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[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 6 (Monday, January 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S276-S279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                   SERVICE TO KENTUCKY AND THE NATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank my good friend, the majority 
leader, for his very kind remarks about what has now become a rather 
lengthy period of service in the Senate. He and I came here at roughly 
the same time, and, as he indicated, came to the Congress at roughly 
the same time. We have shared a few positions on each side of the aisle 
that are remarkably similar no matter which party you represent.
  I noted with interest last week the photograph at the White House of 
the living former Presidents who had all had lunch together, and I was 
thinking, as the majority leader was speaking, we are in a rather 
limited fraternity, too--so far it is a fraternity; it will be a 
sorority at some point as well as a fraternity; a brotherhood or 
sisterhood, if you will--of people who have held these jobs which have 
their own unique set of challenges that are quite similar whether you 
are leading the Republicans or leading the Democrats.
  I wish to thank the majority leader for his very kind remarks not 
only about me but about my wife's public service as Secretary of Labor, 
which will be coming to an end at noon on January 20, along with the 
current administration. I also wish to express my gratitude to the 
majority leader for coming down to the University of Louisville back in 
2007. The students enjoyed it immensely. In fact, their last magazine 
about the program of the center has a very large picture of the 
majority leader and a lengthy article including a Q and A session he 
had with the students.
  So I am grateful for his friendship and look forward to working with 
him in this Congress to advance the interests of our Nation.
  A few months prior to this body's convening last week, I was grateful 
to be chosen by my colleagues to serve once again as the Senate 
Republican leader.
  I would also like to thank the people of Kentucky for giving me 
another term in the Senate. I am certainly privileged Kentucky has sent 
me to the Senate five times now to speak for them and for their 
interests, and I intend to work harder than I ever have over the next 6 
years to justify their confidence.
  At such a time as this, after the people of Kentucky have spoken, I 
cannot help but think of great Kentuckians in the past who the people 
of my State have selected to represent their interests.
  Some we know from the history books, such as Henry Clay. Although he 
was Speaker of the House, Secretary of State, and a three-time 
Presidential candidate, we know him best as the Senator from Kentucky--
the Great Compromiser who staved off civil war. Or take John 
Breckinridge. Elected to Congress from Virginia, he resigned that seat 
to move to Kentucky, which at the time was America's western frontier. 
A key architect of Kentucky's early State government, Breckinridge went 
on to serve as a Senator from Kentucky, and then as our young Nation's 
Attorney General under Thomas Jefferson.
  Moving to modern times, I can think of other legendary Senators from 
Kentucky whose footsteps still echo in these halls.
  Kentucky still fondly remembers the career of public service carved 
out by A.B. Chandler. He would be the first to tell you he made his 
mark not as a Senator but as a two-term Governor, or in the job he 
resigned the Senate to hold: commissioner of baseball. No matter what 
the job, with his winning personality, he was better known throughout 
the State by his nickname ``Happy.''
  I am sure he would be happy to see his grandson, Congressman Ben 
Chandler, continuing his family's tradition of service to the people of 
Kentucky.

[[Page S277]]

  I have also spoken on this floor before of my admiration and respect 
for John Sherman Cooper, the conscience of the Senate in his day. I 
will always remember the man who mentored me as an intern in my first 
job on Capitol Hill and helped me navigate these hallways decades later 
as a freshman Senator.
  Of course, there is Alben Barkley, the first and, until recently, the 
only Kentuckian to be elected his party's leader. After 12 years 
leading Senate Democrats through the Great Depression and World War II, 
he became America's 35th Vice President.
  Alben Barkley held the record as Kentucky's longest serving Senator 
for over 40 years--until it was broken by a man who, like him, rose 
from humble beginnings to become famous across the Commonwealth.
  That Senator was Wendell Ford, a man many of my colleagues have had 
the honor to know and work alongside. Wendell was the senior Senator 
from my State when I was first elected, and I got to watch him up close 
for 14 years. Over those years, I learned why Wendell is the first and 
only Kentuckian to be elected successively Lieutenant Governor, 
Governor, and Senator. It is because even while he attained high 
office, he never forgot the lessons he learned working alongside his 
parents on their farm. Countless times he reminded voters he was ``just 
a country boy from Yellow Creek.'' And Kentuckians respected him for 
proving that a country boy could walk the halls of power, dine with 
kings and Presidents and still come back to Yellow Creek and be right 
at home.

