* Former Sen. Chuck Percy passed away over the weekend. I thought you might like a chance to talk about your memories of the late, great Senator. So, have at it.
I started paying attention back in ‘78 when Alex Seith ran against him. My impression of Percy was that he was more of a statesman than a politician. Unfortunately, he would probably have a tough time getting elected today.
I remember him at a fundraiser held on his behalf downstate at the home of a dear friend. She did this multi-millionaire’s laundry overnight and was astonished that his tee shirt was so well-worn that it was essentially transparent and he had a hole in one of his socks. Now that’s a conservative!
He was a kind and gracious man who served our state and country with honor.
The first big campaign I covered was Percy vs. Simon. Sigh, nice to have good choices now and again.
And what a race — for a couple of candidates who had public images as nice guys, they traded bare-knuckled body blows in a good old-fashioned street fight.
In the end, the downstate far right did Percy in. In their eyes, he was the original RINO. Too smart, too urbane, and had the nerve to care about cities and publicly oppose Nixon’s worst excesses.
After he beat their candidate, Rep. Corcoran, in the primary, they sat on their hands in the general, letting Simon win in a squeaker.
A real Republican, Reagan, pulled out all the stops for Percy and beat Mondale like a rented mule in Illinois, coming within a whisker of a majority in Cook. But it wasn’t enough to overcome the new tide of the ideologically pure.
Downstate when I was just politically awakening, Democrats were viewed as “the Daley Machine”, so someone like Percy was a rational alternative. When Republicans started the long spiral downward further and further to the uber-right rings of hell, many of us were left behind and were becoming more radicalized and moved further left to the light. How different would things have been had a Percy and Humphrey been dominant?
Senator Percy was the public servant most responsible for improving the quality of justice in the Chicago area.
Prior to his becoming Senator — and thereby assuming the responsibility for picking federal judges — many of the federal judges in Chicago were either mediocrities or stooges of the machine of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley.
Senator Percy began picking judges on the basis of merit. He relied heavily on the recommendations of a handful of lawyers, including Bert Jenner and the young Jud Miner (founder of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and later Corporation Counsel under Mayor Washington). While most of Senator Percy’s appointments were Republican, some were not.
Under Senator Percy’s care, the federal bench in Chicago went from frankly, a laughing-stock (with judges like Julius Hoffman, Sam Perry, and William Lynch), to a nationwide example of quality (with judges like, to pick a few, John Paul Stevens, Phil Tone, and Prentice Marshall).
When President Carter was elected, Senator Stevenson continued Senator Percy’s practice of appointing high-quality judges. Until Senator Percy’s defeat in 1984, most appointments were of an unusually high quality.
After they left office, both Senator Percy and Senator Stevenson spoke about how their greatest lasting legacy was the quality of justice in federal court. They were correct.
In this respect, as in others, Senator Percy brought great honor upon himself.
Percy was just a wee but before my time. I got to vote for Paul Simon against him in 1984, my first voting experience.
But my estimation of him has grown over the years. He was a quintesential Illinois Republican, a fiscal conservative with otherwise moderate views. And a big cheese in foreign policy.
Reading his bios in the obituaries and it makes you wonder if we’ll ever see another like him. A CEO at 29, a three term senator who had to survive his daughter’s murder and then defeat liberal lion Paul Douglas. He turned on Nixon and was his own man throughout.
There are a lot of models for Mark Kirk to follow in the Senate, and even though Percy’s brand of Republicanism is out of fashion, I think Kirk could attain greatness if he patterns himself as another Chuck Percy.
Moderate Republicans have always won in Illinois, often without much difficulty. That allows them the time and experience in office to accomplish great things. Isn’t that why people run for office in the first place?
