Thank you for your reply. I don’t know how relevant the text would seem now. I published it in ‘94 to launch a new MH imprint devoted to affordable texts by good to great (like Alan) scholars. The book was derived from a venerable Knopf American history by Current, Williams, and Friedel. They brought on Alan as a co-author, and he subsequently used the co-authored text as the basis for The Unfinished Nation. That said, I think TUN’s title is timeless. It suggests to me an America with a strong core culture that can learn from its mistakes and right its wrongs—kind of the vision of Stephen King’s main character (pre assasinations, Vietnam, etc.) in his novel 11-22-63. Anyway, I have a copy of the Unfinished Nation and am going to take a look at it to see how well the book holds up.
Great piece. Would be such a refreshing development if some other name politicians would follow Graham’s example of sampling real-life jobs.
Graham’s civics orientation brings to mind a perspective on America, one that seems to be slipping away today, that historian Alan Brinkley tried to capture in a college text that I had the privilege of publishing in 1993. The title of the text was The Unfinished Nation.
Thank you for the remembrance of Bob Graham and shinning light on a part of politics and political history that has been pushed to the edge of present political? civic? discourse. This column also (ever so slightly) touches on the outdated nature of the constitution, something that has come up a few times in your essays recently, and I remember you devoting a fair amount of space to this topic on your blog at The Atlantic.
Not sure if worth delving deeper on how to go forward, a national discussion seems a recipe for disaster at this point. Perhaps the best we can do is to remember, with slightly tinted glasses, how things were truly different "back in the day." And point out, as you have often done, on how people are working together at the local level now, which gives hope as we slog through the present political flying circus (and soon to come AI flying circus).
Thanks for this fine remembrance of Bob Graham. I have only foggy memories of him. No excuse, I'm old enough, 64. He was that now-seemingly rare thing, a public servant. Thank you, Mr. Graham. Condolences to his family, and thanks to them, too, for sharing him with us.
Amen on the importance of civics in secondary education, though yes, we need a new word or phrase that communicates the urgency of the American concept of self-governance and pluralism. Our system is not intuitive & doesn't lend itself to slogans. And yes, it's radically imperfect, as imperfect as we are. But our children need to understand its aspirational premises.
Jim, maybe you've talked about this before: What are your thoughts on a year of mandatory service for all Americans? It could include the military, but would also include other national needs. Enormously complicated, enormously expensive at first, but gosh it seems we need something like this -- a reminder that we're one country, that all of us are Americans, and that we owe our largest political community something.
I think our leaders ask too little of us, and by their constant appeal to our self-interest, they are impoverishing the country and its citizens. One of the earliest signals to me that the post-9/11 Iraq war was misbegotten was GWB's refusal to consider a tax hike, a national sacrifice, to pay for it.
For years now, I've said I wish I could get my hands on the genius who decided that civics instruction was no longer needed in our high schools. For God's sake, man - it's the MOST needed subject in our society, and the adverse effects of its omission are abundantly clear. It needs to be brought back immediately.
Thanks for the reminder about one of the best governors anywhere in the US in the past half century. I lived in FL during the Graham years, and I remember those "days at work," along with his all-round excellent governance. Bob Graham was one of the reasons I abandoned my "Gerald R Ford Republican" roots and began voting Democrat in the mid-1990's.
When I hear things like "all politicians lie," or the more outrageous "all politicians are corrupt," excuses commonly extended when discussing lying and corrupt politicians, I think of people like Bob Graham, Jimmy Carter, and yes - Gerald R Ford. These were genuine "public servants" who took the role of serving the public seriously; in most cases the majority of the public had no knowledge of the personal sacrifices these people made in order to try to make our nation, and the world, better for all of us.
And then you have the sell-aggrandizing opportunists we see these days, whose greatest skill appears to be to imitate public servants and convince us that they, too, have our best interests in mind when what they really want is the honor, power, glory and rewards that come with the job. What a shame that, without those basic lessons in civics that were for so many years mandatory for every American child, there are so many Americans today who fall under the spell of these corrupt charlatans.
