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MortSahlFan

(55 posts)
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 08:00 PM Dec 2018

Favorite US Senator of all-time?

I'd avoid current Senators because their work isn't finished, and not enough time has been evaluated for those who've retired recentl.

For me, it's easily, Senator Eugene McCarthy, who dumped LBJ, and ran as an anti-war candidate during Vietnam, but was derailed when RFK got into the race, and when he was murdered, many dispersed all over (Humphrey, even Wallace).. That takes guts. Doing the right thing and not just to feel good for 10 minutes.

Probably the wittiest politician I've ever heard. Adlai Stevenson, too.

92 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Favorite US Senator of all-time? (Original Post) MortSahlFan Dec 2018 OP
Paul Wellstone mindem Dec 2018 #1
Yes, he was against the Iraq War MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #75
Paul Wellstone. WhiskeyGrinder Dec 2018 #2
Al Franken nt doc03 Dec 2018 #3
Russ Feingold milestogo Dec 2018 #4
+1 treestar Dec 2018 #66
Sam Houston El Supremo Dec 2018 #5
One serious resume. NT WeekiWater Dec 2018 #8
Barbara Boxer lapfog_1 Dec 2018 #6
Sen. Dianne Feinstein shenmue Dec 2018 #7
Paul Wellstone NickB79 Dec 2018 #9
Senator Robert F. Kennedy TeamPooka Dec 2018 #10
+1 Crutchez_CuiBono Dec 2018 #12
Dedicated, incredibly skilled, courageous Senator Frank Church. Judi Lynn Dec 2018 #11
Frank Church yonder Dec 2018 #50
Just thinking yesterday where we would have been without his reforms to FBI, CIA MaryMagdaline Dec 2018 #88
He was a close personal friend of my dad's DFW Dec 2018 #90
RFK...my eternal political hero, first on list lastlib Dec 2018 #13
RFK and John Glenn EffieBlack Dec 2018 #14
You must have stopped paying attention to McCarthy after 1968 grantcart Dec 2018 #15
You say erratic, I say independent, which I prefer. MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #70
Have to recuse myself DFW Dec 2018 #16
Your list is terrific. I like all those people. StevieM Dec 2018 #22
I never met him, but heard he was an interesting man. n/t DFW Dec 2018 #24
Had A Pal Who Took His Classes At SIU ProfessorGAC Dec 2018 #83
Bobby killed John? Hamlette Dec 2018 #44
By the way, welcome to D.U., MortSahlFan. Judi Lynn Dec 2018 #17
Thank you :) MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #78
THANKS for the question, 'Mort,' and welcome. elleng Dec 2018 #18
Thank you :) MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #79
Me too. I worked for Clean Gene when I got back wasupaloopa Dec 2018 #19
I bet it felt good MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #74
I had turned against the war while I was in Vietnam. I got out in March 1968 and McCarthy was saying wasupaloopa Dec 2018 #92
Bobby Kennedy Raine Dec 2018 #20
Daniela Kaniela Akaka mahina Dec 2018 #21
I think Al Gore has to be number one for one simple reason: StevieM Dec 2018 #23
Frank Church jmowreader Dec 2018 #25
Strong second for Sen. Church CabalPowered Dec 2018 #49
George Mitchell mainer Dec 2018 #26
Ted Kennedy Va Lefty Dec 2018 #27
Yes! Ted Kennedy. Had all the riches in the world Laura PourMeADrink Dec 2018 #38
Teddy Kennedy, the Lion of the Senate Raine Dec 2018 #63
Too many to list! Lifelong Protester Dec 2018 #28
Mine is Hillary Clinton .... CatMor Dec 2018 #29
She was a terrific senator. (eom) StevieM Dec 2018 #36
HHH brooklynite Dec 2018 #30
Lyndon Johnson. muntrv Dec 2018 #31
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Dec 2018 #55
We lost that election...sounds kind of divisive...Sherrod Brown although he is in office. Demsrule86 Dec 2018 #32
Thaddeus Stevens. raging moderate Dec 2018 #33
he wasn't a senator Hamlette Dec 2018 #45
Ted Kennedy ooky Dec 2018 #72
Wellstone dae Dec 2018 #34
The Dean of Senate Women of both parties: Barbara Mikulski. Stinky The Clown Dec 2018 #35
William Proxmire of Wisconsin Poiuyt Dec 2018 #37
My vote also. He spent $250 dollars on one reelection campaign. FSogol Dec 2018 #86
Russ Feingold lordsummerisle Dec 2018 #39
Wayne Morse, Oregon jalan48 Dec 2018 #40
He's my favorite as well. WheelWalker Dec 2018 #58
ditto n/t blitzen Dec 2018 #61
I'd add Morse, Gruening, Mansfield MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #76
I agree. Difficult to understand how so many on both sides of the aisle fell for the Vietnam War. jalan48 Dec 2018 #81
Paul Wellstone, with ease Polybius Dec 2018 #41
Jay Rockefeller. PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 2018 #42
George Mitchell bluedigger Dec 2018 #43
Very grateful for his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace agreement LeftishBrit Dec 2018 #71
Paul Wellstone. n/t akraven Dec 2018 #46
Mike Mansfield, Montana OregonBlue Dec 2018 #47
You got to tip your hat to Adlai Stevenson's one genuine zinger Brother Buzz Dec 2018 #48
Another Adlai zinger MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #77
Shivers? Brother Buzz Dec 2018 #84
Wayne Morse...Oregon Thunderbeast Dec 2018 #51
Yep. My favorite, easily. WheelWalker Dec 2018 #59
HIllary Clinton apcalc Dec 2018 #52
Senator Beauregard Claghorn Kablooie Dec 2018 #53
This message was self-deleted by its author geralmar Dec 2018 #54
Senator Alan Cranston, Senator Scoop Jackson, Senator Kamala Harris.. Tikki Dec 2018 #56
Al Franken 2020 ! stonecutter357 Dec 2018 #57
John Kerry AwakeAtLast Dec 2018 #60
three sitting u s senators have been assassinated in us history rampartc Dec 2018 #62
I have no answer... Mike Nelson Dec 2018 #64
Frank Church. MrScorpio Dec 2018 #65
Great Senator, Great Committee MortSahlFan Dec 2018 #69
Wellstone. JNelson6563 Dec 2018 #67
Harry Truman KBlagburn Dec 2018 #68
Harry Truman it is! dubyadiprecession Dec 2018 #87
Robert C Byrd. kentuck Dec 2018 #73
I've always had a soft spot for Sam Ervin. He was great during the Watergate hearings. catbyte Dec 2018 #80
Al Franken. He caught Sessions in a lie and caused the recusal. dem4decades Dec 2018 #82
Lloyd Bentsen. TexasTowelie Dec 2018 #85
George W. Norris Sneederbunk Dec 2018 #89
Al Franken MrGrieves Dec 2018 #91

