THE HONORABLE PHILLIP M. CRANE

Introduction by Ed Feulner

Phillip M. Crane, PH.D. is a man of ideas.  His first book, published in March 1964, before Barry Goldwater’s nomination, is entitled The Democrat’s Dilemma.  The book jacket notes, quote, “the influence of extremist views on the Democratic Party are exposed”.  Sounds like 2004 or 5, I don’t know.  But, in fact, Phil Crane had it right back then because he was talking about those leftist influences in terms of the Fabians and what they did to influence the Democratic Party. 

In the foreword to The Democrat’s Dilemma, then the editor of The Indianapolis Star wrote, and I quote, “Revolutions are normally organized and engineered by small groups of men and women.”  Well Phil recounts how a small band of dedicated men and women changed the world towards socialism through the Democratic Party, particularly under FDR, Henry Wallace, etc.  But since then, Phil Crane has been in the vanguard of those who have threatened the power of the left in Washington, because he has led a smaller, but equally aggressive, ever-growing group of conservatives to bring freedom ideas to the Washington public policy community. 

From the day in December 1969, just a couple weeks after his election to succeed Don Rumsfeld in the old 12th district of Illinois, to when Phil asked me to be one of the first employees on his congressional staff, I have seen Phil Crane lead his colleagues and inspire his colleagues with the power of his ideas and legislative battles.  Some of those battles have been successful, even if they’re almost forgotten.  Who remembers, for example, that just 30 years ago, under Republican presidents, it was illegal for a private citizen to own gold.  Because of Phil Crane, that restriction was removed and everybody takes it for granted today. 

Others were successful in a very different way.  Again, ancient history maybe, but, Phil Crane, leading a group of House back benchers in the minority party, stopped President Nixon’s so-called Family Assistance Plan; which led eventually, almost 30 years later, to the overhaul of our whole welfare system when Phil was the ranking Republican in the House Ways and Means Committee and in charge of that. 

Throughout his legislative career there was always one thing that inspired Phil Crane, whether it was in his speeches in Washington or around the country, his participation in floor debates, or wherever.  His speeches were always based on solid conservative principles.  He’s always known that a principled position and a determination to focus his efforts could make a real difference. 

Permit a little diversion and a little commercial if you will.  All of us at Heritage take that role very seriously, that’s one of the reasons why you have a copy of our new mandate for leadership on your chair, and it’s why we think we have provided an overview of both the ideals that undergurde conservative public policy, and also the practical side of what we should be expecting from the new Bush administration. 

Well, Phil Crane, in his whole career, was a master, both of the principles, and of the practical side of it.  His early leadership role in the founding of the Republican Study Committee, a voice for the majority viewpoint within the then minority of the Congress, and now for the last 10 years the majority, is recounted today in political science textbooks.  Ahead of his time as a conservative idea leader, Phil wrote in that 1964 volume, “Once people are willing to admit the possibility of alternatives, the battle is more than half won, and the time for refinements of a conservative reform platform will be at hand.” 

Well, ladies and gentlemen, in his career, indeed they were at hand, and that’s why he has been such an inspiration to all of us.  Phil, your work has been critical in finding, endorsing, and fighting for those conservative alternatives.  Looking back on the period since the Goldwater-Johnson election in 1964, the conclusion is inescapable that Phil Crane’s intellectual and political leadership has been crucial to the rise of the conservative ideas in this country.  Phil, your dedication to the shared ideas of freedom and free enterprise, of limited government, of traditional values and moral standards, and support for a strong national defense has truly changed America, and therefore, changed the world.  Because of you, and your trailblazing leadership, the future is much brighter for conservative ideas in America today. 

Phil, on behalf of the Council For National Policy, I am honored indeed to be able to present to you the Ronald Reagan Lifetime Achievement Award, for a life dedicated to the unyielding defense of American values, for selfless leadership and for always striving to make America a shining city on the hill.  Phil Crane.  Congratulations.

Phil Crane

 Thank you, thank you.  Well, I’m a little overwhelmed by Ed’s presentation there, especially going back and recounting so much history.  I didn’t realize you were that old Mom.  I’m talking about my wife Arlene.  Actually, I met Arlene before I got back in to school.  I had pulled a couple of years in the Army, and then a couple of years in advertising, and I met Arlene in Chicago.  I was preparing to go back to graduate school and get my doctorate, and I made a commitment to her that we would get married provided I could readjust to campus life.  And I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to go back there and become a student again.  And so I told her to postpone consideration of our marriage until I had at least a semester under my belt.  I’d then figured out whether I’m up to it.  And, I got back there and it was going so swimmingly after a couple of months, I said okay Arlene.  Set the date and we can do it during the Christmas break, and she said no we’ll do it during Valentine’s Day next year.  And I said that’s your choice, up to you. 