Lovely post Jim about a very interesting man. I appreciate how he worked at "common" jobs on occasion; I learned a lot by working construction for several years, which has made me really appreciate the great divide between folks in the trades and the college educated. I can see both sides.
I certainly agree about the importance of Civics. Seems like Civics was an integral part of secondary school education back in our day.
But maybe it is coming back: I have been asked to develop a high-school level Civics course to teach at our local prison, where I already teach college level Government and Politics. The prison thinks it is important for the inmates to learn how to participate in and affect local government and to understand how it all works so that they can truly be "returning citizens". They are very receptiva and appreciative students.
Re the Election of 2004: Interesting to see your take on Howard Dean. He was an old friend, and I managed his grassroots campaign in So Cal. I was amazed how he attracted so many young people with his straight talk about the travesty of the Iraq War. I really thought that he had a chance, but he had mobilized so many powerful forces against him --- especially the media. The "scream" was a real set-up: I had friends in that room in Iowa, and he was yelling over the loud cheering. But when it was localized on one microphone, all that was broadcast was a crazy man screaming for no reason. Howard is anything but crazy.
Our campaign was the first to use the internet and "weblogs" (blogs) to raise money and raise enthusiasm. The young folks who were inspired by Howard created the techniques that Obama used four years later. So at least we did accomplish something.....
Several years ago, I heard a primary grades schoolteacher talk on the radio about his experience with helping his class document the conditions of playground equipment on their school's premises and then take their recommendations to a school board meeting, where they successfully lobbied for improvements. That is civics, taught well.
Fallows wrote: As Graham wrote in an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times back in 2017:
"What is going on? One significant, under-the-radar reason is that since the 1970s there has been a virtual collapse in the teaching of civics. Two generations of Americans and Floridians have finished their high school education with little or no instruction in what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. They have never learned the centrality of civility and reasoned compromise in a democracy or the rights, responsibilities and skills necessary to be an effective citizen."
Such an important article, Mr Fallows, honoring Mr Graham and, more importantly, his actions that flowed from his values. Thank you.
Jim ‘Civics’ is a strange word for many of our younger generation. As a kid in a middle school ‘civics’ class I was exposed to how our local government functioned. A visit to our local volunteer fire company highlighted the essential role of volunteers in our society. At an early age ‘checks and balances’ didn’t refer to my small savings account but, rather, to how the Executive/
Legislature/Judiciary interrelated so that no one branch could run rampant over another.
Sometime later, the military draft was universal for males, although some males learned how to work the system to avoid service. [Bone Spur Trump no longer remembers which ankle had the bone spur in the medical opinion, written by a doctor who was renting his office from Trump’s dad; that resulted in his being disqualified for service.]
The draft was ended in 1973. I have one immediate relative who has completed military service. None of my five grand children would consider military Service or a civilian equivalent such as the Peace Corps.
During my 23 years teaching history/economics at a community college, I found that very few of my students, who had completed several high school years studying American history, had any knowledge or grasp of the Constitution. Indeed, one of my students thought that the three branches of government were CBS, NBC, and ABC.
I recall when bipartisanship and compromise were not dirty words. Today they seem exceptional, as witness what has occurred to House speaker Johnson, when he finally sought to apply common sense to such core issues as funding government and providing imperative assistance to Ukraine.
Now my wife and I fear that politics has become a sporting event where one is obliged to support one team or the other. The idea that bipartisan compromise is appropriate—and crucial to the drafting of the Constitution—is often considered heresy today.
I doubt that I agreed with everything Bob Graham espoused. However I respect him for his dignity and honesty. As a Foreign Service Officer with a rambunctious boots on the ground record in Congo during the 1964 foreign hostage crisis, I felt compelled twice to refuse an ‘invitation’ to join our ambassador in Vietnam. I personally concluded that there was ‘no light at the end of the tunnel.’
Senator Graham, regarding the 2013 Iraqi war, was convinced (as was I) that he was a horrendous error perpetrated by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld. Graham paid a political price for his honesty. [Senator Al Gore, Sr. lost his re-election in 1970 because of his strong opposition to the Vietnam war.]