Judi Lynn

(164,067 posts)
11. Dedicated, incredibly skilled, courageous Senator Frank Church.
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 08:30 PM
Dec 2018

His Wikipedia:

Church Committee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Church Committee report (Book I, Foreign and Military Intelligence)
The Church Committee was the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Idaho Senator Frank Church (D-ID) in 1975. The committee investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The committee was part of a series of investigations into intelligence abuses in 1975, dubbed the "Year of Intelligence", including its House counterpart, the Pike Committee, and the presidential Rockefeller Commission. The committee's efforts led to the establishment of the permanent U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Background
By the early years of the 1970s, a series of troubling revelations had appeared in the press concerning intelligence activities. First came the revelations by Army intelligence officer Christopher Pyle in January 1970 of the U.S. Army's spying on the civilian population[1][2] and Senator Sam Ervin's Senate investigations produced more revelations.[3] Then on December 22, 1974, The New York Times published a lengthy article by Seymour Hersh detailing operations engaged in by the CIA over the years that had been dubbed the "family jewels". Covert action programs involving assassination attempts on foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by intelligence agencies to collect information on the political activities of US citizens.[4]

. . .

According to recently declassified documents by the National Security Archive, the Church Committee also helped to uncover the NSA's Watch List. The information for the list was compiled into the so-called "Rhyming Dictionary" of biographical information, which at its peak held millions of names - thousands of which were US citizens. Some prominent members of this list were Joanne Woodward, Thomas Watson, Walter Mondale, Art Buchwald, Arthur F. Burns, Gregory Peck, Otis G. Pike, Tom Wicker, Whitney Young, Howard Baker, Frank Church, David Dellinger, Ralph Abernathy, and others.[11]

