Jack Kemp 1935-2009
I grew up a Buffalo Bills fan so I first heard of Kemp about 1962, the year he received his draft notice for service in Viet Nam. He flunked his physical with a bad knee, but started four games for the Bills that year and was selected for the AFL All Star Team. (This draft thing came from WIKI, the way I remember it, he got called up with the Guard or Reserve in 1965 for the Dominican Republic invasion, but couldn’t serve because he had tennis elbow. That year he won the AFL Championship with the Bills, and was named MVP. Anybody?)
It was tough to be a Kemp fan in those days because he was starting ahead of Daryle Lamonica, who finally escaped the Bills to become a star for the Oakland Raiders, where he was a two-time MVP and three-time All Star, retiring with a 78% winning percentage, second best in NFL history.
But even as Kemp led the Bills to two AFL Championships, he was reading Barry Goldwater and Ayn Rand. Upon retirement from football, he got himself elected to Congress from New York’s 39th district.
In those days, I would see him when he attended Kiwanis Club luncheons at the Roycroft Inn. I would be working the service bar in Hubbard Hall when he showed up, the first blow-dried Republican with his helmet of hair sprayed in place to look like JFK. He would say a few words, and then show some old football films to the suburban bozos nursing their bar-pour manhattans.
Kemp was a solid vote for Nixon in those days so, being draft age myself, I voted against him over and over again.
Kemp ran for president in 1988, coming in fourth on Super Tuesday behind George Bush, Bob Dole, and Pat Robertson. He then served as HUD Secretary under Bush. In 1996 he ran for vice-president on a ticket with Bob Dole, winning his first vote from me.
Despite being a supply-sider, Kemp was known as a fiscal conservative. He was a moderate on many social issues. His views on race grew out of his experience playing on integrated football teams. Likewise, as a co-founder of the AFL Players Association, he had pro-labor views compared to many Republicans. After politics, he prospered on the speaking circuit, served on corporate Boards of Directors, and did consulting work around Washington.
Kemp died May 2nd in Bethesda Maryland, at the age of 73.
posted by Julia B. @ 10:03 PM
3 Comments:
and from this fan, his football career still seems to outshine his political...
He would say a few words, and then show some old football films to the suburban bozos nursing their bar-pour manhattans...
God, I love your writing.
A Letter To My Grandchildren
by Jack Kemp
kemppartners.com
Excerpt:
Dear Kemp grandchildren -- all 17 of you: My first thought last week upon learning that a 47-year-old
African-American Democrat had won the presidency was, "Is this a great country or not?"
You may have expected your grandfather to be disappointed that his friend John McCain lost (and I was),
but there's a difference between disappointment over a lost election and the historical perspective of a
monumental event in the life of our nation.
Just think, a little over 40 years ago, blacks had trouble even voting, much less running for high office.
A little over 40 years ago, in some parts of America, blacks couldn't eat, sleep or even get a drink of
water using facilities available to everyone else in the public sphere...
Next year, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. I'm serving to help raise funds
for this historic occasion. President-elect Obama's honoring of Lincoln in many of his speeches reminds us of
how vital it is to elevate these ideas and ideals to our nation's consciousness and inculcate his principles
at a time of such great challenges and even greater opportunities.
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