California to back the original version that failed in 1962, and on that, he had a herculean task convincing many of his own supporters that he was not off the reservation.
Cooper told Robert Schulman, author of The Global Kentuckian,of the “thousands” of letters he had received from physicians urging him to oppose his bill.” But he waxed poetic on his Pulaski County days and added that “I noticed that the old country doctors and county officials, people who had been out in the country and had seen the plight of the people who live in the hollows and down in the dirt roads — they were for it..no one would help (the poor) but these country doctors. You just can’t let people go hungry. You can’t ignore the sick and let them die.”
Cooper’s independence was to the consternation of both Democratic and Republican Presidents, particularly on Judicial matters. Cooper opposed the nominations of both Abe Fortas and Haynesworth, though backed Nixon’s second nominee to the court, Harrold Carswell. In reaching his conclusion on Carswell, Cooper said, “I consider that the absence of such claims against Judge Carswell and his experience as a trial and appeals judge are positive factors supporting his confirmation.” Because Cooper commanded so much respect, the Nixon White House hailed Cooper. But it wasn’t enough.
Late in his career, Cooper became known for his opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, which came in spite of his backing the Gulf of Tonkin. As such, he authored an amendment with Democratic Senator Frank Church to end U.S. military involvement in Cambodia and Laos. It garnered the support of Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield but President Nixon threatened to veto it. Ultimately, the amendment was stricken from the final bill.
Photo from Senate.Gov
Politically, Cooper may be an example of, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. He was first appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy of another legendary Kentuckian, “Happy” Chandler, who had given up his seat to become the second baseball commissioner. He was defeated in his bid for a full-term but not before his fellow Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley, a Democrat, basically said Cooper deserved more than two years to continue his work. The fact that Barkley was his party’s Vice-Presidential nominee made his statement more remarkable.
In 1952, another vacancy arose and Cooper won it. The comeback was short-lived, however, as Cooper again lost, to former Vice-President Alben Barkley. But Barkley died a year and a half later and Cooper, though reluctant, took Eisenhower’s entreaties to regain the seat. He won and continued his go-his-own-way approach.
And Kentuckians responded with a roar of approval. Cooper’s final two re-election margins were the largest margin for a Senator in state history, not to be broken until Mitch McConnell exceeded it in 2002. Labor gave him much aid.
With Constituents (Ashland57.myevent.com)
Cooper had attended Yale University and Harvard Law School and was chauffeured to work each day, but had a personable, empathetic disposition. He called himself a “truly terrible speaker.” But that mattered little, for he was one of the most respected statesman in the Senate and out. After the close of World War II, he was appointed to lead Bavaria.
Then, even after his first short Senate span, Cooper had made such an impression on Harry Truman that the Democrat appointed Cooper a delegate to the United Nations. Kennedy asked him to head a fact finding mission to Moscow and New Delhi. Following President Kennedy’s assassination, he was the Senate Republican President Johnson selected to serve on the Warren Commission, and after his retirement, was appointed by Ford to be Ambassador to East Germany.
Cooper served until his retirement in 1972, and, save his brief stint as an Ambassador, spent his remaining days in Kentucky. He died at 89 in 1991.
Kerr
Bob Kerr (From the Carl Albert Collection)
When one thinks of the term “Boy Wonder” of Democratic politics in the mid 20th century, Robert Kerr is the man (his Republican counterpart was fellow Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, which ultimately didn’t end to well). More important, every state has a Governor that provided a boost which led to an indelible transformation. And in Oklahoma’s case, Kerr again stepped up to the plate.
When you think of the Broadway show, “Oklahoma,” Bob Kerr may resemble that. The first Native-American Governor (also Log-Cabin born), he took office in 1942 as the state was still crippling from the Depression and the “Dust Bowl” and, as Arrell Gibson in his book “Oklahoma: A History of Five Centuries” points out, Kerr helped bring about “a resurgence of state pride and spirit and a broad determination the Sooner States image.'”
