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Capitol Personalities
Senator Melvin Laird (1922-2016)
Republican Pragmatist
"Politics is what men and women make it; we the people are the government."
Melvin Laird was the youngest state senator in Wisconsin history when he was elected at age 24 in 1946. He served four years and earned a reputation for valuing principles more than party. Laird opposed Senator Joseph McCarthy, for example, and worked closely with his colleagues across the aisle. "He would contest things vigorously," Democratic senator
Gaylord Nelson recalled, "but he was always civil. He had strong convictions and great integrity, decency, compassion."
In 1952, voters sent Laird to Washington, where he represented central Wisconsin for 17 years. He championed funding for medical research and became an expert on national security, mentoring Hillary Rodham Clinton and Colin Powell at the start of their careers. In 1969, Laird was appointed Secretary of Defense by President Richard Nixon. He replaced the draft with an all-volunteer army, facilitated withdrawal from Vietnam, and persuaded Nixon to choose Gerald Ford as vice president. |