I served as Sen. Percy’s page in 1975, and was among the first wave of girl pages. He was a kind, considerate man who was clearly well-regarded by all his colleagues. He invited me to attend his staff meetings, which was not the norm for 16-year old pages, and I so appreciated the inclusion. My father was legislative director for UAW Region 4, when the union was then at the height of its membership and influence, and the UAW had a good working relationship with Percy despite his Republican identity. It was a source of some ironic amusement to my left-wing dad that his union supported a multi-millionaire businessman, but despite their differences they had a warm friendship. Sadly,Chuck Percy would have no comfortable place in the Republican Party today.
they sure don’t make ‘em like they used to. i worked for the majority leader long after percy was gone from the senate, where he was missed. in washington, that’s saying something…
I was in high school during the Percy Simon race, taking a course on American Government. As part of an assignment, I followed that specific race and kept a scrap book. I wish I still had it.
I used to travel to Washington, D.C. with my father quite a bit when I was a kid. One time, we went to visit Percy in his office. We got to shake his hand, etc., take some pics. His office gave us a floor pass and we went to the visitors gallery. The floor was practically empty, but Barry Goldwater was giving a speech about some issue. Hell of a day for a 14 year old.
==Sadly,Chuck Percy would have no comfortable place in the Republican Party today.==
What’s sad is that this statement is skewed and completely untrue. Charles Percy would very much have a place in the Republican Party today, both nationally and in Illinois.
==He would be a Democrat today!==
In your dreams. He would be an honest, staunch, electable moderate Republican today. And an American statesman first. As he always was.
That an influential Illinoisan cannot even be eulogized without petty political snark shows a distinct lack of class, as well as a misunderstanding both of him, and of the breadth of the national Republican Party in 2011. Partisans on both sides really shouldn’t buy into–and repeat– all the convenient talking points and stereotypes they are fed.
47th, LincolnLounger, Anonymour, and bored, (to mention just a few) I enjoyed your thoughtful and insightful comments about Sen. Percy!
I was a staffer on a Senate Subcommittee, chaired by Percy. In those days, it was not unusual for committee staffs to be bi-partisan. Percy had Democrats like me as well as Republicans and Independents working on his Committee Majority staffs (even though the Senate was controlled by the GOP in the mid-1980s).
I was also a performer/writer with the Capitol Steps, musical political satire group, which was founded by Percy staffers. Percy loved and respected the decorum of the Senate but he also loved to laugh and he saw the value of colleagues and staff occasionally NOT taking themselves so seriously.
I remember when the Democratic nominee almost unhorsed Percy in 1978 and Chuck had to film a desperate commercial about how “I heard your message and you’re right!” and then apologized for being out of step with Illinois and making mistakes. He narrowly won a third term. Some commentators have opined that Percy would not be at home in the current Republican Party, but the truth was that he was skating on thin ice thirty plus years earlier!
Ronald Reagan easily carried Illinois in 1984, but Paul Simon edged Percy. Campaign commercials accusing Percy of being a chameleon did not help, but Percy had also lost the GOP base.
He was one of the few politicians I’ve ever seen campaigning at my train station in the South suburbs during the morning commute or any other time. He stood on the platform, introduced himself, and shook hands until the train pulled in; whereupon he got on the train and said to the people in my train car something to the effect that, even if we didn’t vote for him, to please exercise our right to vote on Tuesday. All the while Sharon Percy Rockefeller (who was there with him) could be heard in the background saying “But Daddy, the train’s going to take off!” with great urgency. I respected that gesture and I respected the man.
I never met Senator Percy. Shortly after I moved to Western Michigan in the summer of 1984, my then conservative boss gave me (a beginner liberal at the time) his tickets for a Guy Vander Jagt fundraiser (Fry for Guy). I knew no one at the thing, but whenever someone found out I was from Illinois, the first thing they’d say was, “oh you’re from Charles Percy’s neck of the woods,” or words to that effect and then gush all over the place about him. I know it’s a nothing little story, but I never forgot how impressed everyone was with him at that party.
“Moderate Republicans have always won in Illinois, often without much difficulty” is perhaps the least true statement I have ever read on any political blog.
It would be big news to Judy Barr Topinka, Jim Ryan, Jim Durkin etc if this was true.