I welcome a measured discussion on matters of significance. When it regards such domestic issues as ‘fair taxation’ or what to do about climate change or women’s rights, these deserve an open forum.
Ditto in foreign affairs. As a kid I was tangentially exposed to the ‘America First’ isolationism of Charles Lindbergh. With Trumpists—regarding Ukraine and elsewhere—I again sense the falseness of the ‘America First’ mantra.
My hope (or dream) is that the younger generation would learn ‘civics’ by observing the responsible actions of their elders. WHAT A PIPE DREAM, WHEN WE ARE INVOLVED IN A FIGHT TO PRESERVE THE SOUL OF AMERICA IN WHICH MANY FOLKS SEEM UNAWARE OF WHAT IS AT STAKE.
Graham must have really been sincere about working the 8 hour shifts. For someone who wasn't it would have turned into a millstone and been quietly jettisoned at a suitable opportunity. Having done a few jobs like those for summer work when I was a student, I recall you learn a lot on the first shift.
Choosing Lieberman for VP was one of the worst decisions Gore made. It looks even worse in the light of what you've told us here.
James, I’m 70 years old. As a politically-aware junior high school and high school student, I lived through the assassinations of the 1960s. I also lived through the quagmire of the Vietnam War, and all the historic upheavals that followed.
In my mind, however, the greatest – and most devastating – “hinge of history” I have lived through was the George Bush versus Al Gore election. Our world would be so much better off today if Vice President Gore had become president of the United States.
Like you, it almost breaks my heart to think what may have happened if Bob Graham had been on the ticket as the vice presidential candidate instead of Joe Lieberman. He was far better prepared, and I think, a better man for the job than Senator Lieberman.
Thanks for this column giving Florida’s beloved Bob Graham his due. He deserved every praiseworthy word you wrote.
I had forgotten that Graham was on the short list for VP in 2000. The might-have-beens in this case do not detract from your larger thesis about him, but add poignancy to his legacy.
Thank you for your reply. I don’t know how relevant the text would seem now. I published it in ‘94 to launch a new MH imprint devoted to affordable texts by good to great (like Alan) scholars. The book was derived from a venerable Knopf American history by Current, Williams, and Friedel. They brought on Alan as a co-author, and he subsequently used the co-authored text as the basis for The Unfinished Nation. That said, I think TUN’s title is timeless. It suggests to me an America with a strong core culture that can learn from its mistakes and right its wrongs—kind of the vision of Stephen King’s main character (pre assasinations, Vietnam, etc.) in his novel 11-22-63. Anyway, I have a copy of the Unfinished Nation and am going to take a look at it to see how well the book holds up.
Great piece. Would be such a refreshing development if some other name politicians would follow Graham’s example of sampling real-life jobs.
Graham’s civics orientation brings to mind a perspective on America, one that seems to be slipping away today, that historian Alan Brinkley tried to capture in a college text that I had the privilege of publishing in 1993. The title of the text was The Unfinished Nation.
Thank you for the remembrance of Bob Graham and shinning light on a part of politics and political history that has been pushed to the edge of present political? civic? discourse. This column also (ever so slightly) touches on the outdated nature of the constitution, something that has come up a few times in your essays recently, and I remember you devoting a fair amount of space to this topic on your blog at The Atlantic.
Not sure if worth delving deeper on how to go forward, a national discussion seems a recipe for disaster at this point. Perhaps the best we can do is to remember, with slightly tinted glasses, how things were truly different "back in the day." And point out, as you have often done, on how people are working together at the local level now, which gives hope as we slog through the present political flying circus (and soon to come AI flying circus).
Thanks for this fine remembrance of Bob Graham. I have only foggy memories of him. No excuse, I'm old enough, 64. He was that now-seemingly rare thing, a public servant. Thank you, Mr. Graham. Condolences to his family, and thanks to them, too, for sharing him with us.
Amen on the importance of civics in secondary education, though yes, we need a new word or phrase that communicates the urgency of the American concept of self-governance and pluralism. Our system is not intuitive & doesn't lend itself to slogans. And yes, it's radically imperfect, as imperfect as we are. But our children need to understand its aspirational premises.
