Notes on Profiles in Courage
Chapter 1: Courage and Politics
· Definition of courage= “Grace under pressure” (Ernest Hemingway)
· Being a US Senator is a tough job that few seem to respect (president, yes; senator, no)
· Pressure #1: The desire to be liked. “The way to get along is to go along,” JFK was told.
· Pressure #2: The need to be reelected. In doing so, one must sacrifice everything for the national good.
· Pressure #3: Pressure from constituency and special interest groups.
o A man of conscience cannot ignore the special interest groups, his constituents, his party, his colleagues, the needs of his family, his pride, and his necessity of remaining in office.
· Page 11: But why can’t you just always do what is right regardless of its popularity?
o Not that simple. Senators live in an “iron lung”—they can never really know the needs/wants of their constituents. “I rarely know how the great majority of voters feel, or even how much they know of the issues that seem to be burning in Washington.” (16)
Chapter 2: Time and Place
· The original formation of the Senate was supposed to be like the British House of Lords- an executive council with a six-year term who met privately with the president
· The first 22 US Senators met in NY in 1789
o They were supposed to be “a glittering gathering of eminent and experienced statesmen” (24), very unlike the House of Representatives
o They weren’t supposed to debate or be visible to the public
· In 1794, public galleries were authorized for legislative sessions
· 1801, journalists were admitted
· 1803, Senators were debating, but their debates had little influence on public opinion (unlike the House of Representatives). Many senators surrendered their seats to become members of the House.
John Quincy Adams (Federalist)
- Young senator from Massachusetts, son of the last Federalist president (John Adams)
- Really hard on himself from age 9 to age 70 (p. 32-33)
- “unbending, narrow, intractable” and judging himself most severely than anyone else
· Courageous: Nonpartisan approach
· Sole Federalist to vote for the Louisiana Purchase
· Voted in favor of a British Embargo (the Federalists wanted to appease the British); he resigned in 1808 after basically being declared a heretic.
o “Private interest must not be put in opposition to public good.” (43)
o “The entire Adams family was damned.” (45)
· 22 years later, he was asked to rejoin the Congress (but he refused to campaign for himself), and then he later became the 6th president of the US.
· Struggle to find a balance between popularity and principle
Chapter 3: Daniel Webster (Whig)
-from Massachusetts
-Espoused Clay’s Great Compromise of 1850
-“the North’s most renowned orator and statesman” (57)
-Kept the Union together in 1850; prevented secession until 1861
-Incredibly good looking; could deliver a speech he thought in his head
· Civil War Era: Major challenge was westward expansion and how to keep slave vs. free states balanced
· Clay’s Compromise:
o California = Free
o New Mexico and Utah = No legislation either way
o Texas = money for losing land to New Mexico
o D.C. = Slavery is abolished
o Stricter enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law (Which Massachusetts had banned)
· Webster’s Speech: The Seventh of March
o People came from all over and the place was filled 2 hours in advance
o Speech lasted 3 hours and 11 minutes
o His speech was repudiated by most in the North but it disarmed and quieted the south from secession
o Overall, delaying the war for 10 years narrowed the issues between the north and the south
· Following, he took a beating
· Died in 1852, never becoming president (his dream)
Chapter 4: Thomas Hart Benton (Democrat)
-“I never quarrel…[but] whenever I fight, sir, a funeral follows, sir.”
-First senator to ever serve 30 consecutive years
-From Missouri; a champion of westward expansion based on Manifest Destiny
· Devoted to the Union, the South, and the Democratic party
· Opposed the Texas Treaty (the annexation of Texas from Mexico) even though his constituents in Missouri supported it- labeled a traitor. Benton thought it was a political game for Calhoun to secede from the Union
· Politically, he alienated himself on many issues (Oregon, for example), but in 1847, his big “end” was over the issue of slavery.
· 1849: he denounced slavery, even though he himself owned slaves
· He was against slavery being extended in the new territories, but he still remained in the Democratic party and kept trying to come back to politics
· 1850: he was almost shot by Henry Foote when a debate became so heated!
· He lost his seat in 1855 and never was able to return to public office. It wasn’t until years later that his wisdom kept Missouri from seceding from the Union.
· Thomas Hart Benton: Struggle to maintain his integrity
Chapter 5: Sam Houston (Democrat)
-Congressman from Tennessee
-First Democratic senator from Texas
-President of the Independent Republic of Texas
· Refused to support the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and permitted residents in the west to decide the slavery question themselves rather than abiding by the Compromise of 1850
· The only Democrat to do so
· Felt that this act would further divide the Union
· Texas never forgot his act of “treason” or this “anti-Southern” vote; he lost governorship and was dismissed from the Texas legislature in 1857
· Then he ran for Governor of Texas as an independent in the Fall of 1859; no party, no endorsements, and only one political speech
· Lincoln became president; Houston begged for Texas to remain unified with the Union, saying “What is coming: The sacrifice of countless millions of treasures and hundreds of thousands of precious lives” (107), but Texas decided to secede anyway. He was ousted as governor.