I remember after Simon winning, the network news announcer said the next day, “Percy was guilty of caring more about Paris, France, than Paris, Illinois.” It was a shocking win, as Percy was the Foreign Relations chair at the time. As noted above, he was a statesman more than a politician. RIP Chuck Percy.
I was in 7th grade when Mr Percy first ran for Senate. He was the kind of man that even 12 year olds were taken with. He easily won the mock election we held. Even though I was a staunch McGovern liberal in the 70’s I still continued to support and admire Senator Percy. He was a man of great class and patriotism. Unfortunately, as frequently evidenced on this blog, men who put the needs of the country ahead of party are far and few today. With the extremes of both parties governing the primary nomination process, true moderates usually can’t win nominations. I question whether a man of Senator Percy’s character would even bother getting involved in politics today. Senator Percy was indeed a giant, even in his day. Although Senator Simon turned out to be a man of character equal to Senator Percy’s, I still felt disheartened when Senator Simon won the election. It is too bad that these two great men could not have served together in the Senate.
During the 1978 election cycle I was with my candidate blitzing small communities in Grundy County. Driving through Dwight, my candidate suddenly shouted, “stop the car…that’s Lorraine Percy!” Sure enough Lorraine Percy and former US Senator Bob Packwood were visiting Dwight. Now as wonderful and gracious a person as Lorraine Percy was, wearing a mink stole and white gloves in rural Dwight was just a hoot. Senator Percy and John Caldwell (a fitting subject of a memory thread himself) joined us later. Lorraine reported a “delightful afternoon” in Dwight.
I was a staffer at the 1984 GOP National Convention in Dallas. We moved the delegation between the convention and hotel in buses. Sen. Percy decided that on the night of the vote he would also ride the bus. John Caldwell put the Senator on my bus and asked that I make sure he got back to the hotel. After the convention, we waited for over an hour, scoured the convention center, and we still couldn’t find him. So, we left thinking he had ridden another bus. John Caldwell was waiting for us at the door of the hotel, and I had to inform him that I had lost Senator Percy. After a very frantic hour of making phone calls and searching everywhere we could think to search, the Senator arrived back having enjoyed a lovely dinner with some friends who gave him a ride back to the hotel. The next night, everyone on the bus received full apology from the Senator (and I got a dozen roses).
===It would be big news to Judy Barr Topinka, Jim Ryan, Jim Durkin etc if this was true.===
If what I said wasn’t true, you’d never have heard of the three people you mentioned, each of whom was successful and, for crying out loud, JBT just got elected again to statewide office. Sheesh.
Moderate Republicans are not ALWAYS successful in Illinois, but the most succesful Illinois Republians have always been moderates.
Henry Hyde and Phil Crane look like moderates compared to some of the current crop of GOP candidates.
- Stones - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 10:49 am:
I started paying attention back in ‘78 when Alex Seith ran against him. My impression of Percy was that he was more of a statesman than a politician. Unfortunately, he would probably have a tough time getting elected today.
- LincolnLounger - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 10:59 am:
I remember him at a fundraiser held on his behalf downstate at the home of a dear friend. She did this multi-millionaire’s laundry overnight and was astonished that his tee shirt was so well-worn that it was essentially transparent and he had a hole in one of his socks. Now that’s a conservative!
He was a kind and gracious man who served our state and country with honor.
- dupage person - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:07 am:
Percy was the reason I could be a Republican. An intelligent statesman who cared more about his country than his party. He would be a Democrat today!
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:09 am:
The first big campaign I covered was Percy vs. Simon. Sigh, nice to have good choices now and again.
And what a race — for a couple of candidates who had public images as nice guys, they traded bare-knuckled body blows in a good old-fashioned street fight.
In the end, the downstate far right did Percy in. In their eyes, he was the original RINO. Too smart, too urbane, and had the nerve to care about cities and publicly oppose Nixon’s worst excesses.