Jim, maybe you've talked about this before: What are your thoughts on a year of mandatory service for all Americans? It could include the military, but would also include other national needs. Enormously complicated, enormously expensive at first, but gosh it seems we need something like this -- a reminder that we're one country, that all of us are Americans, and that we owe our largest political community something.
I think our leaders ask too little of us, and by their constant appeal to our self-interest, they are impoverishing the country and its citizens. One of the earliest signals to me that the post-9/11 Iraq war was misbegotten was GWB's refusal to consider a tax hike, a national sacrifice, to pay for it.
For years now, I've said I wish I could get my hands on the genius who decided that civics instruction was no longer needed in our high schools. For God's sake, man - it's the MOST needed subject in our society, and the adverse effects of its omission are abundantly clear. It needs to be brought back immediately.
Thanks for the reminder about one of the best governors anywhere in the US in the past half century. I lived in FL during the Graham years, and I remember those "days at work," along with his all-round excellent governance. Bob Graham was one of the reasons I abandoned my "Gerald R Ford Republican" roots and began voting Democrat in the mid-1990's.
When I hear things like "all politicians lie," or the more outrageous "all politicians are corrupt," excuses commonly extended when discussing lying and corrupt politicians, I think of people like Bob Graham, Jimmy Carter, and yes - Gerald R Ford. These were genuine "public servants" who took the role of serving the public seriously; in most cases the majority of the public had no knowledge of the personal sacrifices these people made in order to try to make our nation, and the world, better for all of us.
And then you have the sell-aggrandizing opportunists we see these days, whose greatest skill appears to be to imitate public servants and convince us that they, too, have our best interests in mind when what they really want is the honor, power, glory and rewards that come with the job. What a shame that, without those basic lessons in civics that were for so many years mandatory for every American child, there are so many Americans today who fall under the spell of these corrupt charlatans.
Another fascinating column. In particular, thank you for profiling such an unusual, thoughtful person.
Lovely post Jim about a very interesting man. I appreciate how he worked at "common" jobs on occasion; I learned a lot by working construction for several years, which has made me really appreciate the great divide between folks in the trades and the college educated. I can see both sides.
I certainly agree about the importance of Civics. Seems like Civics was an integral part of secondary school education back in our day.
But maybe it is coming back: I have been asked to develop a high-school level Civics course to teach at our local prison, where I already teach college level Government and Politics. The prison thinks it is important for the inmates to learn how to participate in and affect local government and to understand how it all works so that they can truly be "returning citizens". They are very receptiva and appreciative students.
Re the Election of 2004: Interesting to see your take on Howard Dean. He was an old friend, and I managed his grassroots campaign in So Cal. I was amazed how he attracted so many young people with his straight talk about the travesty of the Iraq War. I really thought that he had a chance, but he had mobilized so many powerful forces against him --- especially the media. The "scream" was a real set-up: I had friends in that room in Iowa, and he was yelling over the loud cheering. But when it was localized on one microphone, all that was broadcast was a crazy man screaming for no reason. Howard is anything but crazy.
Our campaign was the first to use the internet and "weblogs" (blogs) to raise money and raise enthusiasm. The young folks who were inspired by Howard created the techniques that Obama used four years later. So at least we did accomplish something.....
keep on writing, Randy
Several years ago, I heard a primary grades schoolteacher talk on the radio about his experience with helping his class document the conditions of playground equipment on their school's premises and then take their recommendations to a school board meeting, where they successfully lobbied for improvements. That is civics, taught well.
Fallows wrote: As Graham wrote in an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times back in 2017:
"What is going on? One significant, under-the-radar reason is that since the 1970s there has been a virtual collapse in the teaching of civics. Two generations of Americans and Floridians have finished their high school education with little or no instruction in what it means to be a citizen in a democracy. They have never learned the centrality of civility and reasoned compromise in a democracy or the rights, responsibilities and skills necessary to be an effective citizen."
Such an important article, Mr Fallows, honoring Mr Graham and, more importantly, his actions that flowed from his values. Thank you.