Chapter 6: Edmund Ross (Republican)
- Kansas Republican who “saved a President” (115)
-First came to the Senate in 1866, during a time when bills were being vetoed by President Johnson left and right because they were harsh toward South, overturned by 2/3 majority in the Senate
-Performed a heroic act in 1868: cast the deciding vote against the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson
· Andrew Johnson was being impeached. He had been the only Southern member of Congress who refused to secede with Tennessee (his state)
o He was impeached because he wanted to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, but the Radical Republicans (in control of the Senate) passed the Tenure of Office Act to prevent the president form firing a cabinet member without Senate consent.
o Johnson fired Stanton anyway because he wanted to militarize the South rather than re-integrate them back into the Union, per Lincoln’s plan
· During the trial (March 5-May 16), “impatient Republicans did not intend on giving the President a fair trial…but intended instead to depose him from the White House on any grounds, real or imagined, for refusing to accept their policies.” (121)
· Even Ross didn’t like him, nor his whole state of Kansas, he still voted against the impeachment because he felt it was putting the whole legislative branch on trial and would forever deem the presidency inferior to partisan Congress.
· He suffered ridicule as a result. He was never reelected to the Senate, and he and his family suffered ostracism and poverty when they returned to Kansas in 1871
· He was ultimately praised, though, when the Supreme Court declared the Tenure of Office Act unconstitutional.
Chapter 7: Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (Democrat)
- Democrat from Mississippi
- Pleaded the Radical Republicans from making Reconstruction awful- at the time, he was a freshman House Representative
- -He had served as a Mississippi senator and governor during Reconstruction and saw how hard it was on his state: 14X higher taxes, vast areas in ruins
- -“He came to believe that the future happiness of the country could only lie in a spirit of mutual conciliation and cooperation between the people of all sections and all states.” (148)
· 1874- Plea for amity and justice between North and South (Sumner eulogy)
o Senator Charles Sumner hated the South because of slavery and was brutally caned on the Senate floor by a South Carolina representative (Preston Brooks).
o “Shall we not…frankly confess that on both sides we most earnestly desire to be one...Would that the spirit of the illustrious dead whom ewe lament today could speak from the grave to both parties to this deplorable discord in tones which should reach each and every heart throughout this broad territory: ‘My countrymen! know one another and you will love one another.’” (140)
· This speech became an overnight sensation—brought tears to everyone’s eyes
· However, it did mark him as a southern traitor
· 1876- He was elected to the Senate again and acted in opposition to his constituents/party when voted against the “bland silver bill”
· Mississippi was hurting economically, and they all thought silver would be the solution—gold was “hard money” but hard to come by; silver was the answer!
o But it would promote an inflated currency; Lamar felt it would be embarrassing to the world and a fake solution to alleviate the nation’s economic distress he voted against free silver measures that would have enriched the state in the short run
o “the only sound position was in support of sound money.” (152)
· He gave a speech explaining it and was praised for his dignity, but his constituents and southern colleagues were furious. He would have resigned if he could have afforded it. Instead, he went on tour and gave awesome speeches; he kept his senate seat until 1885. When he resigned to become secretary of the interior and a Supreme Court justice.
Chapter 8: George Norris (Republican)
-Republican representative from Nebraska
-Not afraid to stand up to powerful individuals
-“An idealist, an independent, a fighter, a man of deep conviction, fearless courage, sincere honesty” (174)
-Grew up poor; dad died when he was four; had to help provide for his 10 sisters. Lost an older brother during the Civil War
-Hated war and feared Big Business encouraged war
-Stayed in Washington for 40 years: House of Rep in 1903 from Nebraska -
· In 1910, proposed a resolution that would allow appointing membership to the entire House of Representatives rather than solely being in the hands of the speaker of the house
o Norris wouldn’t concede— he and his supporters kept the House in constant session until Cannon ruled that the resolution was “out of order.” Norris appealed, and he persuaded the vote to overrule the Speaker of the House
o Cannon was so mad, he resigned, but Norris wouldn’t agree to his resignation: he was trying to “end the dictatorial power of the office rather than to punish the individual” (172). Years later, Cannon endorsed him for the Senate
· Fight to bring electricity to the people of Tennessee Valley
· Filibustered Armed Ship Bill in 1917, was led to believe everyone in Nebraska hated him even though that wasn’t true. It failed: The president still signed it and the nation still went to war a few yearslater
· Supported Democrat Al Smith in 1928 as president (Catholic, wanted to repeal Prohibition)—a big failure.
“I really believe that whatever use I have been to progressive civilization has been accomplished in the things I failed to do rather than in the things I actually did do.” P. 192
Chapter 9: Robert “Bob” A. Taft (Republican)
-“Mr. Integrity,” son of William Howard Taft
-Never President of the US—his personal failure
-Republican, brilliant political analyst
-Supported education, housing, health and welfare measures—departures from conservatism of his party
· October 1946: Chief spokesman for Republicans in Washington; likely Republican nominee for president in 1948
· Disturbed by the war crimes trials of the Axis leaders concluding in Germany and about to begin in Japan
· “Victors’ Justice” – laws were being created to suit the passion and clamor of the time
o Nuremberg Trials: 11 notorious Nazis were found guilty for “waging an aggressive war”
o The crime the Nazis were being tried for were “Ex post facto laws”— laws changed after the crime had been committed
o The Constitution commands no “ex post facto laws”
o There was no reason for Taft to bring this up; an election was looming, it was not a Congressional issue. “To speak out unnecessarily would be politically costly and clearly futile” (199)
o He spoke out against the hanging of the 11 Nazi leaders—suggested involuntary exile would be wiser—because doing so would violate the fundamental principle of American law that a man cannot be tried under an ex post facto statute
· His speech brought anger, confusion, and political demise—he failed to secure the Republican nominee for president in 1948
Results:
· However, the Nazi leaders were still hanged
· “What is noteworthy is Taft’s unhesitating courage in standing against the flow of public opinion for a cause he believed to be right.” (205)