Conservatism properly understood includes moderation, former Tennessee Gov., U.S. Secretary of Education and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander told the Downtown Rotary Club on Thursday.
In a conversation with former Chattanooga Mayor and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, Alexander emphasized politics as a means to an end and the importance of listening and bipartisanship. Corker, who served with Alexander in the U.S. Senate for 12 years, peppered him with questions about his life in public office, recounted in the recent release of Alexander’s book, “The Education of a Senator, from JFK to Trump.”
Alexander, a Republican who served in public office under administrations from President Richard Nixon to the first term of President Donald Trump, said he learned to be an eloquent listener from U.S. Sen. Howard Baker. Alexander worked on Baker’s historic 1966 U.S. Senate campaign, when Baker became the first popularly elected Republican senator from Tennessee.
(READ MORE: Former governor, retiring U.S. Sen. Alexander aimed ‘high’ and often hit his mark)
“So, Howard taught me the other fellow might be right,” Alexander said to the room of Rotary members and their guests at the Chattanooga Convention Center. “He taught me that the Senate is a place based entirely on relationships, so I just watched him and how he dealt with other people and how he got results, and he did it in an ethical way.”