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Daniel Patrick Moynihan Memorial
With John Cranford
Congressional Quarterly
Monday, March 31, 2003; 11 a.m. ET
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 76, the scholar and senator, orator and author whose intellectual and political leadership did much to shape national policy on the major issues of his time, died Wednesday at Washington Hospital Center, where he was recovering from an infection after an emergency appendectomy March 11.
A Democrat, he represented New York in the Senate for four terms before deciding not to seek reelection in 2000.Throughout his 24 years on Capitol Hill, Moynihan was one of the most trenchant and memorable voices in ongoing national debates on such issues as national security and Social Security, welfare reform and family matters.
John Cranford, editor for special projects at Congressional Quarterly, was online to take
questions and comments on the life of Sen. Moynihan.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
John Cranford: Hi. I'm John Cranford. I'm an editor at Congressional Quatertly and am delighted to try to answer your questions about Pat Moynihan and his 24 years in the Senate.
Washington, D.C.:
As a former resident of New York state, I can tell you how proud I was to have Daniel P. Moynihan as my senator.
Few could match his brain power, his mastery of the English language, or his efforts to gain New York state its fair share of federal dollars.
His one weakness? (if you can call it that) He didn't speak in "sound bites" -- you had to pay attention to listen to him!
John Cranford: One thing about Moynihan that distinguished him from most of his colleagues was the way he conducted himself. He was more professor and less politician than most. Of course, that doesn't mean he didn't have partisan tendencies, or that he didn't annoy people with the way he responded to them. But he was certainly one of a kind.
Harrisburg, Pa.:
Although quickly forgotten, I found Senator Moynihan the voice of reason against entering Desert Storm. Do you know how he felt about his statements after Desert Storm? Did he have any statements regarding the current situation in Iraq?
John Cranford: As far as I know, Moynihan never reversed course on his opposition to the Persian Gulf war.
New Rochelle, N.Y.:
I am from New York State and am saddened one of the greatest politicians from our state has died. There never was any gray area to where Mr. Moynihan stood like there is with his replacement. Sen. Moynihan did much for those without a voice, like the late Sen. Wellstone. Both were champions of the poor and middle class and truly represented us well. Will there be a New York public memorial for him since he is being laid to rest in D.C.? Thank you.
John Cranford: Pat Moynihan wasn't without contradictions. But he was always firm in his convictions -- even when they changed. Notably, he was supportive 20 years ago of the notion of building up surpluses in the Social Security trust funds as a means of preserving the system's solvency and helping pay benefits when the baby-boom generation starts to retire. Then, in 1990-91, he changed his mind and decided that these surpluses were a mistake at a time of rising budget deficits and tried to end that practice. Both times, he was loud and clear on his point of view.
Arlington, Va.:
I have often seen that Sen. Moynihan's was well known for the use of the phrase "benign neglect," but I have not been able to find the context in which the statement was made. Can you explain exactly what he was saying and in what context?
John Cranford: Pat Moynihan's first foray into the world of welfare polictics came in 1965, when he wrote a now-famous study of black families and argued that the welfare system as then structured had the effect of promoting the break-up of two-parent families in ghettos and said that was a mistake. For generations he argued in favor of changing the system to promote a core family structure where work was encouraged and where intact families were desired. He wrote a major overhaul of the welfare system in the Senate in 1988, with help from then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. Then, in 1996, he opposed a further overhaul supported by then-President Clinton that effectively ended the guarantee of government assistance. That went too far, Moynihan said.
Somewhere, USA:
Why did Moynihan work for Nixon if he was a Democrat? Was this a token gesture on the part of the administration, or were his views well respected by Nixon?
John Cranford: His 1965 welfare book caught Nixon's eye. Moynihan was a life-long Democrat, but he wasn't an ideologue. He worked with people who appreciated his ideas.
Washington, D.C.:
Can you supply some more facts about the Senator's oft-cited "service in the U.S. Navy during World War II?" To many this phrase connotes ship duty or piloting aircraft, but details on Moynihan are scarce. One bio said his service began in 1944, when he would have been 17, in which case to enlist requires parental permission-was this the case? Was he deployed prior to VJ day? This is not to imply he is Justice Douglas, who invented his Army service, but neither should biographers romanticize even by implication.
John Cranford: I'm sorry, I don't have a lot of detail on his time in the Navy.
