Sitting on my bookshelf so that I can see its yellowed paper as a reminder of how long ago it was is a framed letter. The date says 8/23/74 and it is on Philip A. Hart’s small letterhead. The handwriting was Senator Hart’s familiar scrawl.
“Barb-
“Please do a letter for me to Barbara Kincaid (Florence has address) (Believe not married.)
“Understand she has had difficult time recently (physical, not emotional). Hope she is much better.
“If anything office or I can do, pls let us know.
“Janey would join me etc. but I haven’t seen her since 4th of July weekend at St. Thomas.
“Explain delay in writing (a) compelling national events (b) absence of my writer and (c) … you can handle it, I know.
“Indicate very real hope she will be fully active soon; that she has been missed by all of us!
“Thanks --
“Sign it ‘Phil Hart’
“Also off to state convention at Mackinac – she may be interested.”
Just a note or two about Senator Hart’s cryptic humor… “Compelling national events” was President Nixon’s resignation and I, of course, was his writer of special letters (not the important ones but the touchy, feely stuff). So, I was to write myself a letter. His letter arrived with the address handwritten and a stamp -- the sign that this was personal, not official business. I have always been able to see that smile and twinkle in his eye in my head at least whenever I take the time to re-read this favorite and really only piece of memorabilia from that period of time.
Barbara K. Kincaid
Arlington, Virginia
Monday, February 4, 2008
Why We Write
This blog has been created to gather stories about the late Philip A. Hart, a U.S. senator from Michigan from 1958 until 1976.
Called "The Conscience of the Senate," Hart was the only living senator to have a Senate Office Building named for him while he was still alive. He died the day after Christmas in 1976 while still in office. Hart had decided not to run for a fourth term. Not long after that decision, he learned that he had cancer, which proved to be terminal.
Many of his legislative accomplishments were reported in publications that followed his death. Some of the records may have seemed overly sanctimonious, not to mention tedious. The truth, as some of us see it: He would have been uncomfortable with at least some of what was written.
We don’t promise never to mention anything important, but more to include the light stuff, too. We think politics could use a dash of Sen. Hart’s Irish wit and charm, and we have decided to tell some of the not so important stories here along with the important ones that may suggest wisdom. This blog is dedicated to the charm, wit, and character of Philip A. Hart that was so admired in the late sixties and early 1970s and was the basis for his wisdom.
The idea came from Howard E. O’Leary, former chief of staff for the Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee and a former campaign driver back in the days when political entourages were often just one person. He enlisted the support of John M. Cornman, a former director of communications, speech writer, and legislative assistant; and Barbara K. Kincaid, a former press assistant and speech writer who also traveled and worked with Janey Briggs Hart, the senator’s wife.
To add a personal observation as a former staff member, please contact O'Leary, Cornman or Kincaid. O’Leary is with the law firm Dykema Gossett and Cornman and Kincaid can be reached through the web site of Consultants on Purpose.
Called "The Conscience of the Senate," Hart was the only living senator to have a Senate Office Building named for him while he was still alive. He died the day after Christmas in 1976 while still in office. Hart had decided not to run for a fourth term. Not long after that decision, he learned that he had cancer, which proved to be terminal.
Many of his legislative accomplishments were reported in publications that followed his death. Some of the records may have seemed overly sanctimonious, not to mention tedious. The truth, as some of us see it: He would have been uncomfortable with at least some of what was written.
We don’t promise never to mention anything important, but more to include the light stuff, too. We think politics could use a dash of Sen. Hart’s Irish wit and charm, and we have decided to tell some of the not so important stories here along with the important ones that may suggest wisdom. This blog is dedicated to the charm, wit, and character of Philip A. Hart that was so admired in the late sixties and early 1970s and was the basis for his wisdom.
The idea came from Howard E. O’Leary, former chief of staff for the Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee and a former campaign driver back in the days when political entourages were often just one person. He enlisted the support of John M. Cornman, a former director of communications, speech writer, and legislative assistant; and Barbara K. Kincaid, a former press assistant and speech writer who also traveled and worked with Janey Briggs Hart, the senator’s wife.
To add a personal observation as a former staff member, please contact O'Leary, Cornman or Kincaid. O’Leary is with the law firm Dykema Gossett and Cornman and Kincaid can be reached through the web site of Consultants on Purpose.
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