But among the most shocking revelations of the committee was the discovery of Operation SHAMROCK, in which the major telecommunications companies shared their traffic with the NSA from 1945 to the early 1970s. The information gathered in this operation fed directly into the Watch List. In 1975, the committee decided to unilaterally declassify the particulars of this operation, against the objections of President Ford's administration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee



Senator Frank Church

DFW

(59,884 posts)
90. He was a close personal friend of my dad's
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 05:36 PM
Dec 2018

He used to come out to our house all the time. I was too little to get much of what they were discussing, but they used to talk for hours and hours. Sometimes Forrest would come along, but the age difference was too great for us to have much in common.

lastlib

(27,820 posts)
13. RFK...my eternal political hero, first on list
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 08:32 PM
Dec 2018

EMK, Paul Wellstone, Al Franken, G. McGovern,...I could think of so many good D senators--my own state's Tom Eagleton.

Most Despised: Jesse Helms (naturally) and Strom Thurmond. Both of whose graves I want to contribute a few urine samples to, before I shuffle off this mortal coil.

grantcart

(53,061 posts)
15. You must have stopped paying attention to McCarthy after 1968
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 08:46 PM
Dec 2018

He became increasingly erratic. Supported Libertarian candidates and endorsed Ronald Reagan for President.

 

MortSahlFan

(55 posts)
70. You say erratic, I say independent, which I prefer.
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 09:52 AM
Dec 2018

I prefer someone who believes in something, rather than going along where the wind blows.

DFW

(59,884 posts)
16. Have to recuse myself
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 08:50 PM
Dec 2018

Because of my dad's job, I've known a LOT of them over the past 50 years. Two of the ones I liked personally were Republicans from NY (Jacob Javits and Charlie Goodell). Others I liked (on a personal basis): Everett Dirksen, Bobby Kennedy, Pat Moynihan, Hubert Humphrey, Frank Church, Fritz Mondale, Al Gore, Al Franken, Hillary Clinton, even Claire McCaskill. I met Mazie Hirono, but never really got to know her much. Though I never met him while he was in the Senate, I did meet LBJ, and thought he was kind of nasty, but I was just a 13 year old kid then. His wife was a delight, totally un-stuck-up, a really pleasant surprise.

Beto DOES remind me of Bobby Kennedy somewhat, but Bobby had a LOT more gravitas. I guess getting your brother assassinated and being AG going up against Jimmy Hoffa will do that to you.

I guess my favorite Senator, putting the personal stuff aside, would have to be either Bobby Kennedy, Hillary Clinton or Al Franken. Bobby and Al for their fearless outspokenness and Hillary for being such a consummate study of how to work in such a divided body, sort of what I imagine LBJ would have been like if he had been faced with as much adversity.

The trouble is that the many accomplishments of ones I never knew are no doubt buried by those of the ones I did. Ergo, I can't give an objective answer to this one. I was in the middle of too many trees to give a fair assessment of the forest.

elleng

(141,926 posts)
18. THANKS for the question, 'Mort,' and welcome.
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 09:02 PM
Dec 2018

Can't answer (yet,) as can't think of everyone, but am enjoying the discussion.

 

wasupaloopa

(4,516 posts)
92. I had turned against the war while I was in Vietnam. I got out in March 1968 and McCarthy was saying
Thu Dec 27, 2018, 01:51 AM
Dec 2018

what I wanted to here so I volunteered

StevieM

(10,578 posts)
23. I think Al Gore has to be number one for one simple reason:
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 09:18 PM
Dec 2018

He has been the most prominent voice on climate change. And that is the most important issue of our time. Actually, it is the most important issue of all time.

jmowreader

(53,006 posts)
25. Frank Church
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 09:24 PM
Dec 2018

Arguably the best politician Idaho has ever produced, Democrat Frank Church was an Army intelligence officer during World War II, which gave him the experience to lead the Church Committee's investigation into abuses in the US Intelligence Community. He also sponsored the Wilderness Act and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. He was one of the first senators to oppose the Vietnam War, and he was seen as a leader of the Democratic Party's "liberal wing."

 

Laura PourMeADrink

(42,770 posts)
38. Yes! Ted Kennedy. Had all the riches in the world
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 10:05 PM
Dec 2018

Last edited Tue Dec 25, 2018, 10:40 PM - Edit history (1)

and two brothers slain, and he could have just sailed away on a yacht ..Yet he came to the Senate every day to stand up for the little guy.

