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| John B.Anderson |
To those who remember him he was one of those rare politicians who always seemed to make a lot of sense in America's ideological and private interest supported political jungle. Most university students around American campuses during that time were among his staunchest supporters. Anderson, a Christian, understood as no other politician, that being a Christian politician in no way relieves you of your responsibility to pursue social justice, to act in compassion toward your fellow man or to seek a better world.
His inability to make headway against the US de-facto two-party system as an independent in the 1980 Presidential election would later lead him to become an advocate for Instant Runoff Voting, and he helped to found FairVote in 1992.
Strangely enough John Anderson was initially among the most conservative members of the Republican caucus. Three times (in 1961, 1963, and 1965) in his early terms as a Congressman, Anderson introduced a constitutional amendment to attempt to "recognize the law and authority of Jesus Christ" over the United States. These bills died quietly, but his opponents haunted Anderson about them during his presidential campaign.
As he continued to serve in politics, the social and political atmosphere of the sixties weighed on Anderson and he began to re-think some of his political beliefs. It resulted in Anderson's positions in the second half of his first decade in Washington shifting to the left, even though his fiscal philosophy remained largely conservative.
In explaining his new position on social issues John Anderson said: "One can cling to orthodox Christianity without denying the right of the poor to be clothed and fed, or the right of the minorities to their civil rights, or that there is a proper role for government to fighting poverty and promoting human rights. In fact I would reverse this statement to say that it is difficult for me to believe that a Christian cannot be concerned and compassionate about these issues".
At the same time, however, he still was held in high esteem by his conservative colleagues in the House. In 1964, he won appointment to a coveted seat on the Rules Committee. In 1969, he became Chairman of the "House Republican Conference", the number three position in the House Republican hierarchy in what was (at that time) the minority party.
But as time went on Anderson increasingly found himself at odds with conservatives in his home district and other members of the House. He also broke with the US administration position on Vietnam, and was not always a faithful supporter of the hard-line pro-business Republican agenda. He also was considered a very controversial critic of Richard Nixon during Watergate which right-wing Republicans did not appreciate.
Following his unsuccessful independent US presidential bid which ended his active political career Anderson's support was mainly on college campuses. He capitalized on that by becoming a visiting professor at a series of universities: Stanford University, Duke University, University of Illinois College of Law, Brandeis University, Bryn Mawr College, Oregon State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Nova Southeastern University (his most recent post) in Fort Lauderdale Florida. He was also the Chair of FairVote from 1996 to 2008 and continues to serve on its board, served as President of the World Federalist Association and is on the advisory board of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Former Republican President Gerald Ford once said about Anderson: "He's the smartest guy in Congress, but he insists on voting his conscience instead of that of the party."
Voting your conscience might just be what the US needs in this upcoming US election year. Unfortunately it does not have a viable independent party or an independent Presidential candidate like John Anderson to vote for.
EU-Digest
Reference: Christians and politics - are we our brothers keepers? - by RM
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