Kendra S. Horn: “I think each one of us in our own way and perhaps sometimes differently have seen one of the basic qualities of Ham…”

“I think each one of us in our own way and perhaps sometimes differently have seen one of the basic qualities of Ham Fish, a beloved Member of this House, and that is that he was a gentleman. He was a warm and wise man. He was compassionate. He not only cared about mankind, he also cared about his neighbors and his friends. He was decent, effective, and quiet spoken. And as many know in this Chamber, some of our most effective legislators are quiet spoken and work behind the scenes to bring people together and to build a consensus. Ham Fish had an engaging smile, and what you saw was what he was. He was not a phony. He was a person that was interested in people. And how I came to know him as a newcomer to this Chamber in 1993 was because my mother had been a devoted follower of his father. And like his differences with his father on foreign policy, I had those differences in my own family. His father was one of the great isolationists of the 1930's. My mother who had been an active seeker of world peace was a devoted isolationist, and she and Hamilton Fish's father used to exchange letters on occasion, and as most of us know, his father was going strong at 100. Ham Fish was part of an American political dynasty. Allen Nevins wrote a prize winning book on his great-grandfather, who served as Secretary of State under President Ulysses Simpson Grant. He was of our great Secretaries of State. Ham's family was grounded in public service.”