Jim ‘Civics’ is a strange word for many of our younger generation. As a kid in a middle school ‘civics’ class I was exposed to how our local government functioned. A visit to our local volunteer fire company highlighted the essential role of volunteers in our society. At an early age ‘checks and balances’ didn’t refer to my small savings account but, rather, to how the Executive/
Legislature/Judiciary interrelated so that no one branch could run rampant over another.
Sometime later, the military draft was universal for males, although some males learned how to work the system to avoid service. [Bone Spur Trump no longer remembers which ankle had the bone spur in the medical opinion, written by a doctor who was renting his office from Trump’s dad; that resulted in his being disqualified for service.]
The draft was ended in 1973. I have one immediate relative who has completed military service. None of my five grand children would consider military Service or a civilian equivalent such as the Peace Corps.
During my 23 years teaching history/economics at a community college, I found that very few of my students, who had completed several high school years studying American history, had any knowledge or grasp of the Constitution. Indeed, one of my students thought that the three branches of government were CBS, NBC, and ABC.
I recall when bipartisanship and compromise were not dirty words. Today they seem exceptional, as witness what has occurred to House speaker Johnson, when he finally sought to apply common sense to such core issues as funding government and providing imperative assistance to Ukraine.
Now my wife and I fear that politics has become a sporting event where one is obliged to support one team or the other. The idea that bipartisan compromise is appropriate—and crucial to the drafting of the Constitution—is often considered heresy today.
I doubt that I agreed with everything Bob Graham espoused. However I respect him for his dignity and honesty. As a Foreign Service Officer with a rambunctious boots on the ground record in Congo during the 1964 foreign hostage crisis, I felt compelled twice to refuse an ‘invitation’ to join our ambassador in Vietnam. I personally concluded that there was ‘no light at the end of the tunnel.’
Senator Graham, regarding the 2013 Iraqi war, was convinced (as was I) that he was a horrendous error perpetrated by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld. Graham paid a political price for his honesty. [Senator Al Gore, Sr. lost his re-election in 1970 because of his strong opposition to the Vietnam war.]
I welcome a measured discussion on matters of significance. When it regards such domestic issues as ‘fair taxation’ or what to do about climate change or women’s rights, these deserve an open forum.
Ditto in foreign affairs. As a kid I was tangentially exposed to the ‘America First’ isolationism of Charles Lindbergh. With Trumpists—regarding Ukraine and elsewhere—I again sense the falseness of the ‘America First’ mantra.
My hope (or dream) is that the younger generation would learn ‘civics’ by observing the responsible actions of their elders. WHAT A PIPE DREAM, WHEN WE ARE INVOLVED IN A FIGHT TO PRESERVE THE SOUL OF AMERICA IN WHICH MANY FOLKS SEEM UNAWARE OF WHAT IS AT STAKE.
Graham must have really been sincere about working the 8 hour shifts. For someone who wasn't it would have turned into a millstone and been quietly jettisoned at a suitable opportunity. Having done a few jobs like those for summer work when I was a student, I recall you learn a lot on the first shift.
Choosing Lieberman for VP was one of the worst decisions Gore made. It looks even worse in the light of what you've told us here.
James, I’m 70 years old. As a politically-aware junior high school and high school student, I lived through the assassinations of the 1960s. I also lived through the quagmire of the Vietnam War, and all the historic upheavals that followed.
In my mind, however, the greatest – and most devastating – “hinge of history” I have lived through was the George Bush versus Al Gore election. Our world would be so much better off today if Vice President Gore had become president of the United States.
Like you, it almost breaks my heart to think what may have happened if Bob Graham had been on the ticket as the vice presidential candidate instead of Joe Lieberman. He was far better prepared, and I think, a better man for the job than Senator Lieberman.
Thanks for this column giving Florida’s beloved Bob Graham his due. He deserved every praiseworthy word you wrote.
This is another great piece, not only boomers need to be reminded, but hopefully younger demographics as well
I had forgotten that Graham was on the short list for VP in 2000. The might-have-beens in this case do not detract from your larger thesis about him, but add poignancy to his legacy.