Political Quotes

“the Nation recently lost two distinguished former members of this body. I join those who mourn former Senate majority leader Howard Baker of Tennessee, and former Senator Alan Dixon of Illinois. And I am reminded by their passing of the passing of an era they helped forge, one in which elected officials of strong opinions but good will sought to accommodate the diverse viewpoints of this great Nation, rather than using them to divide our people and obstruct the operations of government. Howard Baker became known as ``the Great Conciliator.'' I am one of the few members of the current Senate who served alongside him. We came from different places, and from different political traditions. We saw the world differently. But I knew him, as all who worked with him knew him, as someone who would fight for his positions but also work to understand the positions of others. He described himself as a moderate at a time when that word wasn't out of fashion. And that moderation and sense of fairness are what guided him as he helped guide the Nation through one of the most searing experiences in our history, the Watergate scandal. As the ranking Republican on the Senate committee investigating the scandal, he was a calm, collected, comforting presence at a time of great tumult.…”