All-Time, All-Star, Greatest Senate Ever

As we get ready to induct the 111th congress tomorrow, including fresh new faces like Eric Massa, Jeane Shaheen, Mark Warner, and Tom + Mark Udall, I got to wondering something.  Its one of those eccentric projects only I would think up.

What would the All-Time Greatest Senate look like?  Who are the best two people who have served from each state in the upper body of the American legislature?

1. In keeping with the senate's historic priviledging of rotten
boroughs like Delaware and Montana with equal representation as
California and New York, there's two for each state. This was tough
because some states (Mass., Minnesota, South Carolina, Arizona) have had
a multiplicity of great senators, while it was tough getting two decent ones for
some states, including a couple that have been around from the beginning
(New Jersey, Maryland).  For this reason, I gave the states producing more talented senators honorable mentions.

2. A number of criteria were used and sometimes they are deeply
contradictory. But doing something- anything- of distinction was key
for me. Service to their state, advocating a given issue particularly well, participating in the major debates of the day, getting their name attached to key
legislation, understanding cloakroom intrigue- all this helped.
Mere longevity doesn't guarantee inclusion in this list (as Ted Stevens found
out), but it doesn't hurt- each senator must have been in there for a
minimum of 8 years.

3. Accordingly, a number of senators made the list whom I utterly hate
(Strom Thurmond, James Eastland, Jesse Helms), as did others whom I dislike in a more
chipper fashion (Barry Goldwater).  But I drew the line at Joe McCarthy.


4. You may notice that this list heavily favors the 20th century, and
in particular, the late 20th century. This is partly because I study the
1970's, and partly because the roster of senators royally sucked until
they were popularly elected (which didn't take place until around 1920). Seriously- state legislatures seemed to
routinely appoint bottom-feeders and yes-men in 4 out of 5 cases, resulting in
serial one-term senators of limited accomplishment.

I'll be happy to answer any questions about the inclusions and
exclusions from my limited fan base. Keep in mind, I am in no way qualified to do this list, and
am engaging in an unspeakable act of intellectual hubris by posting this.

Edit: (1/6/09): As my good friend Sam pointed out, I neglected the great Senate Minority Leader, Ev Dirksen when I first posted my list.  I've since corrected this.

Alabama:

            -William Rufus King (1819-1844)

            -Oscar Underwood (1915-1927)

            -(Dis)Honorable Mentions: Richard Shelby, J. Lister Hill, John Sparkman

Alaska:

            -Ernest Gruening (1959-1969)

            -Mike Gravel (1969-1981)

Arizona:

            -Barry Goldwater (1953-1964, 1969-1987)

            -Carl Hayden (1927-1969)

            -Honorable Mentions: John McCain, Ernest McFarland

Arkansas:

            -Joseph Robinson (1913-1937)

            -J. William Fulbright (1945-1974)

            -Honorable Mention: Dale Bumpers

California:

            -Hiram Johnson (1917-1945)

            -William Knowland (1945-1959)

Connecticut:

            -Orville Platt (1879-1905)

            -Christopher Dodd (1981-Present)

Colorado:

            -Henry Moore Teller (1876-1882, 1885-1909)

            -Ben Nighthorse Campbell (1993-2005)

Delaware:

            -Joseph R. Biden Jr. (1973-2009)

            -Thomas Bayard Sr. (1869-1885)

Florida:

            -Duncan Fletcher (1909-1936)

-Claude Pepper (1936-1951)

Georgia:

            -M. Hoke Smith (1911-1921)

-Richard Russell (1933-1971)

Hawaii:

            -Hiram Fong (1959-1977)

-Daniel Inouye (1963-Present)

Idaho:

            -William Borah (1907-1940)

            -Frank Church (1957-1981)

Illinois:

            -Stephen Douglas (1847-1861)

            -Everett Dirksen (1951-1969)

            -Honorable Mentions: Shelby Collum, Paul Douglas, Lyman Trumbull, Charles Percy, Paul Simon

Indiana:

            -Albert Beveridge (1899-1911)

            -Birch Bayh (1963-1981)

            -Honorable Mentions: Oliver Morton, Richard Lugar

Iowa:

            -Albert B. Cummins (1908-1926)

            -Jonathan Dolliver (1900-1910)

Kansas:

            -Charles Curtis  (1915-1929)

            -Robert J. Dole (1969-1996)

Kentucky:

            -Henry Clay (1806-1807, 1831-1842, 1849-1852)

            -John Crittenden (1817-9, 1835-41, 1842-8, 1855-61)

            -Honorable Mentions: Alben Barkley, John Sherman Cooper

Louisiana:

            -Judah Benjamin (1853-1861)

-Allen Ellender (1937-1972)

-Honorable Mention: Russell Long

Maryland:

            -James Pearce (1843-1862)

            -Millard Tydings (1927-1951)

Massachusetts:

            -Daniel Webster (1827-1841, 1845-1850)

            -Charles Sumner (1851-1874)

            -Honorable Mentions: Ted Kennedy, Henry Cabot Lodge, John Quincy Adams

Maine:

            -Margaret Chase Smith (1949-1973)

            -Eugene Hale (1881-1911)

            -Honorable Mentions: Edmund Muskie. Hannibal Hamlin

Michigan:

            -Zachariah Chandler (1857-1875, 1879)

            -Arthur Vandenburg (1928-1951)

            Honorable Mentions: Phil Hart, Lewis Cass

Minnesota:

            -Hubert H. Humphrey (1949-64, 1971-8)

            -Walter F. Mondale (1964-1976)

            -Honorable Mentions: Eugene McCarthy, William Windom

Mississippi:

            -John Stennis (1947-1989)

            -James O. Eastland (1941, 1943-1978)

            -(Dis)honorable Mentions: Theodore Bilbo, Thad Cochran

Missouri:

            -Thomas Hart Benton (1821-1851)

            -David Atchison (1844-1855)

            -Honorable Mentions: Harry Truman, Stuart Symington

Montana:

            -Burton Wheeler (1923-1947)

            -Mike Mansfield (1953-1977)

Nebraska:

            -George Norris (1913-1943)

            -Roman Hruska (1954-1976)

Nevada:

            -William Stewart (1864-1875, 1887-1905)

            -Paul Laxalt (1974-1987)

New Hampshire:

            -John Langdon (1789-1801)

            -John Hale (1847-1853, 1855-1865)

            -Honorable Mention: Styles Bridges

New Jersey:

            -Samuel L. Southard (1821-1823, 1833-1842)

            -Clifford Case (1955-1979)

New York:

            -Robert Wagner (1927-1949)

            -Roscoe Conkling (1867-1881)

            -Honrable Mention: Daniel Moynihan, Jacob Javits, Martin Van Buren

New Mexico:

            -Clinton Anderson (1949-1973)

            -Pete Domenici (1973-2009)

North Carolina:

            -Nathaniel Macon (1815-1828)

            -Jesse Helms (1973-2003)

            -Honorable Mentions: Willie Magnum, Sam Ervin

North Dakota:

            -Gerald Nye (1925-1945)

            -Quentin Burdick (1960-1992)

Ohio:

            -Robert A. Taft (1939-1953)

            -John Sherman (1861-77, 1881-97)

            -Honorable Mentions: Benjamin Wade

Oklahoma:

            -Thomas Gore (1907-21, 1931-7)

-Robert Kerr (1949-1963)

-Honorable Mention: Don Nickles, Robert Owen

Oregon:

            -Charles McNary (1917-1944)

            -Mark O. Hatfield (1967-1997)

Pennsylvania:

            -Simon Cameron (1845-9, 1857-61, 1867-77)

            -Philander Knox (1904-9, 1917-21)

            -Honorable Mentions: James Buchanan, Arlen Specter

Rhode Island:

            -Nelson W. Aldrich (1881-1911)

            -Claiborne Pell (1961-1997)

South Carolina:

            -John C. Calhoun (1832-43, 1845-50)

            -Strom Thurmond (1954-2003)

            -(Dishonorable) Mentions: Ben Tillman, James Byrnes, Ellison Smith, Andrew Butler

South Dakota:

            -Peter Norbeck (1921-1936)

            -George McGovern (1963-1981)

            -Honorable Mentions: Tom Daschle, Karl Mundt

Texas:

            -Sam Houston (1846-1859)

            -Lyndon B. Johnson (1949-1961)

            -Honorable Mentions: Lloyd Bentsen, John Tower, Charles Culberson, Tom Connally

Tennessee:

            -John Bell (1847-1859)

            -Howard Baker (1967-1985)

            -Honorable Mention: Kenneth McKellar

Utah:

            -Reed Smoot (1903-1933)

-Orrin Hatch (1977-Present)

Vermont:

            -George F. Edmunds (1866-1891)

            -George Aiken (1941-1975)

Virginia:

            -Carter Glass (1920-1946)

            -Harry Byrd, Sr. (1933-1965)

            -Honorable Mentions: John Tyler, William Giles

Washington:

            -Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson (1953-1983)

            -Warren Magnuson (194-1981)

West Virginia:

            -Harley Kilgore (1941-1956)

-Robert C. Byrd (1959-Present)

Wisconsin:

            -Robert La Follete (1905-1925)

            -Russ Feingold (1993-Present)

Wyoming:

            -Gale McGee (1959-1977)

-Clifford Hansen (1967-1978)

Is Paul the real 'Political Beatle'?

So, it looks like England's favorite Southpaw, Paul McCartney, has been in the news today?  What for, you ask?  For claiming that he, not John, was the real 'Political Beatle'.

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To the uninitiated, this may seem like utter blasphemy. 

But, you might say to yourself, didn't John write overtly political songs like 'Give Peace a Chance', 'Revolution' 'All You Need Is Love', 'Power to the People' and 'Imagine'?  Those of you more well-versed in Lennon lore might also add 'John Sinclair', 'I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier', 'Gimme Some Truth', and 'Woman Is the Nigger of the World' to this repertoire.  Inversely, you might argue, didn't Paul write lachrymose ballads such as 'Yesterday', 'Let It Be', 'My Love', and 'Eleanor Rigby'?  Again, the hardcore Beatles devotees might also have included 'Golden Slumbers', 'Calico Skies', 'Your Loving Flame', and 'Wanderlust' to the canon.

Well, that's true, but that's hardly the complete story.  The incredulity many readers might have toward conceptualizing McCartney as 'The Political Beatle', or for that matter, 'A Political Beatle', highlights the John-Paul dichotomy among Beatles fans that ultimately does justice to neither man.  McCartney himself, in the link posted above, makes a persuasive case that he opposed and spoke out against Vietnam before anybody else, playing the Wayne Morse to Lennon's Eugene McCarthy. 

That John Lennon

Currently Reading The Man in the High Castle By Philip K. Dick see related

Yes, my friends, the blog is back!!

In announcing this, I can't help but be reminded of a scene from the seminal mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap.  The band, beleaguered but still trudging along, tells their audience they are witnesses to 'Spinal Tap Mark 2', switching from heavy medal to meanderous jazz, while playing to a half-filled zoo amphitheater, second on the bill to a puppet show.

So, this is the Pope Charming Blog, Mark 2, writing for a depleted audience, and radically different from the previous posts in style.

Why blog again after almost a year?  Now that my doctoral exams are over, I find myself with more time to reflect, brood, create, and most importantly of all, pontifficate.  More to the point, now that I'm not reading 1.3 books a day, and am off on my research year, my life has finally become interesting enough to write about again.

Ergo, check back to my blog often.  There will be lots of updates on my work, if anybody is interested, but also more political, and occassionally religious, commentary. 

On to South Dakota!!

I'm done blogging.  With comprehensive exams coming up, my free time is becoming increasingly scarce.  Ergo, I'm shutting this down, as soon as I can figure out the quickest, cheapest way to export all my posts onto my computer.

Currently Reading Dominance without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India (Convergences: Inventories of the Present) By Ranajit Guha see related

Far be it for me to gloat when politicians I don't like disgrace themselves.  But I'm going to make a reluctant exception for Idaho's own Larry Craig.  I have here a humble tribute to the senator, set to the tune of  'Deck the Halls', if only because it restores the original meaning to 'fa la la la la'.

Check the Stalls for our friend Larry

Fa La La La La, La La La La

Men’s room trysts aren’t santiary

Fa La La La La, La La La La

He’s caught up in a vicious cycle

Fa La La, La La La, La La La

It’s a pain, just ask George Michael

Fa La La La La, La La La La

Always acts real stern and holy

Fa La La La La, La La La La

Will he hook up with Mark Foley?

Fa La La La La, La La La La

In the closet?  You must go-ta

Fa La La, La La La, La La La

Airport stalls in Minnesota

Fa La La La La, La La La La

Ditched his wife, could not abide her

Fa La La La La, La La La La

Put his hand ‘tween the dividers

Fa La La La La, La La La La

Tapped his right foot for elation

Fa La La, La La La, La La La

Now Craig’s at the police station

Fa La La La La, La La La La