Response to muntrv (Reply #31)

Stinky The Clown

(68,941 posts)
35. The Dean of Senate Women of both parties: Barbara Mikulski.
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 09:44 PM
Dec 2018

She's still around, having made a public appearance just last night.

Poiuyt

(18,272 posts)
37. William Proxmire of Wisconsin
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 09:55 PM
Dec 2018

He never took any campaign donations (he was popular enough that he didn't need the money). Since he never took any money, he wasn't beholden to any special interests.

He was famous for his Golden Fleece award that he gave out to the most wasteful government programs.

Very anti-Vietnam war.

 

MortSahlFan

(55 posts)
76. I'd add Morse, Gruening, Mansfield
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 11:23 AM
Dec 2018

only 3 out of 435 who voted against Vietnam... The majority is wrong a majority of the time it seems.

Polybius

(21,639 posts)
41. Paul Wellstone, with ease
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 10:39 PM
Dec 2018

And worst (in my lifetime) was easily Jesse Helms. Currently, it's probably Cruz or Hyde-Smith, but Helms is 10 times worse than both combined. Perhaps Roy Moore would have eclipsed him.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(28,485 posts)
42. Jay Rockefeller.
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 10:47 PM
Dec 2018

I used to work as a ticket agent at National Airport in Washington, DC, and one day a very tall man came up to the counter, leaned down (I'm short) and explained he needed to have his and his wife's tickets rewritten because of a change in their travel plans.

He was polite and nice and it was a tricky rewrite, but he didn't send some flunky to do it, he was there himself. It was a joy to do it for him because he was so unassuming. I was always sorry he never made it to the top job.

LeftishBrit

(41,450 posts)
71. Very grateful for his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace agreement
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 10:03 AM
Dec 2018

(Now in danger from the Brexit mess)

I heard George Mitchell speak in Oxford a few months ago; very inspiring!

Brother Buzz

(39,717 posts)
48. You got to tip your hat to Adlai Stevenson's one genuine zinger
Tue Dec 25, 2018, 11:42 PM
Dec 2018

"I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them - Adlai Stevenson

My favorite senator was Barbara Boxer mostly because I followed her entire career, from her writing and reporting days at the Pacific Sun and County Board of Supervisors from the land of peacock feathers and hot tubs (Ed stiles and another Pacific Sun writer, Cyra McFadden were my friends), then on to the US house of Representative, and finally US Senate.

She may have been incredibly short, but she had spunk.

 

MortSahlFan

(55 posts)
77. Another Adlai zinger
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 11:27 AM
Dec 2018

He had so many, but during the '56 election, he walks into a church, and there's silence. Adlai asks the man in charge what's up. "We've been instructed by Normal Vincent Peale to support Eisenhower" and Adlai quipped (so fast, amazing wit)

"I find the Apostle Paul appealing, and the Apostle Peale appaling" -- got shivers just typing it!

Response to MortSahlFan (Original post)

Tikki

(15,070 posts)
56. Senator Alan Cranston, Senator Scoop Jackson, Senator Kamala Harris..
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 01:03 AM
Dec 2018

Favorites for different reasons over my life time.

Tikki

rampartc

(5,835 posts)
62. three sitting u s senators have been assassinated in us history
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 02:21 AM
Dec 2018

i'd take any one of 'em.

paul wellstone
robert kennedy
huey long

KBlagburn

(571 posts)
68. Harry Truman
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 09:15 AM
Dec 2018

2nd Choice Hillary Clinton for simply making history as the only sitting first lady to simultaneously be a sitting U.S. Senator

kentuck

(115,283 posts)
73. Robert C Byrd.
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 10:11 AM
Dec 2018

Because he was able to overcome the influence of the KKK in his early life and became one of the great leaders ever in the US Senate, unlike some that clung to their racism and old traditions. Also, he was one of the greatest orators ever. He reminded me of the Senators from Roman times, like Cicero.

dem4decades

(13,875 posts)
82. Al Franken. He caught Sessions in a lie and caused the recusal.
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 11:38 AM
Dec 2018

Hence the Special Counsel. And I'll never forget who led the charge for him to leave the Senate without due process.

TexasTowelie

(126,314 posts)
85. Lloyd Bentsen.
Wed Dec 26, 2018, 11:59 AM
Dec 2018

He was the last Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas (Bob Krueger was appointed to replace him, but was defeated in a special election after Bentsen was appointed as Secretary of the Treasury by Clinton).

And who could forget:

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