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Outpost:  Who is Cecil Andrus?  |
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jenbove
Moderator
320 Posts
Jennifer
Calico Rock
AR
USA
320 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 14 2008 : 12:15:06 PM
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"Cecil Andrus: A class act plays on"
The Oregonian, January 19, 2006
By Steve Duin
In a perfect world, you'd follow Cecil Andrus and his German shorthair, Jake, up to one of those rocky ridge lines where the chukar hide, cursing the climb and that tough ol' bird (the chukar, not the former Idaho governor). "They're so tough to kill," Andrus says, "that when you get one, it's almost a feeling of revenge."
In a perfect world, you'd join Andrus on that World War II minesweeper he once contemplated buying to take out every fishnet and dam on the Columbia and Snake rivers, securing a salmon solution that doesn't keep the "gains flowing downstream, where most of the people live, and pains staying
upstream."
In a perfect world, Andrus would still be leading this region by example. In the world at large, we'll have to settle for this evening with the man at the 2006 Sustainable Northwest winter dinner.
At 74, Andrus has lost little of his energy, blunt eloquence or unapologetic passion for the Northwest. The four-term governor and former secretary of the Interior under Jimmy Carter, he spends his time directing the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State and counseling the Gallatin Group on environmental and land-use issues. He also has lent his name to a leadership award that, reflecting his style, honors the inclination to solve problems rather than exploit them.
Andrus governed Idaho from 1971 through 1977, then after his stint in the Carter administration, returned to office in 1987 for two additional terms. A conservationist in a conservative state - so conservative that he needed five years to convince the Legislature that kindergarten wasn't a communist plot to remove impressionable 5-year-olds from hearth and home - Andrus was a tireless advocate for salmon recovery, job creation, the Alaska wilderness
and coalition building.
He had a gift for campaigning and politics. In his 1998 book, "Cecil
Andrus: Politics Western Style," he writes about the need to cultivate a "modest aspect of menace," invest your popularity in the issues that might end it and play the bad guy when such dramatics are required to forge peace between natural combatants.
What Andrus didn't grasp by instinct, he learned from such iconic senators as Frank Church, Mark Hatfield and Henry 'Scoop" Jackson. "Why did the
Northwest contribute people of such independence, foresight and
contrariness?" Andrus wrote in 1998.
An equally compelling question would be when those contributions came to an end. Andrus argues that the "exodus of Northwest political giants began in 1968" when Bob Packwood took out Wayne Morse: "Packwood . seemed to set ground rules for the modern business of politics: Stand for only one thing, re-election."
"Fewer and fewer people go to work to solve problems. Frank Church was a solver. So was Henry Jackson . We need more people deserving of a place in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. I'm hard put to think of any incumbent senator or congressman from the Northwest who belongs there."
Andrus is unsparing in his political appraisals. "George W. is the most wild-eyed liberal spender and deficit creator in the history of the White House," he said Tuesday. "The path he's leading us down is an absolute disaster." And he is painfully silent about the quality of leadership he's seen in these parts of late.
In a perfect world, Cecil Andrus would still be governor, still reminding us we can do better, still bringing the mad dogs to the table to break bread or break heads.
In the world as it is, he's chasing chukar, hunting elk in Idaho's national forest, sneaking off to one of the greatest trout fishing holes in the state and keeping perfectly quiet on its whereabouts.
Jen
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idcityrose
True Blue Farmgirl
202 Posts
Rose
Idaho City
Idaho
USA
202 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2008 : 08:03:12 AM
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I am so proud that Idaho has had such great leaders as Cecil Andrus. He was truly a representative for the people. It was a sad day when he did not get re-elected.
Frank Church announced his candidacy for President of the United States in 1976 at the courthouse in Idaho City where I work. We now have a bronze plaque commemorating this event on the front of the Courthouse with his picture and it reads:
"It's never too late-nor are the odds ever too great-to try, in that Spirit the West was won, and in that Spirit I now declare my candidacy for the President of the United States."
U.S. Senator
Frank Church
March 18, 1976
at this place
I am pretty proud of that as well. The town was full of people that day, and it was a time before all the security. On another note John F. Kennedy made an appearance at the Boise airport and our church class went to see him. I will never forget that event as well, nor where I was when he was assasinated.
Great people, thanks for printing that article!
idcityrose-Sisterhood number #53
We are never alone in the forest of Sisters! We "Mountain Farmgirls" are outstanding in our field! |
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MaryJane
Queen Bee
16458 Posts
MaryJane
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16458 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2008 : 08:11:18 AM
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Good morning dear Rose. Thanks for sharing Lisa Marie and Felicia with us!!!
I second that PROUD Idahoan theme!!! Meeting "Cece" in person two weeks ago was a dream come true for me.
MaryJane, Farmgirl #1 Plowin' Thru ~ giving aprons a good wrap for 45 years and counting ~
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Outpost: Who is Cecil Andrus? |
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Who is Cecil Andrus?