  Wendell Hampton Ford was born in Daviess County, KY, and grew up on 
his family's 250-acre farm in the little town of Thruston. The Ford 
family raised cattle, hogs, and chickens and grew tobacco and corn. 
Young Wendell was no stranger to work. He did his part by milking 30 
cows by hand twice a day every day. Decades later, whenever anyone told 
him he had a strong handshake, Wendell would tell them: ``I milked at 
an early age.''
  I know Wendell would credit his parents with teaching him everything 
he needed to know to succeed in life. Ernest Ford was a farmer, an 
insurance company owner, and a chairman of the Daviess County 
Democratic Party. He served in both the Kentucky State House and 
Senate. His mother, Irene Ford, worked harder than anyone on the family 
farm. She picked strawberries, she snapped green beans, and she canned 
everything that you could can. She could cook a pork tenderloin that 
was so good, Wendell recalls, ``We'd say it'd make you swallow your 
tongue.'' She was devoted to her family, her friends, her neighbors, 
and her church.
  Wendell remembers:

       Mother never disliked anyone. She never would say anything 
     unkind about anybody. And mother worked very, very hard. . . 
     . if there's anyone that ever went to heaven, my mother is 
     there.

  Now, I am going to guess that maybe through his father's political 
connections, Wendell scored a plum prize as a young child: he became a 
page in the Kentucky State House. The way they inducted pages back then 
is a little different from how we do it in the U.S. Senate today. 
Wendell's sponsor, a representative from Taylorsville, had young 
Wendell come and stand on his desk on the House floor. He gave a speech 
about what a good little kid he was, and when he was done, the entire 
chamber applauded, making Wendell a page by acclamation. After an 
introduction to politics like that, is it any wonder Wendell decided he 
wanted more?
  Wendell was also lucky enough to meet one of the great Kentuckians I 
mentioned earlier--Alben Barkley--back when, obviously, Senator Ford 
was young. At the Seelbach Hotel in my hometown of Louisville, he heard 
a speech from the Senator and future Vice President. Like Barkley, 
Wendell always wanted to be around people--a trait that would serve him 
well as a public servant.
  Like most Kentuckians, Wendell Ford loves basketball. He played on 
the basketball team for Thruston Elementary School and he played on the 
team for Daviess County High School. But while in high school, Wendell 
broke his arm. That ended his basketball career, and that threatened to 
end his involvement with the team, the friendships he had made, and his 
seat on the bus to all the away games. So to stay involved, Wendell 
filled an open slot on the school's cheerleading team. He got to keep 
going to the games, he got to keep up his friendships, and he ended up 
being voted ``most talkative'' in the Daviess County High School senior 
class of 1942.
  After high school graduation, Wendell attended the University of 
Kentucky. Then, in 1944, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, and SGT 
Wendell Ford reported for duty at Fort Hood, TX. But he was not the 
only Ford to trade in his bluegrass for a 10-gallon hat and make that 
trip. By his side was his lovely bride Jean, who met Wendell when they 
both worked at the J.C. Penney store in Owensboro the summer after 
Wendell's high school graduation. They married in September 1943 just 
after Wendell had turned 19. Jean hailed from the town of West Point in 
Hardin County. She could hardly have known then how her life would turn 
out or how she and her husband would become respected across the 
Commonwealth.
  Oftentimes, my colleagues and I will talk about our wives or our 
husbands and what we will be doing over the next recess. You will 
frequently hear spouses' first names tossed around, like my wife's name 
is Elaine. But after 50 years of marriage, Wendell only referred to his 
bride as ``Mrs. Ford.'' It is a testament to the fact that the country 
boy from Yellow Creek remains forever a country gentleman.
  After the end of World War II and an honorable discharge from the 
service, Wendell graduated from the Maryland School of Insurance. He 
and Jean returned to Owensboro, where his family had moved after 
selling the farm. Wendell entered the insurance business with his 
father and started to take an interest in what was happening in his 
community.
  It all started with a razor. That is what Wendell was looking to buy 
on a lunchtime errand when he ran into a friend who invited him to a 
Jaycees luncheon.
  In my travels across Kentucky, I have met many who know and remember 
Wendell from his days with the Jaycees. Devoted to fostering leadership 
and community service, the Jaycees have done a lot for Kentucky and for 
the Nation. Once again, the man who played a role that cannot be 
ignored is Wendell Ford.
  A lot of beliefs that would come to characterize Wendell Ford's 
career came from the creed of the Jaycees. That creed states that only 
faith in God gives meaning and purpose to human life, that government 
should be of laws rather than of men, and that service to humanity is 
the best work of life.
  Wendell would rise rapidly in his career, again and again, no matter 
what the arena, and his time in the Jaycees was no different. That 
first meeting at the request of a friend led to Wendell becoming a 
member. By 1954, he was the Kentucky Jaycees State president at 31. In 
1956, he led the Kentucky Jaycees to their national convention in 
Kansas City with one goal: they wanted to return home with a Kentuckian 
as the organization's national president--a Kentuckian named Wendell 
Ford.
  Kentucky has a rich history of colorful, memorable campaign ads, but 
it took Wendell Ford, as a candidate for the Jaycees' national 
president, to come up with a brilliant ad by piggybacking his name on 
perhaps the most famous rock-and-roll song of all time. By convention's 
end, every Jaycee delegate went home singing a familiar tune with the 
words ``shake, rattle, and roll'' replaced with ``shake, rally with 
Ford.'' Wendell remembers:

