They don’t make them like the Gentleman from New York, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, anymore. A more complex figure in the Senate it is hard to imagine. A far-sighted intellectual in a profession that places a premium on cunning in the here and now. A man of arrogant demeanor in a world where getting along to go along is the house motto.
Yet when Moynihan announced he was retiring from the Senate this year the praise singers were out in full: Most intellectually gifted man in American politics since Abraham Lincoln, said some — no, since Thomas Jefferson, said others. The New York Post in its elevated way noted Moynihan was a superb Senator because “nobody did more to bring home the bacon for New York.”
The praise singing must have had an ironic sound in Moynihan’s ears. He has been vilified since the 1960’s for his views on race. Remember the phrase “Benign Neglect?” It hangs around his reputation like the Albatross hung around the neck of the Ancient Mariner.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Godfrey Hodgson, author of The Gentleman from New York