Former US Senator Tom Daschle’s papers from his time in office now have a new home on the campus of South Dakota State University. The Senator returned to his alma matter this week to take part in the inaugural Daschle Dialogue, the first in a series at SDSU, and to talk about the Thomas A. Daschle Congressional Research Study. SDPB’s Jenifer Jones has more.
The first Daschle Dialogue focused on bipartisanship in U.S. Government. The Senator was joined by Trent Lott, a Republican who represented Mississippi. The two worked together in the Senate as majority and minority leaders. They served during some difficult times: a president’s impeachment, an anthrax attack, and the start of the Iraq war. The moments are all documented in hundreds of artifacts, thousands of photos and videos, and millions of pages in the Thomas A. Daschle Congressional Research Study at SDSU. Included in the collection are several photos that highlight the Senator’s bi-partisan work. One shows Daschle and Lott laughing together at Lott’s desk, a light moment in an otherwise serious time while the two Senators negotiated the first ever 50/50 split Senate. Daschle says there really wasn’t much to smile about.
“It was a very tense time,” Daschle says. “We both had challenges with our caucus and trying to find a way to govern when there was equal balance, there wasn’t a majority. In fact the majority was dictated in large measure of who the Vice President was, and that changed. It was Al Gore then it became Dick Cheney. So we had to find a way to bring balance and bring order to the senate under those circumstances for the first time in history. And we were oftentimes at each other’s desks working through whatever arrangement we could devise to address those circumstances. That’s what we were doing in this picture.”
That photo from the year 2000 of the two leaders from different parties working in one office might be a sign of the times. Senator Lott says it was common for leaders in those days to go to each other’s offices to work out issues. But he says that’s something that doesn’t occur as often today, a signal of the more partisan atmosphere in DC.
Not long after that photo was taken, Republicans and Democrats found themselves working together again, making decisions for the country in the wake of September eleventh. One photo in Daschle’s collection shows him and President George W. Bush embracing following a speech shortly after 9-11. Daschle says the two were not close initially.
“Nine-eleven brought us together,” Daschle says. “We worked very closely, almost by the hour after 9-11. We had spoken a good deal that day about his presentation and what he wanted to say. And he was kind enough to seek my advice on how it ought to be framed and how we ought to talk about it. I thought he gave an eloquent and a very powerful and moving speech that night. And it was an emotional moment, so he came down off the podium and thanked me for my help in drafting it and we hugged each other. The next morning he called me to suggest that maybe both of us got into a lot of trouble with that hug.”
Daschle says the period shortly after 9-11 was an incredible time of unity for the country.
“I remember people going to the floor, one after the other, saying I’m no longer a Republican or a Democrat, I’m an American,” Daschle says. “And there was this sense of patriotism, and this sense of commitment to country, and this sense of resolve and unity that really was inspiring and moving and energizing. And so from that perspective it was incredibly a moment of great pride as we look back I think.”
Daschle says he regrets that it took a crisis like September eleventh to create that kind of unity. He says he hopes that by looking at past times of bipartisanship, people realize that things can change for the better.
“My hope is that people will walk away believing that whatever it is we’re experiencing now doesn’t have to be a permanent state of affairs in politics,” Daschle says. “That there are opportunities for Republicans and Democrats to work in a collegial and collaborative way to accomplish a lot.”
Daschle says he hopes that his collection of papers and artifacts at the Research Study not only offer a look into his 26 years in office, but also inspire others to join public service and build their own contribution to history.