Remembering Jack Kemp

There has been a lot of coverage of the passing of Jack Kemp this past weekend. He was a remarkable person who went from being an all-pro quarterback to a successful congressman, cabinet secretary and vice presidential nominee. He was a strong advocate of supply side economics and tax cuts and promoted many of the successul policies of the Reagan Administration.

During the 1970s our family attended Fourth Presbyterian Church just outside Washington, D.C. This church had an outstanding pastor, Richard C. Halvorsen, who later became the chaplain of the U.S. Senate. Many prominent government leaders attended Fourth, including the Kemp family. One of his daughters, Jennifer, was in my sixth grade Sunday School class, and I would frequently see Congressman Kemp at church displaying his great enthusiam whenever he was engaged in a conversation.

Every year Fourth held a men's dinner in which a prominent guest, usually an elected official, was the featured speaker. Jack Kemp was the speaker one year and the person who introduced him was named Earl. Earl was virtually blind, but despite this handicap he was always positive. He held a full time job and was very active in the church. In his introduction Earl praised Jack Kemp for all he had done and closed by saying, "Jack you are my hero." When Kemp got up he turned to Earl and said, "Earl you are the real hero and you are my hero." That comment generated cheers and tears that I will not forget.

Jack Kemp was a brilliant conservative thinker who had a huge and positive impact on his party and country. He strongly believed that ideas matter and that the GOP should welcome people from all backgrounds, especially minorities, into its ranks. At this time many people are asking where the next Ronald Reagan will come from. They could just as easily ask where the next Jack Kemp will come from. He was a man of big ideas and who really connected with the Earls of the world.