By John Lindstrom
Publisher
Posted: October 24, 2019 1:08 PM

Think of who we have lost just this year. John Dingell, Damon Keith, Billy Huffman, Don Gilmer and last week former Governor William Milliken.

Think more, however, of what we have lost. That is a knowledge of governing, of how to accomplish things. And in that how to accomplish big things. Even when government was divided among the parties, these people (Mr. Keith, of course, was a federal judge) who were enmeshed in the game, and the dozens of men and women they worked with, knew how to craft tactics and deliver winning strategies that left all sides savoring a little victory.

Not all the time, of course. They each had failures. Nor were these accomplishments reached easily. Every one of their accomplishments on civil rights, the environment, education, the environment, taxes, was a tremendous struggle. Sometimes they involved furious shouting matches, as anyone who watched the massive struggle between Mr. Milliken and legislative Democrats on changes to workers' compensation can attest.

Yet, goals were reached and working relationships maintained.

Why? How? Why was this possible from starting in the late 1950s to the early 1980s? Since about 1983 and 1984, big government accomplishments, big BIPARTISAN government accomplishments, have become fewer and fewer. An ability to work together and reach agreement has given way more and more to bitter partisanship and one-sided victories.

What did these individuals bring, what did these individuals know and understand that we do not?

Was it generational? They were either of the World War II generation or the Silent Generation. They grew up and in some cases were young adults during a troubled world between the Great Depression, World War II, post-war economic uncertainties, the Cold War and the Korean War. Facing often massive difficulties and very uncertain futures, did they understand inherently a need to work together to solve their problems? Did they have a shared commonality that was lost as economic good times greeted the Boomer generation? The time frame in which they were most active politically, beginning in the late 1950s, would correspond to when most of them would have been in their early to mid-thirties the ages, when most a generation begin to take leadership roles.

Was it because they served before term limits took effect? Before the voters instituted term limits, there was a greater overall sense of bipartisanship. Lawmakers were more likely to socialize, often share apartments between partisan members. More bills were jointly sponsored by Democrats and Republicans. Plus, legislators had more time to study issues, become expert in them. The caucuses had less overall sway and while the caucus leaders had control there were fewer instances in which was deemed necessary to impose a hard position.

Whether there was one influencing factor or not, one thing about that time period is clear: People like Mr. Milliken, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Huffman and Mr. Gilmer and most elected officials understood things actually needed to be accomplished and politicians needed to stay true to their overall partisan principles. Rarely was there a situation where a purely partisan stance took place. It happened, yes, but not often.

There was a sense, which now seems essentially lost, that agreements had to be forged so the main goal of the legislation – on whatever subject, education, health care, taxes, transportation – was achieved but Democrats could say their principles were still respected and Republicans could say the same.

Which also meant, each side recognized they were not getting all the wanted. They could still take the agreement to their voters and say, "We aren't giving up on…" name your policy. But the big goal was mostly reached.

In other words, instead of the current definition of compromise too often being, "you surrender, and we have compromised," a compromise actually meant, "nobody is getting everything, but everybody is getting something."

Of course, people will complain about these leaders, say they held up or forced through vital, unneeded, critical, superfluous, important, self-serving, necessary, stupid legislation depending on the complainer's ideology. Did that actually happen? Well, yeah. It was a political time then, too, after all.

Still, with these leaders and the so many men and women who served with them, an awful lot got done. An awful lot of major legislation and judicial rulings that still provide the basis for so much in the state and nation got done. There have been some big accomplishments since, yes, but really not so many.

These leaders are gone, sadly. If their understanding of how to accomplish things is gone as well is what now has to be decided.