Jack Kemp (1935-2009)
One of the more prominent Republicans of the Reagan era has now joined the Gipper in the giant political arena in the sky. Former football star, Republican congressman, presidential candidate, HUD secretary and 1996 vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp passed away on Saturday at the age of 73 after a bout with cancer.
Jack Kemp's life began on July 13, 1935 in Los Angeles, the son of a trucking company owner and a Spanish teacher. Growing up as part of a Christian Science family in the predominantly Jewish Wilshire district, Kemp attended the then-heavily Jewish Fairfax High School and preferred to read books on history and philosophy in his spare time. After graduating in 1953, Kemp chose to attend Occidental College -- which used formations common in professional football -- having considered himself too small (5-10/175) for the football programs at USC and UCLA. A 1957 graduate of Occidental who later married his college sweetheart (the former Joanne Main), Kemp set records in javelin and played a number of football positions, most prominently at quarterback.
Jack Kemp's pro football career began in 1957, as a 17th-round NFL Draft pick of the Detroit Lions, only to be cut from the team before the start of the season. After brief stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers -- the latter two as part of taxi squads, as well as additional stints as an Army Reservist and a CFL player (the Calgary Stampeders), Kemp was signed in 1960 as a free agent with the AFL's Los Angeles Chargers. That year, Kemp led the Chargers to the AFL Championship (losing to the Houston Oilers), presiding over a high-scoring offense. After the Chargers moved to San Diego the following year, Kemp led his team to an AFL Championship rematch with the Oilers (who again defeated the Chargers).
But that wasn't the last of Jack Kemp the quarterback. In 1962, the Buffalo Bills claimed Kemp on a spectacular waiver fee of $100. While he solved a much-needed deficiency for the Bills at quarterback, Kemp was not particularly thrilled with the move to western New York. After injuries bogged him down early on, he helped the Bills win three of their last four games of the 1962 season. Beginning in 1963, Kemp and newly acquired former Notre Dame quarterback Daryle Lamonica began a battle for starting quarterback that culminated in two AFL championships for the Bills in 1964 and 1965 (Lamonica later left after four seasons for the Oakland Raiders). Kemp ended his career in 1969, having compiled 114 touchdowns and 183 interceptions for 21,218 yards and a QB rating of 57.3 throughout his career.
Yet Kemp still had not yet reached his 15 minutes of fame. As his career on the gridiron came to a close, Erie County Republican Party officials recruited Kemp, who had previous brushes with politics -- including stints as a volunteer for the campaigns of Barry Goldwater in 1964 (for President) and Ronald Reagan in 1966 (for Governor of California) -- and footed his intellectual attributes in the readings of libertarian and conservative stalwarts such as Goldwater and others, to run for the 39th District in New York, based in a traditionally Democratic suburban portion of the Buffalo area known as the Southtowns. This campaign proved successful, and Kemp served in the district from 1971 to 1989.
While his voting record was generally conservative, it contained a noticeable maverick streak. The "bleeding-heart conservative" championed fiscal policies attributed to supply-side and Chicago economics, including free markets and simplifying of the tax code as well as support for a flat tax, and also expressed support for civil rights legislation, public housing enterprise zones, and the gold standard. In fact, one of the most significant pieces of tax cut legislation linked to President Reagan's legacy is the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, also known as the Kemp-Roth Tax Cut, which passed to the consternation of majority Democrats such as Dan Rostenkowski, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee whose own career ended over a decade later in scandal.
In 1988, Kemp ran for President, and would have become the first member of the House of Representatives to move into the White House since James Garfield. Despite assembling a potpourri of supporters who were drawn to his campaign for various reasons to varying degrees, Kemp ended up losing to the eventual Presidential nominee, Vice President George H.W. Bush, in part due to his relatively libertarian social stances which put Kemp at odds with social conservatives and Religious Right activists who flocked to televangelist Pat Robertson that year. Following the landslide election of Bush 41, Kemp became Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with the promise of implementing the enterprise zones and tenant ownership initiatives that he championed in Congress.
Kemp brought a much needed breath of fresh air to HUD following the controversy surrounding his predecessor Samuel Pierce, as corrupt programs were either restructured or closed entirely and anti-drug and anti-gun measures were enacted. But Kemp faced obstacles that ultimately resulted in his failure to accomplish his intended goals, from the Democratic-controlled Congress restricting his proposed $4 billion tenant ownership proposal to a mere $361 million, to constant battles with the Bush 41 Cabinet and the advent of the Persian Gulf War, which resulted in a disproportionate amount of funding going to defense needs. This, along with Bush 41's reluctance to support such a plan, marked Kemp's tenure at HUD unsuccessful, even though many states created empowerment zones eventually.
Following Bush 41's defeat at the hands of Bill Clinton in 1992, Jack Kemp was viewed as a top candidate of choice for the Presidential nomination in 1996. Despite Republicans gaining control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the Eisenhower Administration, Kemp ultimately decided against such a bid, and it was not surprising given that the selection process by this time had become so controversial that many prominent Republicans such as Colin Powell eventually decided against such a run. Despite this, Kemp eventually became the Vice Presidential running mate to the eventual Republican nominee, Senator Bob Dole, a deficit hawk and proponent of balanced budgets. Many Republican strategists hoped the selection of Kemp would draw conservative and libertarian votes to the more moderate Dole. The ticket proved unsuccessful at the polls, as Clinton was heavily re-elected to a second term.
Since then, Jack Kemp served on a number of political, corporate and advisory boards, chaired an NFL advocacy group promoting amateur football, and founded and chaired Kemp Partners, a consulting firm focused on business and public policy consultancy. Kemp's advocacy following the 1996 election ranged from opposition to abortion and support for immigration reform to health concerns regarding retired NFL veterans, and the Jack F. Kemp Institute of Political Economy at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy was established to house Kemp's papers and fund annual lectures, among other initiatives.
In addition to his wife Joanne, Jack was a father to four children: two sons -- both former pro football quarterbacks -- and two daughters, who combined have also contributed 17 grandchildren.
Jack Kemp's own life story carries a lot of similiarities to my own personal life story. He was a person whose father worked hard to make a name for himself as a trucking company entrepreneur, read a variety of books on many topics, charted an unusual voting record in Congress, and put his constituents' needs and the future of America ahead of himself. I have never worked for anyone other than my own family, have sophisticated intellectual and cultural tastes, and if I were to be elected to Congress one of these days, I would chart a voting record highly reminiscent of what Jack Kemp compiled, and put the needs of constituents and the country at large -- as well as my shining vision of the future of America -- ahead of myself. This coming from yours truly, a person who does not put balanced budgets ahead of tax cuts or tax cuts ahead of balanced budgets -- but rather balanced budgets with pro-growth tax measures (a flat tax is one example), zero deficit spending, and restrictions of spending to what unites us as Americans (you will have to ask me what I mean by that).
Given that I hail from Fort Bend, a place noted for its wealthy master-planned communities, relatively conservative economic bent, significant base of families with children, and presence of a wide variety of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds, this would have been the kind of place that Jack Kemp would have been proud to represent - a true reflection of 21st Century America and the kind of place that should be representative of where the Republican Party wants to go if it wants to win back the hearts of the average American. At a time when the Republican Party is in its seemingly darkest hours, the passing of Kemp should serve as a reminder of how far the party has strayed from reality.
Jack Kemp may have gone home to a better place, but his athletic prowess, political savvy and commitment to a better America will forever live on and will never be forgotten.