A fair amount of thoughtful reminiscing has
already occurred this year on the centennial of Hubert H. Humphrey's
birth. And in today's toxic and polarized climate, the remembering has
tended to emphasize that Humphrey was respected and even loved by his
enemies, that he didn't mind compromise at all, and that he was a
pragmatic problem-solver who valued business AND government.
All
true. But on May 27 at Minneapolis City Hall — the former vice
president's actual birth date and the actual place where his career in
elected office began — we'll be treated to a full-day, 12-hour
policy-and-history smorgasbord that will celebrate Humphrey's actual
and truest essence, along with a forward-looking focus on how to renew
his legacy.
At his core, Humphrey was a progressive
zealot. He was a passionate, unapologetic advocate not only for the
racially oppressed and the poor, but for the vast and vulnerable middle
class, and not only in his state and country, but all over the world.
Further, he was relentlessly optimistic about the reality of improving
people's lives and their economic security through democratic
governments. And then he actually made that happen, from civil-rights
legislation, to Medicare and federal education investments, to
arms-control treaties, to fighting brutal communist dictatorships, to
the establishment of the Peace Corps. Thus his immortal nickname, "The
Happy Warrior.''
Intellectual heft and a deep knowledge of history
Overlooked
by many is the fact that Humphrey was much more than a great talker and
doer (and he was one of the greatest rhetoricians of all time).
Humphrey also had intellectual heft and worked from a deep knowledge of
history, economics and public policy. As a political-science professor,
with degrees from Louisiana State and the U of M, and as a professor at
Macalester College, he loved to delve in to the deviltry of the
details, as well as the grandest vision.
Accordingly, the
Hubert H. Humphrey Birthday Centennial Reunion and Policy Discussions
will feature not just the grand and poignant speeches from old friends
and staffers, and the videos and the fond memories, but about a dozen
break-out conversations devoted to aspects of his accomplishments and
what those might say about the future of progressive policy.
Among
about a dozen topics are these: The Future of American Workers;
Healthcare & Aging; Ending Poverty; 21st Century Governing; Liberty
& Equality; U.S. in the World; and Citizens in Politics.
The
break-out topics illustrate the impressive range of things Humphrey
helped accomplish in our nation and world. One of these alone would
place somebody prominently in the history books, and there's a reason
he has been listed by historians as among the three or four greatest
American legislators of all time.
To review three major categories of major impact by Humphrey:
Civil
Rights and human rights. Books could be written about his role in
civil-rights legislation, from taking on segregationists and white
supremacists in his own Democratic Party in 1948 to actually leading
the charge on the floors of Congress for civil-rights and voting-rights
laws in the mid-1960s. Lesser known is how Humphrey in the 1940s took a
Minneapolis power structure for its shameful record of
anti-Semitism.
Social services and economic
security. The Health and Human Services building in Washington, D.C.,
is named for him. Humphrey either was an original force or a leading
architect of the 1960s investments that helped dramatically reduce
elderly poverty, through Medicare, as well as programs ranging from
food stamps to Head Start, and that, despite a drumbeat of uninformed
criticism, sustain and help improve the lives of millions of American
families every day.
International affairs. Minnesota and
the United States were typically isolationist, and the progressive
coalition before Humphrey reorganized it in the 1940s was sympathetic
to Marxism and Soviet communism. Humphrey helped create a powerful and
popular DFL Party by driving out those elements, and over 30 years he
was among a handful of the most influential national leaders who
skillfully led America's Cold War confrontation with communism. And yet
he was no McCarthyistic red-baiter, anything but nationalistic or
xenophobic. He is generally given credit for driving the United States
toward a positive, peaceful and humane internationalist leadership, and
is credited with accomplishments including arms-control treaties and
the Peace Corps.
Mistakes and downsides
A
life that matters this much, and in which so much is said and done,
inevitably contains mistakes and downsides. Excessive loyalty to
President Lyndon Johnson damaged him and prevented him from voicing
honest assessments about the disastrous Vietnam War, and led to his
very narrow defeat to Republican Richard Nixon for the presidency in
1968. Arguably, too much was promised in the War on Poverty, and some
Great Society programs were not designed or managed well. This had a
lot to do with the loss of faith in government, although many political
scientists link that most closely to Nixon's Watergate scandal.
We
would have been better off with Humphrey than with Nixon, but
regardless, Humphrey improved our world. And to bring it all home, he
transformed our Minnesota forever for the better. This passage from his
acolyte, former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, in his recent book
"The Good Fight,'' just about says it all.
"Minnesota was a
cloistered, isolationist place when Humphrey came on to the scene in
the 1940s; he gave it a worldly, internationalist outlook,'' Mondale
wrote. " It was a state of conservative, self-reliant people. He
inspired them to think about social justice and the role government
could play in expanding opportunity. He put civil rights on the agenda
in a state with a long history of bigotry and anti-Semitism. He brought
ambition and a flair for innovation to people, who by nature were
cautious and shy. He didn't simply establish himself as a leading
figure in national politics, he built his state into an admired
incubator of progressive ideas. Hubert brought out the decency and
optimism in people, and he made Minnesota a different place.''
(To participate in some or all of the Humphrey Centennial Reunion and Policy Discussions , go to the website. Information and interaction about the event is also possible through a Facebook page.)
Dane Smith is the president of Growth & Justice, a research and advocacy organization that advances policies aimed at expanding economic prosperity.