Arlington, Va.:
About 40 years ago, Senator Moynihan ran for head of the New York City Council on a ticket that I vaguely recall. He lost but I wonder if he was more of a party regular than people felt he was.
John Cranford: Moynihan was a Democrat, and never thought of himself otherwise. But he was hard to pin down and in 1965, when he ran for president of the New York City Council, he probably didn't fit the mold of a regular Democrat.
Alexandria, Va.:
How easy were Sen. Moynihan's election victories in New York? Did he ever come up against tough opponents?
John Cranford: His first election was in 1976 against Conservative Party candidate James Buckley, and he handily defeated the one-term senator that year. To win the Democratic nomination, he had to get past three much more liberal opponents: Rep. Bella Abzug, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and New York City Council President Paul O'Dwyer. They split the liberal vote and Moynihan got the nomination with 36 percent -- 10,000 more votes than Abzug who was second. He never gave Buckley any ammunition. His last election, in 1994, he beat Bernadette Castro (of sofa fame) by 55 percent to 42 percent. That was the closest re-election race he had.
Virginia:
I wonder about his report in the 1960s on black marriages and the black single women. How did he escape the racism statements? If he was a Republican, what would happened to him?
John Cranford: He was tarred as a racist by many people and he got beyond that by showing in many other ways that he was concerned about the survival of black families. His later welfare work won him praise.
New York City, N.Y.:
Are there any senators left out there like Daniel Patrick Moynihan? I know that Kennedy is a staunch liberal but also nonpartisan in terms of working with Republicans when it comes to projects that he favors. However, he is one of the right wing's whipping boys. As well, Kennedy doesn't have the speaking abilities/powers of Moynihan or Robert Byrd. The baggage that Kennedy and Byrd carry, though, makes me not see them as anywhere near as effective as Moynihan. Is there anyone like Moynihan left in the Senate?
John Cranford: There are few senators who can walk into a room and start talking and have people stop what they are doing and listen. Moynihan could do that, but he had a special gift of being able to command his subject and draw on literary and scientific expertise at will, while using an earthy direct approach that some have likened to an Irish bartender. Sen. Byrd has exhibited some of Moynihan's flair at reciting poetry, for example, but his skill as an orator is different from Moynihan's as an intellectual.
Arlington, Va.:
Sir,
Not to rain on the parade, but Moynihan
was also quite capable of taking orders to
cover up vile acts. For instance, as U.S.
Ambassador to the UN in the mid 1970s,
the Ford administration instructed him to
sabotage any UN effort to call Indonesia
to account for its U.S. backed-invasion of
East Timor and subsequent slaughter of
civilians. Moynihan performed his task
well, helping to ensure minimal
international involvement in Indonesia's
genocidal fury.
John Cranford: As ambassador to the U.N., I suspect that Moynihan more than once did the bidding of a White House that some found wanting.
Austin, Tex.:
Are there any Senators today in the Moynihan mold? (Not necessarily in terms of ideology, but in terms of breadth of thought and interest, eloquence, sense of history, etc.) Are there any?
Is the level of political debate in Congress way down from a generation or two ago, or am I just pining for a lost paradise that never really existed?
John Cranford: Pat Moynihan didn't always elevate the debate more than it is today. Some thought his Social Security about-face in 1990-91 was grandstanding for effect. And others complain that he didn't get his hands dirty on issues where he should have. Health care reform, for example.
Gaithersburg, Md.:
The details are not scarce on Moynihan's service, at least at the Navy Memorial.
John Cranford: This website shows Moynihan enlisted at 17 in 1944 and was a gunnery officer aboard the USS Quirinus. He never saw action at sea, it says.
Philadelphia, Pa.:
I found the New York Times obit did not do Senator Moynihan the justice he deserves. Did the 'Grey Lady' have an ax to grind with the Senator? I work in transportation policy reform, in that field alone he created a paradigm shift for how our nation funds and plans our transportation network. Found nothing so laudatory in his obit!
John Cranford: I can't speak to the Times obit, but it's true that the 1991 highway bill that he sponsored resulted in a major shift in direction away from the old formulas for highways and in favor of transit and urban planning. One thing about that bill showed Moynihan's devotion to New Yor. He included a provision -- that became a bit controversial because it resulted in an across-the-board spending cut -- to rebuild a Brooklyn courthouse.
John Cranford: Thanks for the questions. I enjoyed this.
washingtonpost.com:
That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the
discussion.
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