Cord Byrd: “I was sad to learn that Richard Darman passed away last week. Mr. Darman was a good man, an outstanding public servant…”

“I was sad to learn that Richard Darman passed away last week. Mr. Darman was a good man, an outstanding public servant, and a great American. I liked him very much. Dick Darman was a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Business School whose career in Washington spanned two and a half decades. He served in five Presidential administrations and worked in six Cabinet departments and the White House. Mr. Darman was a player in many of the important events of the last quarter of the 20th Century. While serving in the Justice Department, he helped arrange the plea bargain that eased Vice President Spiro T. Agnew out of office. Along with his boss, Attorney General Elliot Richardson, he was a victim of the infamous Saturday Night Massacre of the Watergate era. He served in the Reagan administration, eventually rising to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, where he helped formulate the economic policies of the Reagan revolution and helped negotiate the 1986 Tax Reform Act. And he served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the administration of the first President Bush. It was during the 1990 budget summit that I really came to know and respect Mr. Darman. I quickly learned that Budget Director Darman was a pragmatist and a realist, who was opposed to budget gimmicks and simple and easy solutions to our Nation's fiscal woes.”