In 1955 John F. Kennedy published the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Profiles in Courage” where he described the acts of bravery and integrity of eight US Senators throughout history.
Maybe this has been done already, but if we were to write our own updated version of this book - who would we include and why? For puproses of this OP, let’s try to stick w/ only listing senators, but if you feel there is someone outside the Senate that deserves to be included, feel free to list them and tell us why.
Well… I’ll give this one bump to see if it’ll get any action. It’s sinking fast though. Maybe that’s what happens when I think of things to post while in the shower.
No, it’s a good one. It’s just hard for anyone to be, or look, heroic in today’s media environment.
Wayne Morse might be one, for voting against the Tonkin Gulf resolution and opposing Johnson’s unwinnable Vietnam war. Johnson himself, for pushing through all that landmark civil rights legislation in the wake of JFK’s death, knowing it was going to backfire on him and his party in the short term. Ted Kennedy for his career working for health care, although it would be hard to pick a specific moment.
John McCain and Bob Dole. Both vets that paid a high price in the service–McCain as a PoW, Dole with a life changing injury. Both Senators with long and distinguished careers.
Kennedy’s book was about stances that the men he profiled took as Senators. Lots of Senators have distinguished war records, but I don’t think listing them would be in the spirit of Profiles in Courage.
The two Senators who opposed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions are good examples, as both men were voting against their own parties foreign policy and lost their seats as a result.
Russ Feingold was the sole vote against the US Patriot Act. He ended up not getting much blowback from his vote, but I’d still call it a gutsy move given that the vote was just over a month after 9/11.
The senators that opposed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution are a great example, as is Russ Feingold.
If only we could get a single Republican to stand up against his party on this health care bill, I think we’d have another one to add - but I dont’ see that happening.
So, are the Blue Dog Democrats who voted against Obamacare also courageous?
Does Heath Shuler belong in the next “Profiles in Courage”?
Lest you think I’m just being snarky, let me say this: in modern America, it does NOT take any real “courage” to cast an unpopular vote in the Senate. That’s true whether you’re a conservative, a liberal or a moderate.
Really, what’s the WORST thing that can happen to a Senator who casts an unpopular vote? If Olympia Snowe votes for an Obama-backed bill, does she face execution? Assassination? No! At worst, she’ll face a stiff challenge in the next primary and election, and may lose. Or, if Dianne Feinstein speaks out against Obama’s treatment of Israel, what’s the worst thing that can happen to her? Some bloggers or editorial page writers may call her mean names?
“Courage” requires higher stakes than that, in my opinion. Hey, I’m glad Heath Shuler voted the way he did, and I commend him for it, but it would be silly to pretend he’s any kind of hero.
They were generally considered to be voting in their own political interest (which doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t believe they were also making the right choice on policy grounds, but most commentators don’t seem to think they incurred much serious political risk doing so). So no.
Certainly the stakes are lower then for other activities, I wouldn’t compare an unpopular vote to surviving in a Vietnam prison camp or (since we’re discussing Kennedy’s book) keeping your crew together in enemy waters after your boats been sunk. But that doesn’t mean that nothing short of those acts can earn the use of the word courage. I’d say any action of sacrificing your own interests or facing your own fears for the greater good deserves the term, even if its just a kid facing down bullies in gym class or a senator sacrificing your re-election chances rather then vote for a war you feel is bad idea.
Plus, its not like Senators never attract any over-the-top negative adjectives So let them get called courageous in the rare instance where someone thinks they deserve it, even if you think its over the top. Doesnt happen often.
Right—Kennedy’s book was specifically about political courage. The Wikipedia article includes a list of the Seantors who were profiled and the things they did that got them included.
In today’s political climate, I sure wish there were Senators—or other politicians—who were taking stands that cost them and/or their party major political power because it was the Right Thing To Do.
His support of the Iraq War certainly cost him the CT Dem Senate nomination, but that was a pretty big surprise. The majority of the Senate Dems also supported the war, I seriously doubt he predicted that of all of them, he’d end up the focus of activist Dem anger over the war.
Joe Lieberman is an asshole and many Dems have refused to condemn the war. I don’t think there is a single senator today who would jeopardize his political career for a vote of conscience.
If we expand the definition to people living outside the US I would include Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez. I know a few people from Cuba who post on blogs, but she is the only one I know who does so with her real identity.
Since she has reached public prominence outside the US she is a little bit more protected than before, but even so she has been threatened, beaten, and questioned by Cuban authorities.
Well, truth is, even the Senators cited in Ted Sorenson’s book (Anybody still want to pretend JFK was the author, let alone that the boo kdeserved a Pulitzer?) weren’t all that courageous or admirable.
What did Edmund Ross really risk by voting not to remove Andrew Johnson from office? Yes, he lost his bid for mre-election, but he lived a long, prosperous life afterward, and even served as governor of New Mexico. “Courage” should be made of sterner stuff.
And, while there’s much admire about Robert Taft, I fail to see that he did anything that called for real “courage.” He remained a principled isolationist long after that had ceased to be fashionable in either Party. Good for him. But what did he really risk? Again, when you’re a U.S. Senator, what’s the WORST thing that can happen if you cast an unpopular vote? A German legislator who stood up to Hitler risked his life. THAT’S courage. But a Congressman who attacks Barack Obama (or George W.Bush or Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan) doesn’t need courage- especially if (as is increasingly the case) he has a safe seat.
But if we MUST nominate someone for casting “courageously” unpopular votes in Congress, well, there’s always Jeanette Rankin. She voted against entering World War 2, even AFTER the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
But unlike most Democrats he did not change his mind about the war and oppose it when it became unpopular.
Theoretically yes but she was also implicitly condemning millions in Asia and Europe to death through the war crimes of Nazi Germany and Japan. In other words it was like the conservative fanatics opposing civil rights legislation.
I would add Marie Ragghianti to the list. What an incredible woman!
This is Roger Ebert’s review of the movie Marie. In his review, he summarizes her life better than I could. I’ve heard her tell her story. And even though it was in the headlines for months at the time, I never knew how dangerous what she was doing really was until I heard it in her own words.
BTW, former Senator and presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson plays himself in this movie and it’s a major role as best I remember.
To look at the early years of her life, you would think that she was the least likely person to do what she did.
So let them get called courageous in the rare instance where someone thinks they deserve it, even if you think its over the top. Doesnt happen often.