After he beat their candidate, Rep. Corcoran, in the primary, they sat on their hands in the general, letting Simon win in a squeaker.
A real Republican, Reagan, pulled out all the stops for Percy and beat Mondale like a rented mule in Illinois, coming within a whisker of a majority in Cook. But it wasn’t enough to overcome the new tide of the ideologically pure.
- D.P. Gumby - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:17 am:
Downstate when I was just politically awakening, Democrats were viewed as “the Daley Machine”, so someone like Percy was a rational alternative. When Republicans started the long spiral downward further and further to the uber-right rings of hell, many of us were left behind and were becoming more radicalized and moved further left to the light. How different would things have been had a Percy and Humphrey been dominant?
- too obvious - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:31 am:
“When Republicans started the long spiral downward further and further to the uber-right rings of hell . . .”
Really? Pat Brady, Mark Kirk, Judy Baar Topinka, Dan Rutherford, Tom Cross, Christine Radogno.
Those are the people with the only gop posts in Illinois that have even a little power, in theory anyway. “uber-right” - seriously?
Do some people just not think before they post?
- Anonymour - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:32 am:
Senator Percy was the public servant most responsible for improving the quality of justice in the Chicago area.
Prior to his becoming Senator — and thereby assuming the responsibility for picking federal judges — many of the federal judges in Chicago were either mediocrities or stooges of the machine of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley.
Senator Percy began picking judges on the basis of merit. He relied heavily on the recommendations of a handful of lawyers, including Bert Jenner and the young Jud Miner (founder of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and later Corporation Counsel under Mayor Washington). While most of Senator Percy’s appointments were Republican, some were not.
Under Senator Percy’s care, the federal bench in Chicago went from frankly, a laughing-stock (with judges like Julius Hoffman, Sam Perry, and William Lynch), to a nationwide example of quality (with judges like, to pick a few, John Paul Stevens, Phil Tone, and Prentice Marshall).
When President Carter was elected, Senator Stevenson continued Senator Percy’s practice of appointing high-quality judges. Until Senator Percy’s defeat in 1984, most appointments were of an unusually high quality.
After they left office, both Senator Percy and Senator Stevenson spoke about how their greatest lasting legacy was the quality of justice in federal court. They were correct.
In this respect, as in others, Senator Percy brought great honor upon himself.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:35 am:
Percy was just a wee but before my time. I got to vote for Paul Simon against him in 1984, my first voting experience.
But my estimation of him has grown over the years. He was a quintesential Illinois Republican, a fiscal conservative with otherwise moderate views. And a big cheese in foreign policy.
Reading his bios in the obituaries and it makes you wonder if we’ll ever see another like him. A CEO at 29, a three term senator who had to survive his daughter’s murder and then defeat liberal lion Paul Douglas. He turned on Nixon and was his own man throughout.
There are a lot of models for Mark Kirk to follow in the Senate, and even though Percy’s brand of Republicanism is out of fashion, I think Kirk could attain greatness if he patterns himself as another Chuck Percy.
Moderate Republicans have always won in Illinois, often without much difficulty. That allows them the time and experience in office to accomplish great things. Isn’t that why people run for office in the first place?
- Toni Gilpin - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:49 am:
I served as Sen. Percy’s page in 1975, and was among the first wave of girl pages. He was a kind, considerate man who was clearly well-regarded by all his colleagues. He invited me to attend his staff meetings, which was not the norm for 16-year old pages, and I so appreciated the inclusion. My father was legislative director for UAW Region 4, when the union was then at the height of its membership and influence, and the UAW had a good working relationship with Percy despite his Republican identity. It was a source of some ironic amusement to my left-wing dad that his union supported a multi-millionaire businessman, but despite their differences they had a warm friendship. Sadly,Chuck Percy would have no comfortable place in the Republican Party today.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 11:52 am:
=Isn’t that why people run for office in the first place?=
Nice sentiment, 47th. I envy your ability to still believe that intentions are always so honorable and pure.
