Reflection on Leaders

Notes of Concern…
…Jack Blair


Reflections on Leaders

Today I am remembering some people who were truly outstanding in their service to our nation due to their interest and commitment to their work and their refusal to be led in every way by personal ambition. You may remember some of them. Chances are you will not. Should you be interested in any or all might I suggest you research them a bit on your own? It will be a rewarding journey.

When Lyndon Johnson was Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, as a Democrat from Texas, his counterpart in the U.S. House of Representatives was Speaker Sam Rayburn, a Congressman from Texas. While Lyndon always wanted to be president, Sam was happy as Speaker and saw opportunity to wield power and make things happen.

In the administration of President Eisenhower, those two Texas Democrats reigned over the legislative branch but working with Ike they were able to cobble out some pretty great legislation and become close friends in the process. It was a happy time. In fact, we call it a time of Peace, Prosperity & Progress. In my view, Sam Rayburn knew how our government needed to work and knew how to reach acceptable compromise.

Another Texan, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, was arguably the first black politician with a real shot at a national nomination. She was heavyset and not attractive but when she started to speak she had everyone’s attention. She was smart, sharp and admirable in every way. When she spoke, all present listened intently. Every time I heard her explain a position I was immensely proud to be an American. Unfortunately, a terminal illness cut short her career.

United States Senator Gale McGee of Wyoming was one of the best orators in the U.S, Senate. Prior to his election he had been a professor at The University of Wyoming. Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged him into public service. The Senator’s son was a close friend of my wife and me and I enjoyed the stories of his unlikely rise to the Senate. He told me he had almost no money for a campaign and had to sell the family television in order to run for office. His wife Larraine wrote small postcards after every campaign stop, by hand; to the people they had met.
Not long after his election to the U.S. Senate the Washington press corps named McGee and Massachusetts Senator John Kennedy as the most promising of the “freshmen class.” At the height of the Vietnam War McGee wrote a book, The Responsibilities of World Power, which our current leaders would do well to read today. A powerful legislator, McGee went on to be Ambassador to the Organization of American States.

My recollections have been heavily of Democrats. Republican United States Senator and Senate Majority Leader Hugh Scott will be the one member of the GOP who might balance the others out. Scott was a pipe smoking, down home type politician. He and his diminutive and shy wife Marion did not cut a wide social path in Washington. He was professorial and shrewd. I was fortunate to know them both when I was on the Republican Executive Committee in Pennsylvania.

He climbed to the top job in the U.S. Senate through hard work and dedication. He made his deals quietly. He rarely sought or received public attention. He did his best work behind the scenes. People remember that when it was time to convince President Nixon a resignation was necessary, three men went to The White House to deliver the bad news and to try to convince the President to do what was right for the country. Two of those three men were U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater and U.S. Senator Hugh Scott. They got it done. This man who held enormous power died quietly in a nursing home outside Washington DC with hardly a mention in the press. He would have liked that.

If your schedule permits, treat yourself to a wonderful adventure and find and read more about Hugh Scott, Gale McGee, Sam Rayburn and Barbara Jordan.

Quietly effective.

Largely unsung.

Patriots All.