       We kept them up all night with that record. And I guess 
     [we] made it even better, because we won.

  To work the crowds at the convention, Wendell bought two new suits 
for $35 apiece, one black and one gray. By rotating jackets with each 
pair of pants, he had four different outfits for the 4 days of the 
convention. Whether it was the song or the suits or both, Wendell went 
home the first Jaycees national President from Kentucky, and his 
network from that organization became the foundation for one of the 
Commonwealth's most successful political careers.
  By the late 1950s, Wendell had caught the eye of Bert Combs, who had 
run for Governor of Kentucky but lost to ``Happy'' Chandler. Combs was 
planning to run again, and he wanted the

[[Page S278]]

impressive Jaycees president to be the youth chairman of his campaign. 
After winning that race, Bert Combs made Wendell his administrative 
assistant, a job he held from 1959 to 1961.
  But soon the time came for Wendell to emerge from the ranks of 
political staffers and run for office himself. In 1965, he ran for a 
State senate seat representing Daviess and Hancock Counties, and 
clearly he was not afraid of a challenging race. The reason I say he 
was not afraid of a challenging race, the guy he ran against in the 
primary, a fellow named Cap Gardner, was not just any incumbent 
Senator, he was the State senate majority leader. I was in law school 
at the University of Kentucky at the time, and I remember reading about 
the primary in which the majority leader of the Kentucky State Senate 
was upset by an impressive young man named Wendell Ford. He won that 
race by 305 votes--after a recount.