- bored now - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 12:13 pm:
they sure don’t make ‘em like they used to. i worked for the majority leader long after percy was gone from the senate, where he was missed. in washington, that’s saying something…
- cermak_rd - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 12:29 pm:
I was in high school during the Percy Simon race, taking a course on American Government. As part of an assignment, I followed that specific race and kept a scrap book. I wish I still had it.
At that time I was a Percy supporter.
- Deep South - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 12:47 pm:
I used to travel to Washington, D.C. with my father quite a bit when I was a kid. One time, we went to visit Percy in his office. We got to shake his hand, etc., take some pics. His office gave us a floor pass and we went to the visitors gallery. The floor was practically empty, but Barry Goldwater was giving a speech about some issue. Hell of a day for a 14 year old.
- Responsa - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 1:00 pm:
==Sadly,Chuck Percy would have no comfortable place in the Republican Party today.==
What’s sad is that this statement is skewed and completely untrue. Charles Percy would very much have a place in the Republican Party today, both nationally and in Illinois.
==He would be a Democrat today!==
In your dreams. He would be an honest, staunch, electable moderate Republican today. And an American statesman first. As he always was.
That an influential Illinoisan cannot even be eulogized without petty political snark shows a distinct lack of class, as well as a misunderstanding both of him, and of the breadth of the national Republican Party in 2011. Partisans on both sides really shouldn’t buy into–and repeat– all the convenient talking points and stereotypes they are fed.
47th, LincolnLounger, Anonymour, and bored, (to mention just a few) I enjoyed your thoughtful and insightful comments about Sen. Percy!
- Roscoe Village - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 1:12 pm:
I was a staffer on a Senate Subcommittee, chaired by Percy. In those days, it was not unusual for committee staffs to be bi-partisan. Percy had Democrats like me as well as Republicans and Independents working on his Committee Majority staffs (even though the Senate was controlled by the GOP in the mid-1980s).
I was also a performer/writer with the Capitol Steps, musical political satire group, which was founded by Percy staffers. Percy loved and respected the decorum of the Senate but he also loved to laugh and he saw the value of colleagues and staff occasionally NOT taking themselves so seriously.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 1:23 pm:
Responsa’s absolutely right. Percy would have a place in the Republican Party–and therefore, a much higher bar would have been set for others.
- Esquire - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 1:37 pm:
I remember when the Democratic nominee almost unhorsed Percy in 1978 and Chuck had to film a desperate commercial about how “I heard your message and you’re right!” and then apologized for being out of step with Illinois and making mistakes. He narrowly won a third term. Some commentators have opined that Percy would not be at home in the current Republican Party, but the truth was that he was skating on thin ice thirty plus years earlier!
Ronald Reagan easily carried Illinois in 1984, but Paul Simon edged Percy. Campaign commercials accusing Percy of being a chameleon did not help, but Percy had also lost the GOP base.
- L. - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 1:41 pm:
He was one of the few politicians I’ve ever seen campaigning at my train station in the South suburbs during the morning commute or any other time. He stood on the platform, introduced himself, and shook hands until the train pulled in; whereupon he got on the train and said to the people in my train car something to the effect that, even if we didn’t vote for him, to please exercise our right to vote on Tuesday. All the while Sharon Percy Rockefeller (who was there with him) could be heard in the background saying “But Daddy, the train’s going to take off!” with great urgency. I respected that gesture and I respected the man.
- Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:03 pm:
Sen. Percy was one of the politicians that Illinois can be proud of. We could use an army of men (or women) like him.
- Cheswick - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:28 pm:
I never met Senator Percy. Shortly after I moved to Western Michigan in the summer of 1984, my then conservative boss gave me (a beginner liberal at the time) his tickets for a Guy Vander Jagt fundraiser (Fry for Guy). I knew no one at the thing, but whenever someone found out I was from Illinois, the first thing they’d say was, “oh you’re from Charles Percy’s neck of the woods,” or words to that effect and then gush all over the place about him. I know it’s a nothing little story, but I never forgot how impressed everyone was with him at that party.