At any rate, I went back to graduate school at Indiana University, and it was a real thrill.  And one of the biggest thrills was when I was registering, and Ed was reminding me of it, I was registering and there was a table, there were various tables of organizations on campus, but here was this big picture of Eleanor Roosevelt, and it said, “Know Your Enemy.”  And I ran over to the table and I thought this group has to be our kind of people.  It was the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.  And I had not been familiar with them prior to that, and of course got actively involved and they played a significant role in my career.  Indeed, ISI played a significant role all throughout graduate school but it was kind of low key because you didn’t want to get a high profile since most of the faculty were left of center.  And, you didn’t want to put at risk your grades.

At any rate, I got my PH.D. And Arlene and I got married back there on February 14 of 1959.  Gee, seems like yesterday.  But at any rate, Arlene came down and joined me, and we started having kids right away because we couldn’t afford television.  So Arlene superintended everything, and, I’m not kidding.  Our first daughter was August 3rd of 1960, the second daughter came in July of 1962, and then June 22 of 1963, we weren’t even making full years before we were having another kid.  Which was very helpful getting into politics, because if you can’t beat them any other way, you know, you out produce them. 

But, I had gotten a pledge from her, as a condition for getting married, that she was willing to have 12 kids.  My folks had five of us; I had an older brother George, then  sister Judy and I, and then two kid brothers, Danny and David.  And I figured the first six kids would be boys, and then maybe a couple girls in that second six.  I went to the hospital four times in a row with boys’ names and we got four girls in a row.  I gave up the fifth time, I went with a girl’s name, and we got a boy.  I got over confident and went back the next 3 times with boys’ names and we got three more girls and I lost my nerve. 

But my father reminded me, he said “Phil, when boys are grown their flown, and girls will always come home.”  And that is true, and it is a comfort, I can’t describe it.  My father was the paramount influence in my life in shaping my values.  When we were growing up as kids in the depression years on the south side of Chicago, my dad never gave us allowances; we had to work for everything.  And he’d pick jobs for us, and he’d have a nickel pasted on a window with Scotch tape, and if you want that nickel, you clean that window.  Everything had a price tag on it, but it was to teach us the importance of work and your responsibility in getting out there and earning your own money for whatever you want to spend it on.  And he brought us up right. 

We used to go down to the farm, he bought back one of the family farms down in Indiana, and we spent all our summers there all the time.  And we did everything from milking the cows on spring break at 5:30 in the morning in your bear feet.  We did that because it was so exciting, warming your toes in a cow pancake, a fresh warm one.  We’ve got so many of those recollections.  But my dad, he earned 5 degrees at Northwestern. 

He had bachelor degrees, 2 masters, a PhD. in psychology, and a medical degree.

And he ended up writing a syndicated newspaper column; the most widely read syndicated column in America called “The Worry Clinic”.  And it ran for about 40 years.  My dad was an inspiration and guidance.  But politically and most importantly, he was the guidance for all of us kids growing up.  And he taught me the important values of individual responsibility and personal freedom and that we are were blessed to be American citizens thanks to the good Lord and thank all those people who perished in our national experience to guarantee that we still enjoy those rights today. 

Free enterprise is a fundamental component of guaranteeing that personal responsibility is filled, and that individual liberty is enjoyed.  And in addition to that, we have other responsibilities; we have the obligations to help our neighbors, but that is a personal obligation the way we were brought up.  And we were actively involved.  My dad taught church all the time.  For fifty years he taught a Bible class in downtown Chicago, and he taught a Sunday school class on the south side before we went downtown every Sunday. 

My dad brought us up with those strong religious values.  But he also emphasized that responsibility we have to help those less fortunate than ourselves.  And that we had an obligation, and the Bible tells us we have that obligation to help others.  And so that was something we were brought up with.  It wasn’t that government had that responsibility. 

Government, as I was taught as I got older, was intruding into areas that were individual responsibilities.  But this is something we’ve all experienced.  I then became more involved in politics due to my experience at Indiana University and its left wing faculty.  And it was a delight to get with some of the energized students who were conservatives. 

