Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate by John T. Shaw

Author:John T. Shaw
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

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By all accounts, Lugar has a calm, steady, and placid temperament. Courtly and polite, he is well liked and respected in the Senate. He is not, to be sure, one of the chamber’s most colorful figures. One writer has described him as the embodiment of a “Washington Gray Man.”

“Among the many kinds of political animals found in Washington, few are as widely admired as the Gray Man. Quietly competent, somewhat bland, respected by Democrats and Republicans alike, and most comfortable working tactfully behind the scenes, the Gray Man is a dying breed in today’s American politics,” writes journalist Brian Winters. He says that modern examples include Lugar, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. 13

When the senator works on speeches or opening statements for committee hearings, he confers with aides who are responsible for the subject in question and with Dan Diller, a senior staffer who is also his de facto “editor in chief.” Diller, who is considered an expert in writing in Lugar’s voice, usually develops a draft, which Lugar then edits. Often, Lugar’s statements for committee meetings are completed several days before the hearing—a rare occurrence in the Senate.

On critical issues, Lugar often sends out “Dear Colleague” letters to other senators outlining his views. He also instructs his staff on the Foreign Relations Committee to research an issue and write a detailed report. In recent years, he has commissioned staff reports on changing the country’s Cuba policy, U.S. financial assistance to Syria and Yemen, reforming international financial institutions, confronting global food challenges, overhauling foreign aid programs, assessing the consequences of the expanding role of the Pentagon in overseas embassies, improving U.S. bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia, the merits of U.S. trade agreements with Panama and Colombia, and American policy regarding Moldova. He views these reports as a way to present facts and shape the debate. But some congressional analysts are skeptical about the persuasive value of “Dear Colleague” letters or detailed reports from the Foreign Relations staff. They say that more Senate business is conducted by brief personal exchanges on the Senate floor and in informal conversations—forms of communication in which Lugar does not excel.

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the second ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Lugar never personally tried to persuade him to support the New START treaty even though he was considered a critical swing vote. Corker said he received “Dear Colleague” letters from Lugar addressing specific points of the treaty, but Lugar never made the case to him personally. “He has never lobbied on the treaty, never tried to sway me. He just laid out his views, put them down on paper, and left it up to others to decide,” Corker said. 14

During committee hearings, Lugar reads his opening statement and pursues a careful line of questions. “He asks the practical, even boring questions that are so important. What happens next? Where does this take us? Where are we going?” says Hagel. “When you analyze where he is going on his questions there is always a very clear purpose.

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