  In those days, Kentucky was very much a one-party State, so winning 
the Democratic primary for most any office was tantamount to winning 
the election. In most counties, you could hold Republican Party 
meetings in a phone booth. It is not that way anymore, which I think is 
for the better--I think a competitive, two-party system makes both 
parties better, and that, in turn, serves the people best--but the 
Democratic Party ruled Kentucky then, and after Wendell won the 
primary, he easily won the general. For the first time, but not the 
last, he became Senator Ford. As a freshman Senator, he sponsored 22 
bills, all of which became law. That is a record of success few 
legislators would dare seek to duplicate.
  But Wendell didn't plan on staying in the State senate too long. Just 
2 years later, in 1967, he ran for Lieutenant Governor, and once again 
he ruffled some feathers amongst the more established politicians of 
the Commonwealth who didn't understand why this country boy from Yellow 
Creek couldn't settle down and wait his turn. In the primary, Wendell 
faced Robert Matthews, the incumbent State attorney general. I am sure 
the entrenched political forces in Kentucky expected and perhaps even 
desired Matthews to win, but Wendell wasn't going along with their 
program. He defeated Matthews in the primary--barely--36.1 percent to 
35.9 percent. Wendell went on to win a similarly close race in the 
general election, defeating Thomas Ratliff and becoming the Lieutenant 
Governor of Kentucky.
  But at the same time, something unusual happened. You heard me say 
just a minute ago that in those days Kentucky was very much a one-party 
State, but in 1967, Kentuckians elected a guy named Louie Nunn to be 
Kentucky's first Republican Governor since World War II. At that time, 
candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor in my State ran 
separately. So while the Democratic candidate for Governor lost, 
Wendell Ford quite remarkably won, and he instantly became two things: 
the top-ranked Democrat in State government and, of course, a real 
thorn in the side of Governor Nunn.
  Wendell had to beat a Republican tide--a rare tide in those days--to 
become Lieutenant Governor. He was clearly a man of great talent and 
ambition who was not yet done making his mark on Kentucky politics. So 
naturally he looked next to the top job in State government, the office 
of Governor.
  In that era, Kentucky Governors were forbidden to succeed themselves 
by running for a second term. In fact, Kentucky retained that term 
limit for Governors right up until the 1990s--one of the last States to 
do so. So Wendell would not have to face Governor Nunn in the 1971 
election. He would, however, have to face a different Governor, his 
friend and mentor, former Governor Bert Combs.
  Everybody in Kentucky thought Governor Combs, who had subsequently 
had a distinguished career as a U.S. court of appeals judge after his 
term as Governor, was a lead pipe cinch to be the next Governor of 
Kentucky, or at the very least to win the Democratic primary for sure. 
But once again Wendell Ford beat everybody's expectations. Bert Combs 
resigned his judgeship to run for Governor and couldn't believe what a 
tough race his former administrative assistant gave him. When a mutual 
friend of the two candidates said to Combs that he had taught Wendell 
well, Combs replied, ``Yes, I taught him too damn well.'' Wendell beat 
Bert Combs 53 percent to 44 percent in the primary and went on to 
easily win the general election. On December 7, 1971, he was sworn in 
as Governor of Kentucky.
  Right from the start, Governor Ford's guiding belief as Kentucky's 
chief executive was that the only reason for the existence of 
government at any level was to serve people. Wherever he felt that 
wasn't happening, he believed there must be change.
  Throughout his term, no bill that Governor Ford supported failed to 
pass. He commanded the forces of the State government below him the way 
a general commands his troops. But Governor Ford didn't ask anyone else 
to work harder than he did himself. His work ethic back then was 
legendary, and I think some of my colleagues can attest to the fact 
that he kept right at it after he joined us here in the Senate.
  As Governor, a 14-hour workday was routine, a 16-hour day frequent, 
and an 18-hour day not uncommon.
  When Governor Ford used to fly here to Washington for official 
matters, he was all business. Time in the car or the plane was spent 
reading memos or writing speeches. Dinner was a cheeseburger and fries 
in the hotel room.
  As early as possible the next morning, Wendell was up and flying home 
to Kentucky where he would put in an extra-late night at the State 
capitol to make up for time missed.
  Once he had successfully enacted the major points of his platform--
including shrinking and streamlining State government, creating the 
State's first environmental protection agency, and enacting a severance 
tax on coal--Wendell Ford decided he was not finished serving the 
people of Kentucky just yet.
  I have already said at that time, a Kentucky Governor could not run 
for a second term. So Wendell looked to the U.S. Senate election in 
1974 where he would have to take on incumbent Republican Senator Marlow 
Cook.
  The 1974 election came on the heels of the Watergate scandal and 
Richard Nixon's resignation. It goes without saying it was a very hard 
year for Republicans. But even if it had been an easy year for 
Republicans, Governor Ford would have been very hard to defeat.
  So Wendell won over Marlow Cook pretty handily, and Governor Ford 
became Senator Ford. I should point out, I actually used to work for 
Senator Cook as a legislative director in the early part of his one 
term.
  Senator Cook graciously agreed to step aside a little bit early for 
Senator Ford. So Wendell's tenure in this Chamber began on December 28, 
1974. At this point, the Wendell Ford so many of my colleagues know and 
admire emerges, as he spent an incredibly successful and fruitful 24 
years here.
  After my election in 1984, I served alongside him for 14 of those 
years. Obviously, Wendell Ford and I did not stand on the same side of 
the aisle. But we always stood together for the people of Kentucky.
  With Wendell, whether you agreed or disagreed, you always knew where 
you stood with him. Even if you disagreed--which we often did--Wendell 
knew how to disagree without being disagreeable.
  I remember one joke he liked to tell about how seriously we 
Kentuckians take our horseracing. He liked to say that one day on the 
running of the Kentucky Derby, a man walking in Churchill Downs noticed 
a box with an empty seat in it. He stopped and said to the little old 
lady sitting next to it: This is the first empty seat I have seen 
today. Bear in mind, this is at the Derby.
  She replied: Well, it belonged to my husband, but he died.
  The man said: It seems a shame to let such a good seat go to waste. 
Why didn't you give it to one of your relatives?
  The lady said: I would have, but they are all at the funeral.
  That is how important the Derby and the horse industry are to the 
Bluegrass State. Wendell Ford enjoyed telling that story.
  With his sense of humor, a penchant for storytelling that rivaled his 
childhood hero Alben Barkley, and his ability to establish friendships 
and trust, Wendell quickly became a leader