- JP - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:34 pm:
“Moderate Republicans have always won in Illinois, often without much difficulty” is perhaps the least true statement I have ever read on any political blog.
It would be big news to Judy Barr Topinka, Jim Ryan, Jim Durkin etc if this was true.
JBP
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:39 pm:
JP, try not to revel in your historical ignorance.
Look at our list of governors and US Senators for the past, oh, 100 years. Then come back.
- JP - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:45 pm:
“always” is a very long time Rich…
jbp
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:46 pm:
Again, go do some homework before returning.
- Vote Quimby! - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:52 pm:
I remember after Simon winning, the network news announcer said the next day, “Percy was guilty of caring more about Paris, France, than Paris, Illinois.” It was a shocking win, as Percy was the Foreign Relations chair at the time. As noted above, he was a statesman more than a politician. RIP Chuck Percy.
- Fed Up - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:55 pm:
I was in 7th grade when Mr Percy first ran for Senate. He was the kind of man that even 12 year olds were taken with. He easily won the mock election we held. Even though I was a staunch McGovern liberal in the 70’s I still continued to support and admire Senator Percy. He was a man of great class and patriotism. Unfortunately, as frequently evidenced on this blog, men who put the needs of the country ahead of party are far and few today. With the extremes of both parties governing the primary nomination process, true moderates usually can’t win nominations. I question whether a man of Senator Percy’s character would even bother getting involved in politics today. Senator Percy was indeed a giant, even in his day. Although Senator Simon turned out to be a man of character equal to Senator Percy’s, I still felt disheartened when Senator Simon won the election. It is too bad that these two great men could not have served together in the Senate.
- Commonsense in Illinois - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 2:57 pm:
During the 1978 election cycle I was with my candidate blitzing small communities in Grundy County. Driving through Dwight, my candidate suddenly shouted, “stop the car…that’s Lorraine Percy!” Sure enough Lorraine Percy and former US Senator Bob Packwood were visiting Dwight. Now as wonderful and gracious a person as Lorraine Percy was, wearing a mink stole and white gloves in rural Dwight was just a hoot. Senator Percy and John Caldwell (a fitting subject of a memory thread himself) joined us later. Lorraine reported a “delightful afternoon” in Dwight.
- Observation - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 3:47 pm:
I was a staffer at the 1984 GOP National Convention in Dallas. We moved the delegation between the convention and hotel in buses. Sen. Percy decided that on the night of the vote he would also ride the bus. John Caldwell put the Senator on my bus and asked that I make sure he got back to the hotel. After the convention, we waited for over an hour, scoured the convention center, and we still couldn’t find him. So, we left thinking he had ridden another bus. John Caldwell was waiting for us at the door of the hotel, and I had to inform him that I had lost Senator Percy. After a very frantic hour of making phone calls and searching everywhere we could think to search, the Senator arrived back having enjoyed a lovely dinner with some friends who gave him a ride back to the hotel. The next night, everyone on the bus received full apology from the Senator (and I got a dozen roses).
- Wensicia - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 4:04 pm:
He was a great Senator, unfortunately we won’t see his like in the Republican Party anytime soon.
- Cincinnatus - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 4:08 pm:
Wensicia,
Nor the Democrats.
- Wensicia - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 4:26 pm:
Cincinnatus,
Sad assessment on the state of Congress today.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Sep 21, 11 @ 10:41 pm:
===It would be big news to Judy Barr Topinka, Jim Ryan, Jim Durkin etc if this was true.===
If what I said wasn’t true, you’d never have heard of the three people you mentioned, each of whom was successful and, for crying out loud, JBT just got elected again to statewide office. Sheesh.
Moderate Republicans are not ALWAYS successful in Illinois, but the most succesful Illinois Republians have always been moderates.
Henry Hyde and Phil Crane look like moderates compared to some of the current crop of GOP candidates.