TOUGH BACK THEN, TOO

I see it has been exactly two months since I posted anything. Here are some thoughts for now.

I recall that when psychics were weighing in on the upcoming 1960 presidential race, one of them predicted that New York's new liberal governor Nelson Rockefeller would be the Republican nominee and strangely added that his runningmate would be a Democrat, Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams. Well, both were political royalty and exciting. But the GOP would not have put Williams -- or even Rockefeller, as it turned out -- on their ticket.

Williams was 49 in 1960 and had been elected to six two-year terms as gov, a most successful vote-getter in then-Republican Michigan. Just as the New York governor was "Rocky," Williams was "Soapy," an old nickname derived from his being an heir to the Mennen skin-care fortune. (If curious about him, check out the Thomas J. Noer biography, Soapy.)

These two men were handsome and dynamic. They had the glamor conferred by old money. Theirs was first-rate personal charisma. They were tireless, dauntless campaigners and relentless optimists. Both wanted to be president because of what they could do with the job. Had movie star pizzazz been what it took, they would have been.

Williams was a big man, slender but broad-shouldered, with a shock of dark hair. Alongside the average-sized Rockefeller, he would have made him look short. He had a distinctive face with large, clear eyes and a big mouth that spread his sharp nose and formed an easy and infectious grin.

For Williams civil rights was the overriding issue, central not only to our society's rightful destiny but to our ability to keep the Third World from going Communist. He was hard on fellow Dems such as JFK and Adlai Stevenson, who took a cautious or nuanced approached to it. He could be inflexible and self-righteous.

Soapy was more consistently and boldly liberal than just about anybody. And it was entirely genuine. He was a deeply religious Episcopalian who attended mass every morning and thought in terms of the Social Gospel, bringing the kingdom of God to earth. His earnestness and his aristocratic background existed in tension with a somewhat cornball persona: he always wore a green polkadot bowtie and loved to call square dances. Colorful though he was, as a speaker he was boring.

Always out in front of the pack, Williams advocated a worldwide New Deal. When he was through as governor, he was appointed our ambassador-at-large to Africa, where he denounced imperialism and demanded "Africa for the Africans," angering many here and in Europe but helping America's image and influence there.

The Michigan legislature was long Gerrymandered so that rural Repubs had very disproportionate power. They used it to block the administration's agenda. As time passed and he won re-election by wider margins, they had to give way somewhat. But they were unprepared to acknowledge that the state required action and new taxes to meet its expanding needs.

After his '58 re-election, the governor, having borrowed considerable money to get things done,
asked for a graduated income tax as the lone fair recourse. The legislature held out for a hike in the regressive sales tax. Williams dug in, calling their bluff. And Michigan went bankrupt.

That ended the talk of him for president. The Republicans, national as well as state, were eager to do to Soapy Williams what they are now so eager to do to Barack Obama. Obama is not nearly as liberal as Williams was, but no matter. The opposition will gladly hurt all of us if it will defeat him.

While Gerhard Mennen Williams never made it to the White House, he did move things along: in Michigan, in Africa, and in the Democratic party. In the end that, and not personal ambition, is what matters. And he knew it.