Around this time, I got involved in the Goldwater campaign at Ed Durwinski’s insistence.  He wanted me to run around and lecture in the Midwest on behalf of Uncle Barry.  And, I did that enthusiastically.  There was one other conservative faculty member at Bradley University at the time.  And, Nick Nirotti, I don’t know if any of you remember Nick.  Nick was the Secretary of Treasury and was in Hungary when the Nazis took over and then fled to the United States.  And he ended up teaching at Bradley.  But Nick and I were the only two Goldwater supporters on the faculty.

And the thing that I used to enjoy so much was Nick making outspoken remarks in support of Barry, and I was running around doing the same thing, and the media would pick up on it and focus on us by name.  And then they’d interview other faculty members who wouldn’t give their names, but they would criticize Nick and I for being right wing lunatics.  But, it tickled me because I knew the more such responses we were getting, the more impact we were having in driving them crazy. 

I didn’t expect Uncle Barry to win, but I got involved in that campaign to get the message out.  And that’s something that I think is critically important for us to do and think about today is making sure we’re getting that message out.  I know I’m preaching to the choir here since you’ve been doing it all your lives, but we’ve got to make sure, on our campuses especially, that we continue to get that message out, to recruit these young people in this next generation, and to guarantee that those kids are with us, that they carry that message forward and that they labor in the vineyards as we’ve done all of our lives. 

I have certain views I’ve treasured all of my life about government.  One is that defense is the one indisputably legitimate function of government.  As I used to tell kids as I was teaching, if Adam had never bitten the apple, we’d have never needed government in the first place.  The fact is, it is a fall from grace that we experienced, and that necessitates government.  We do need protection at the local level such as police and fire protection.  But certainly, we don’t need all that we have today by any matter of means at any level, national state, and even some expansions unduly at the local level. 

I remember, and I am sure all of you do, before Jimmy Carter went out, you remember he created the Department of Education.  And Ronnie campaigned on that pledge that, if elected, he’d abolish it.  And by ’84, that wasn’t even in our Republican platform.  And I said the only educational responsibility the national government has is the GI bill, period.  Nothing beyond that. 

In my congressional district, we sent a dollar to Washington to get fifty cents back.  The state of Illinois sends a dollar to Washington to get seventy cents back.  Who needs it?  Keep the money back home where it belongs and let those people assume those responsibilities. 

You know, our founding fathers said the history of liberty is the history of the limitation of governmental power, never the increase of it.  When we resist the concentration of governmental power, we’re resisting the powers of death.  For the destruction of human liberty has always been preceded by the concentration of governmental power.  And that is an absolute truth. 

And we should all be aware of it because our national government has been growing even with the Republicans in control.  And we’ve got to start putting the breaks on where Washington is headed, get that money and the responsibilities back closer to home, and at some point down the line. We need to reexamine whether actions by local government are legitimate or whether our church groups shouldn’t be organizing and working with those who are less fortunate. 

These are all things that we all believe in, but we’ve got to try and move in that direction.  And it’s for the benefit that my father taught us as kids that we leave it better for the kids that follow us than we got it ourselves.  And that’s a responsibility each and every one of us has: leave it better than you found it. 

And I just am overwhelmed again at the award, and I thank you all.  It’s been an exciting experience.  But most importantly, it’s been an opportunity to see so many familiar faces that go back many years, I won’t bother to count the years, but so many years. 

I lost my race November 2 last year.  But I told Arlene that because my birthday is November 3, and we had a birthday party the next day and all my kids were in for the election, this could be God’s birthday present.  And I mean that sincerely.  I pulled 35 years; I had no idea, and I had no thought of retiring.  I would go down in history serving until the very end.  But, at any rate, I reminded my children at that birthday dinner that night, that when your work is finished here that the good Lord takes you home.  And He didn’t take me home.  He told me to relax and enjoy a little bit.  I only got in two games of golf last year.  And I only went on one trip with Arlene to Budapest after the election for a week. 

And so golf and travel are two things that we’re going to enjoy.  But I will stay involved, and I will get actively be involved in advancing the same values I fought for when I served as a member of Congress.  And we will all be doing that together, and I will be working with all of you folks as allies.  And I thank you for all that you’ve done in the past thus far, and look forward to working with you in the future.  God bless you all, and thank you for this award.

Ken Crib 

That’s the magnificent public servant I have known all of my adult life.  I have a note here I want to read in its entirety. 

“Ken, I would be grateful, if you, in honoring Phil Crane, would make the point that he was willing to identify with us in the movement when there were political risks to do so.  He was raising money for us when no one knew who we were.  It takes a special kind of person to do that,” signed Paul Weyrich.