On the recordJanuary 22, 2015
I was saddened to learn today of the death of Senator Wendell Ford of Kentucky. Wendell Ford was a skilled political mind and as warm a human being as any U.S. Senator has ever been. During my first 2 years in the U.S. Senate, Senator Ford was the assistant Democratic leader, the same job I have today. I was fortunate, able to learn by example from one of the best. And how fortunate the people of Kentucky and all Americans were to have had the benefit of Wendell Ford's public service. Senator Ford served in the Senate for nearly a quarter of a century. Before that, he served the Bluegrass State as a State senator, Governor, and lieutenant governor. He defended America in uniform during World War II. Maybe because he had already accomplished so much before he came to the Senate, he never worried about headlines. Instead, he was content to work quietly, diligently, effectively--often with colleagues from across the aisle--to solve problems. The last desk Senator Ford occupied in the Senate was once occupied by another great Kentucky Senator, ``the great compromiser'' Henry Clay. Like Henry Clay, Wendell Ford believed that compromise was honorable and necessary in a democracy. But Wendell Ford also understood that compromise is, in Henry Clay's words, ``negotiated hurt.'' So Wendell Ford tried, whenever possible, to work out disagreements between the scenes, away from the cameras, where Senators could bend and still keep their dignity.…
