Editorial: Jim Leach was ‘last of a kind’

Jim Leach. CREDIT National Endowment for the Humanities
Jim Leach. CREDIT NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Over the holiday season, former U.S. Congressman Jim Leach died on Dec. 11 at the age of 82. He was one of the most principled elected officials and leaders in Iowa over the past half century.

It is a cliché to say that he is the last of a kind, but that might be the most accurate description for Mr. Leach and his approach to public service.

He served for 30 years in the U.S. Congress from 1977 to 2006, and could arguably be considered one of the most anti-politician politicians.

He relished the governing process, but hated the money and campaigning that was needed to get people elected. 

Mr. Leach spoke at the CBJ’s 2017 90 Ideas in 90 Minutes event which featured nine of the region’s most prominent leaders discussing 10 of their best ideas.

Mr. Leach noted in one of his ideas that “Process is our most important product. How politics is practiced is often more important than the nature of the policies that unfold.”

The flood of campaign contributions from companies and others was not something that he abided, even though he could have taken full advantage when he chaired the powerful House Banking Committee. Notably, he would not accept political action committee (PAC) monies and limited contributions to $500 from only residents of Iowa.

He also noted in another one of his “ideas” that “the courts and legislatures should reconsider recent campaign finance rulings and recognize that corporatism is not democracy. Mega campaign contributions have no legitimate role in American elections.”

He compared the recognition of First Amendment rights for corporations and unions in the 2010 Citizens United ruling as one of two seminal miscarriages of justice. 

Mr. Leach wrote that Citizens United employs parallel logic to the syllogism embedded in the most repugnant ruling the court ever made, the 1857 Dred Scott decision, which has its roots in Davenport. To justify slavery, the Court in Dred Scott defined a class of human beings as private property. To magnify corporate power a century and a half later, Citizens United defined a class of private property (corporations) as people. The effect is to undercut the democratic basis of American governance.

He decried the lack of civility that has become the norm in today’s political environment, adding at the 90 Ideas event that “Polarization is not the American way. Politicians should respect their opponents. They are rivals, not enemies.” And, “Civility matters. We are all connected and rely on each other.”

“I basically have always been a progressive in international affairs, a moderate on social issues and somewhat restrained on spending,” Mr. Leach said in a 2009 interview with the National Endowment for the Humanities, which he ran from 2009 to 2013.

Mr. Leach continued to serve the country and Iowa in various ways, including the aforementioned National Endowment for the Humanities during the Obama administration as well as several teaching and administrative roles at the University of Iowa.

Regardless of political affiliation, Mr. Leach served the region with distinction, respect and conviction — traits that we would very much like our current and future politicians to consider.