Jack Kemp by Morton Kondracke Fred Barnes

Author:Morton Kondracke, Fred Barnes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

Ten

POVERTY WARRIOR

I n 1965, New Orleans was a divided city. Black diners were barred from many restaurants. Taxicabs were segregated. This kind of racial division was not an entirely new experience for Kemp when he arrived there for the AFL All-Star game. He’d encountered and opposed racism before, but it was a shock to him each time. Kemp’s teammate, running back Cookie Gilchrist, yelled for a cab outside a nightclub. “Uh, we don’t serve y’all,” the driver told him, Bills tight end Ernie Warlick said. 1 “You got to call a colored cab.” Gilchrist said, “I don’t care what color the cab is. We just want a cab.”

The next day, Gilchrist declared he wasn’t going to play in the All-Star game. Black players from the 1964 league champion Bills and opposing AFL All-Stars voted unanimously to boycott the game. As captain of the Bills, Kemp was on board with the decision. He stood with the players, and the game was moved to Houston. 2

Kemp’s compassion and belief in human equality had taken root in early childhood. Kemp’s grandmother, “Grandma Sunshine,” had lived with his family and told stories about feeding and sheltering Blackfoot Sioux in South Dakota. In an age when racism was a normal part of life, she had insisted that her offspring must always help those in need, no matter their ethnicity. 3

Combining his grandmother’s training, his respect for his black teammates, and his background working with unions, Kemp possessed a racial sensitivity unusual in conservatives of his day, as well as a sympathy for the blue-collar workers. A passionate admirer of Lincoln, he believed in an “opportunity society,” similar to Lincoln’s idea of a “just, and generous, and prosperous system, which opens the way to all—gives hope to all, and progress, and improvement of condition to all.” 4

And like Lincoln, Kemp believed it was the job of government to enable people to achieve their aims—and remove obstacles, especially, in Kemp’s view, high taxes. Lincoln favored public support to build roads, dams, and waterways. Kemp believed, with Lincoln, in government’s assisting people in improving their lives. So when Bush needed a housing secretary, Kemp seemed a logical choice. But whether the “bleeding-heart conservative” could make a difference would remain to be seen.

_____

Although Bush had passed over Kemp in the veep search, not wanting the independent-minded, free-speaking conservative close at hand in the White House, Bush did want Kemp in his administration. Bush’s estimation of Kemp rose during the 1988 presidential campaign, said his vice presidential chief of staff, Craig Fuller. During primary debates, Bush appreciated that Kemp “talked about issues” and never got personal or went negative. He liked Kemp’s unique ability to communicate with minority communities. 5 And Barbara Bush liked Joanne.

Fuller was in charge of Bush’s postelection transition team along with pollster-political adviser Bob Teeter. Eager to see his boss kept relevant, Kemp’s 1988 campaign manager, Charlie Black, 6 suggested to Teeter that it would be good for Bush to have former rival and conservative hero Kemp in the administration.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.