Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Rostenkowski reflects on great politicians

Dan Rostenkowski, former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, urged students to follow the paths of some of the great politicians of the last 40 years in a speech Wednesday night at Coon Forum.

“Someone’s going to get in government and it might as well be you,” Rostenkowski, who served as a Democratic congressman for Illinois from 1959 to 1994, told the 18 people in attendance.

Rostenkowski recently was pardoned by former president Bill Clinton for two counts of fraud that sent him to prison for 15 months in 1996. Although he avoided discussing his controversial use of public funds, he said it is very important for people to “know how to use power and be fair with it.” He also encouraged the audience to “laugh at (their) mistakes, but correct what’s wrong.”

Rostenkowski said he made a positive difference in Washington, adding that he is satisfied that many people still have a “good word” for him.

His speech was informal, perhaps partly because of the low attendance – “Well, I can see I’m not Cary Grant,” he joked before starting – and he covered a wide range of topics.

Rostenkowski said the question budding politicians must ask themselves is, “Have you got the guts?” He said that when serving in a position such as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, you have to be ready “to walk away bruised as hell.”

“I valued my territory and I protected my legislation,” he said.

Rostenkowski said part of his success as a legislator stemmed from understanding how to compromise. He said party politics need to give way to reasonable solutions.

“You’re Democrats and Republicans until something has to be done,” he said.

Presidents often get credit for legislators’ work, Rostenkowski said.

The president gets the public recognition for signing a bill into law, while the people who worked hardest on it often fade into the background.

But he said he enjoyed working with the nine presidents he served under and spoke fondly of his experiences with many of them, including eating breakfast with President Jimmy Carter for four years.

Rostenkowski said one of his greatest fears was that his grandson’s generation would not know who Carter was.

Ronald Reagan was a great storyteller and “one of the nicest guys you’ve ever met,” Rostenkowski said.

He said Clinton was a successful commander in chief but was weakened initially by wanting to do too much at once.

While Rostenkowski was “diametrically opposed to Lyndon Johnson” from the time the eventual president was mentioned as John F. Kennedy’s running mate in the ’60s, he said that “besides Vietnam,” Johnson turned out to be one of the country’s greatest leaders.

Rostenkowski said he hopes President George W. Bush succeeds as well and predicts that Bush will “liberalize his views” as time goes on.

He also said Bush’s tax bill will be heavily rewritten as it develops and that the budget is too ambitious.

“You can’t put a basketball in a golf hole,” Rostenkowski said.

He warned that politics may be “less rewarding today” and that they have changed over the years because there is greater influence from interest groups. He also said there is a drastic need for campaign finance reform so that politics can become more accessible.

But he still encourages students to enter politics in order to improve people’s lives.

Artur Orkisz, a Weinberg senior, said he enjoyed hearing Rostenkowski speak and wasn’t sure whether to attribute the lack of attendance to political apathy or end-of-the-quarter madness.

Jein Gadson, a first-year Kellogg student, also said that Rostenkowski deserved “more support.”

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Rostenkowski reflects on great politicians