[[Page S279]]

amongst his Senate colleagues. He served a stint running the Democratic 
Senatorial Campaign Committee.
  By 1987, he had risen to become chairman of the Senate Rules 
Committee. That position put him in charge of the inaugural ceremonies 
at the Capitol for both Presidents George H.W. Bush in 1989 and Bill 
Clinton in 1993. Kentuckians were proud to see one of their own on the 
inaugural platform just footsteps away from the new President.
  Wendell was chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing where he 
worked to trim the costs of Government printing and implemented the 
first ever program for the use of recycled printing paper. That may not 
be the type of issue that grabs the biggest headlines, but, obviously, 
official Washington uses a lot of paper. Wendell was ahead of his time 
in making these environmentally friendly efforts that are commonplace 
now, and he saved taxpayers millions of dollars.
  Wendell could see the absurdity of some of what goes on in Washington 
and knew just when to break the tension with a little humor. One former 
colleague has spoken of one of the many times the Senate has continued 
in session until 3:30 or 4 o'clock in the morning, with debate still 
going on on the Senate floor. At one of these times, Wendell nudged the 
Senator next to him and said: You know, the people back home think that 
we are the ones who won.
  Wendell even appeared once on the cable channel MTV on a program 
called ``Rock the Vote'' because of his sponsorship of the motor voter 
law. That MTV appearance made him very popular with his grandchildren. 
Surely the number of U.S. Senators who have appeared sandwiched in 
between videos for Whitney Houston and Billy Ray Cyrus is very small.
  In 1990, Wendell's colleagues, as my friend the majority leader 
pointed out, elected him to be No. 2 in their party in the Senate, the 
Senate whip. He held that slot until his retirement in 1999. Wendell 
was elected by acclamation and without opposition. That is obviously a 
position of great responsibility and honor, and it speaks to the 
respect Wendell commanded from his fellow Senators.
  After his election as whip, he said: In Kentucky, we are known for 
our horses. I plan on being a workhorse and not a show horse.
  I think knowing Wendell's work ethic, no one doubted he would give 
his all to the job.
  In March of 1998, Wendell became the longest serving Senator in 
Kentucky history, breaking the record of the man he had seen giving a 
speech more than 50 years earlier, Alben Barkley. That is just another 
accomplishment in a long list that he has amassed over his 
extraordinarily successful tenure in both State and Federal Government.
  Wendell Ford served in this body for 8,772 days, a record that stood 
for nearly 11 years until January 10, this past Saturday. He never lost 
an election for public office. Kentucky sent him to the U.S. Senate 
four times, and he was the first statewide candidate to carry all 120 
counties.
  How does a country boy from Yellow Creek achieve such success at the 
highest levels of American politics? I think because no matter where he 
ended up, Wendell Ford never forgot from where he started from. Even in 
his final months in the Senate, he still got goose bumps every time he 
looked up at the Capitol dome on his way to work. He remained the same 
man, partial to a cigarette and a down-home tale.
  When his duties didn't require him to be in Washington, he would 
return home to Kentucky, as he did most weekends throughout his Senate 
career. A 3-day weekend was a perfect chance to go to the house he and 
his family owned by Rough River Lake and do some reading and fishing. 
He once said his idea of a vacation was ``not shaving and not wearing a 
suit.''
  Wendell Ford never forgot the truly important things in his life--his 
wife Jean, their children and grandchildren, and the simple pleasures 
of his native Kentucky.
  Many of my colleagues will remember his trademark greeting when he 
walked into a room. He would say: How are all you lucky people doing? 
Sometimes that would be shortened to simply: Hey, Lucky!
  But Wendell never lost sight that he was truly the lucky one for 
receiving the trust of the people of Kentucky many times over. He would 
be the first to tell you that, and Kentucky and our Nation are lucky as 
well for having had his many years of service.
  Over the next 6 years, as I work my hardest to better the lives of 
everyone in Kentucky and the country, I am going to remember the 
lessons learned from Wendell Ford's long career. I will remember how 
his life is a testament to the success anybody in America can attain, 
even a country boy from Yellow Creek. I will remember what an honor it 
is to continue in the tradition of Wendell Ford and so many other fine 
public servants who have come from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Their 
service will continue to remind me every day that with energy, 
determination, and principle, being the Senator from Kentucky is the 
best job I could ever hope to have.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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