A piece of civility fell by the wayside last week.
For those who play around the edges of politics, finding anyone who does not view the partisan game as a blood sport is difficult.
That does not mean being unwilling to stand up for what you believe or for those you believe in. It means knowing how to make your point without all the venom that spews from too many today who feel the only way to score a political point is to destroy, humiliate or ridicule an opponent.
It has been interesting in the past several weeks to be on the receiving end of numerous pre-planned messages that want to blame all the ills in America on a political party: the Democrats.
The Democrats have not done a lot to shed the mantle of blame, but “uninformed” has a new meaning. Those who push these messages are programmed with a set of talking points and are stymied when confronted with facts.
Americans may have a short memory, but the beginning of the process of turning over the free enterprise system came in the final months of the Bush administration. Ask John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee in 2008. Those are facts not spoon-fed to those who either are in denial or want to be.
All things good or bad in the country are not easily laid at the feet of a political party or label.
There are good men and women who have partisan allegiances, but those perspectives do not prevent them from being able to reach beyond political blinders.
One case in point is Jody Powell, who died last week.
He was a partisan but not of the loud, boisterous type. He was a Democrat. He worked hard for Jimmy Carter and continued doing so long after his time in the White House ended. He held certain beliefs and never forgot those who shaped his life. President Carter was one of those who clearly molded a young man from Vienna, Ga. In a different time, Jody would have been an extraordinary professor of American history. He was, but you did not receive college credit for his lessons.
Jody’s life took a different path that led him to the Statehouse in Georgia and the White House in Washington. But he never forgot how he got there or from where he came.
His Southern drawl and quick wit could be disarming, but he never shied from pointing out the obvious or a nuance.
In a town that rewards those who bail out to make money off their connections, Jody Powell was willing to stand with the man who gave him the ticket to Washington, even 28 years after that man left the White House. He defended President Carter against attacks from the McCain campaign in the 2008 race.
The Jody Powells are the exception in Washington. My wish was that there had been more time to learn from him.
We briefly worked together in 1987 before President Reagan asked former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker to be his chief of staff. When Sen. Baker was accepted, he asked me to join him at the White House.
Jody and I talked that afternoon in February 1987 when Sen. Baker took on a new role, and we continued our discussions for the next 18 months.
He had flourished in the White House crucible, as tough an experience as there is. After deciding to stay on as communications director in the Reagan White House, I sought Jody’s advice and counsel to handle the pressures that came with the job. We never worried about Democrats or Republicans or who had more votes in Congress or thought they better represented the conscience of the country. It was a series of conversations on American government and what it meant to be an occupant, if only for a brief time, in the crucible of democracy.
We discussed how things get done, how to work through the tussles inside and outside the administration, and how not to lose perspective on self.
We were friends of different political persuasions, but we wanted to find workable solutions to problems answered by more than partisan rhetoric.
As I wrestled with the decision to remain in the White House in those early months of 1987, Jody went to work. He launched a full-court press with buttons, a Washington Post article, even a video encouraging my release from the bowels of the White House.
Years later we talked about his 1987 campaign to “free Tommy Griscom.”
He was sincere in hoping to continue something we started months earlier. But he also said there was no better way to assist me in deciding whether I wanted to get back into public service. He said the right decision was to stay.
He is my friend.
I wish I had been able to have him as a college instructor. But I earned credits from him of a different kind.
God bless you, Jody Powell.
To reach Tom Griscom, call 423-757-6472 or e-mail tgriscom@timesfreepress.com.
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