Gibson notes that he provided an “earthy and subtle humor” that resonated with fellow Okies. And forward he did. Kerr’s net worth was $10 billion but he made improvement of “Sooner States’ Kerr took numerous tours of the nation to promote Oklahoma’s potential, which paid handsome dividends as his land became a focal point for military training, industry, and bases. He continued his efforts on behalf on industry after the war.
A loyal “New Dealer” Kerr gave the Keynote address at the 1944 Democratic convention and played a vigorous role in Harry Truman’s selection as vice-president, a pick credited with allowing Oklahoma Democrats to soar. Kerr made his way to the Senate in 1948 and mounted a bid for the Democratic nomination for President in 1952. He didn’t get very far but that sure wasn’t the case in the Senate.
It’s a matter of debate as to whether Kerr had more impact as a Governor or in the U.S. Senate. In the former, his accomplishments are felt today. In the Senate, it is more his presence and master of debate that drew notice, and, where he sat, it was impossible for it to have not. He Chaired the Finance Committee, and the Senate Commerce Committee on Space and Aeronautics. There was a reason he was called the “Uncrowned King of the Senate.”
Kerr tried to remain true to his party. Paul Boller’s book, Congressional Anecdotes recites a tale of Kerr on the campaign trail at a forum, when his opponent credited the Lord with “telling me that it was my duty to run.” with getting him to run. Kerr conceded the possibility that the “Almighty might urge an individual to run for the Senate. It’s inconceivable, however, that the Almighty would tell anyone to run on the Republican ticket.”
Kennedy cultivating Kerr. The president spent the night at the powerful chairman’s ranch.
Nor did Kerr go without wheeling and dealing. He remained true to his region by promoting development of the Arkansas River throughout his entire Senate career. He traded support for the Interstate Highway System for funding of three reservoirs on the water. Kerr did not live to see the project completed but his efforts have made the 18 lock river accessible to barges, and commercial traffic, and a center for hydro-electricity. It bears his name.
Kerr also became an unapologetic defender of the natural gas industry, paramount to his state’s economy. “The Saturday Evening Post” summed up the relationship between JFK and Kerr. “Kennedy asked,” they said. “Kerr decided.”
A classic example, cited in Boller’s book, is a zinc bill, which Kennedy told him he’d be vetoing. He told Kerr that “Ted (Sorensen) and Mike explained it to me.” When Kerr raised the matter of his tax bill “‘if I’m away in Oklahoma, your tax bill, which lies in the Finance Committee that I chair, will never come to the floor,”, JFK did an “about face” saying, “Bob, this is the first time anybody really explained the zinc bill to me.”
Finally, Kerr used his Finance post to become a major player on entitlements. To say that he had his reservations about Medicare is an understatement. He was among the Democrats who successfully blocked Kennedy’s proposal in 1962, which lost 52-48. But his proposal with Wilbur Mills, which ultimately became known as the Medicare Assistance for the Aged, was enacted into law, and Sue Nevins in her book, “Medicare’s Mid-Life Crisis” noted the programs coverage of dental and prescription drugs would ultimately be much more “generous” than Medicare (it did require means testing”).
Kerr died of heart failure of New Years Day, 1963, just as he had appeared to be on the mend.
In his inaugural address as Governor, Kerr called for ending the “smearing (of) the reputations of persons who did not agree with the administration.” Gibson called him “firm but not arrogant.” But his legacy to stand by principal enhanced his reputation.
There were a few other Senators famously known for abiding by their convictions. Barry Goldwater was notorious, once instructing a staffer to “do what you feel is write even if it goes against me.” Wisconsin’s Bill Proxmire’s staunch oversight had him always offending someone, and found him often casting lone votes on bills. Paul Wellstone has been called a more modern day “conscience of the Senate.”But in an era when it wasn’t demanded, Cooper and Kerr stand out most.
And in an age when personal convictions outweighing offending friendships are few and far between, they are true models. Let’s hope the states send more our weigh who can do them, and the country they serve, proud.