From the Cracker Squire Archives on "Bring it on Sam Nunn, bring it on." -- Part IV (Larry Walker)
I did a 3-23-05 post entitled "Larry Walker & I have a great candidate to be the Democratic nominee for president in '08. -- Whatever Happened to Sam Nunn?"
Part of the post was an article Larry Walker had written in the Feb. 15 to March 15 issue of James Magazine. It provided:
He came into my very modest law office in Perry in, what, 1966? It was his first campaign for governor — the unsuccessful one. After exchanging pleasantries, Jimmy Carter asked about “another young lawyer in Perry,” whom I concluded was Sam Nunn. He was called “Little Sam” back then to distinguish him from his much- respected father, Sam Nunn Sr.
So I took Jimmy Carter to the real estate records room in the Houston County Courthouse and introduced him to title-checking lawyer Sam Nunn. I introduced a future U.S. president to a future U.S. senator — how improbable! And how their lives would be intertwined for the next 30 years or so.
Sam doesn’t come home as much as he used to, but he was in Perry recently to speak on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Perry’s Chamber of Commerce. As I have done so many times in the past, I had the honor of introducing Sam Nunn to his home folks who know him so well. There was much I could have said, but I kept the tradition of ‘the more important the speaker, the shorter the introduction,” and was very brief.
Sam Nunn “Little Sam” stood and talked. With the same familiarity that I would discuss Georgia football or the state legislative budget process, he spoke of his efforts at working for a safer world through the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which he co-chairs with Ted Turner, and about the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and of our feeble attempts at curtailment. All of his good work in this area might eventually lead to a Nobel Peace Prize.
I was taken by a powerful memory as he spoke. In my mind it was 1956, and Perry’s boys basketball team had not lost a single regular- season game, but it was trailing the undefeated Valley Point high school team at halftime in the state championship. Perry’s legendary coach, Eric Staples, said only one thing to his boys at halftime: “We’ve had a good year. This team is just better than we are.” “Little Sam” led the charge in the second half as Perry won the state championship, 81-52. Sam Nunn scored 27 points. You see, “Little Sam” didn’t believe any one was better than he was, nor does he now. Nor do I. In my book, Sam Nunn is the best.
In my law office every day, I see a framed and inscribed political poster that reads, “Elect Sam Nunn, U.S. Senate.” It’s one of the original 1972 posters and has Sam’s picture on it. But with those horn-rimmed glasses, he looks more like Buddy Holly than Sam Nunn. And I always say to visitors who comment on the poster, “It looks like Buddy Holly, doesn’t it?” I’ve come to think of it as my Buddy Holly political poster. Buddy Holly, cut down in his prime and before he accomplished what he could have.
Sam Nunn. A great U.S. senator in the Richard Russell mold. That’s a mighty big mold, but I believe Sam Nunn could’ve done more. I understand the dilemma he faced of getting the Democratic nomination in 1992 and then being able to win the election. Too conservative for the nomination, and if he did what he would’ve needed to do to get it, he would have been seen as too liberal to be elected. But I believe he could’ve been elected rather than Bill Clinton. Wouldn’t things have been different if he had? Different for the national Democratic Party, the country and the world. Who better to deal with the Russians after the wall came down, and who better to deal with Kim Jong-il of North Korea, Hu Jintao of China and all the world’s dictators and miscreants?
Part of the post was an article Larry Walker had written in the Feb. 15 to March 15 issue of James Magazine. It provided:
He came into my very modest law office in Perry in, what, 1966? It was his first campaign for governor — the unsuccessful one. After exchanging pleasantries, Jimmy Carter asked about “another young lawyer in Perry,” whom I concluded was Sam Nunn. He was called “Little Sam” back then to distinguish him from his much- respected father, Sam Nunn Sr.
So I took Jimmy Carter to the real estate records room in the Houston County Courthouse and introduced him to title-checking lawyer Sam Nunn. I introduced a future U.S. president to a future U.S. senator — how improbable! And how their lives would be intertwined for the next 30 years or so.
Sam doesn’t come home as much as he used to, but he was in Perry recently to speak on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Perry’s Chamber of Commerce. As I have done so many times in the past, I had the honor of introducing Sam Nunn to his home folks who know him so well. There was much I could have said, but I kept the tradition of ‘the more important the speaker, the shorter the introduction,” and was very brief.
Sam Nunn “Little Sam” stood and talked. With the same familiarity that I would discuss Georgia football or the state legislative budget process, he spoke of his efforts at working for a safer world through the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which he co-chairs with Ted Turner, and about the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and of our feeble attempts at curtailment. All of his good work in this area might eventually lead to a Nobel Peace Prize.
I was taken by a powerful memory as he spoke. In my mind it was 1956, and Perry’s boys basketball team had not lost a single regular- season game, but it was trailing the undefeated Valley Point high school team at halftime in the state championship. Perry’s legendary coach, Eric Staples, said only one thing to his boys at halftime: “We’ve had a good year. This team is just better than we are.” “Little Sam” led the charge in the second half as Perry won the state championship, 81-52. Sam Nunn scored 27 points. You see, “Little Sam” didn’t believe any one was better than he was, nor does he now. Nor do I. In my book, Sam Nunn is the best.
In my law office every day, I see a framed and inscribed political poster that reads, “Elect Sam Nunn, U.S. Senate.” It’s one of the original 1972 posters and has Sam’s picture on it. But with those horn-rimmed glasses, he looks more like Buddy Holly than Sam Nunn. And I always say to visitors who comment on the poster, “It looks like Buddy Holly, doesn’t it?” I’ve come to think of it as my Buddy Holly political poster. Buddy Holly, cut down in his prime and before he accomplished what he could have.
Sam Nunn. A great U.S. senator in the Richard Russell mold. That’s a mighty big mold, but I believe Sam Nunn could’ve done more. I understand the dilemma he faced of getting the Democratic nomination in 1992 and then being able to win the election. Too conservative for the nomination, and if he did what he would’ve needed to do to get it, he would have been seen as too liberal to be elected. But I believe he could’ve been elected rather than Bill Clinton. Wouldn’t things have been different if he had? Different for the national Democratic Party, the country and the world. Who better to deal with the Russians after the wall came down, and who better to deal with Kim Jong-il of North Korea, Hu Jintao of China and all the world’s dictators and miscreants?
My recent and short introduction of Sen. Nunn contained these words: “He could have been president and he should have been president.” It’s not too late, but like the Perry-Valley Point game, “Little Sam’ had better take over and do so soon if we are going to pull this one out. Otherwise, they will say, “He would’ve made a great president, and by the way, whatever happened to Sam Nunn?”
Larry Walker served 32 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, 16 of those as majority leader. He is a successful businessman, attorney and writer.posted by Sid Cottingham | 2:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home