Henry
M. "Scoop" Jackson (Washington '34)
past U.S. Senator of Washington
and presidential candidate
Jackson represented Washington in the House of Representatives and in the
Senate for 42 years.
Jackson was raised in Everett and earned the nickname Scoop in the 1920s
when he delivered 74,880 copies of The Everett Herald without a complaint.
He received his law degree from the University of Washington, where Jackson
was a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity. At the age of 26 he was elected
a Snohomish County prosecutor.
As prosecuting attorney, Jackson won a reputation as a foe of gambling and
bootlegging, setting the stage for his election to Congress in 1940 from
Washington's Second District. In the House, he became a specialist in military
affairs and nuclear energy. He served in the Army as an enlisted man during
WWII until recalled to his congressional duties by President Roosevelt.
In 1945, Congressman Jackson officially visited Buchenwald, a few days after
the death camp was liberated. While serving in the House he played an influential
role on issues of particular interest to the West like public lands, reclamation,
and hydroelectric power development.
In 1952, he was elected to the Senate where he became an advocate of a strong
defense. In 1960, he was under serious consideration as the running mate
of Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Senator Jackson chaired
the Democratic National Committee during the Kennedy Presidential campaign.
Although picked by his colleagues in informal polls as the Senator best
qualified to be President, Senator Jackson was defeated in efforts to win
the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976.
In 1968, he was offered the post of Secretary of Defense by Republican President-elect
Richard M. Nixon, but Jackson declined.
Although picked by his colleagues in informal polls as the Senator best
qualified to be President, Senator Jackson was defeated in efforts to win
the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976.
From 1963 to 1980, Senator Jackson served as chairman of the Senate Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources and its predecessor, the Committee on Interior
and Insular Affairs. In this capacity, he played a leading role in the conservation
legislation of the 1960's and the energy legislation of the 1970's. As an
"environmentalist" long before the term was fashionable, Senator Jackson
authored the landmark National Environmental Policy Act and sponsored legislation
to preserve vast park lands and wilderness areas throughout the United States,
including the North Cascades Park, Olympic National Park, and the Alpine
Lakes Wilderness in Washington State. He also authored the Alaska and Hawaii
Statehood Acts.
Remarks by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz , Jewish Institute
for National Security Affairs, Ritz Carlton Hotel, Pentagon City, VA, Monday,
November 18, 2002:
In the Middle East, Scoop Jackson saw the evils of terrorism written in
blood on streets. Indeed, he could say with justification that he recognized
the problem of terrorism long before others. In July 1979 in Jerusalem,
Scoop said: "I believe that international terrorism is a modern form of
warfare against liberal democracies. I believe that the ultimate but seldom
stated goal of these terrorists is to destroy the very fabric of democracy.
I believe," Senator Jackson went on, "that it is both wrong and foolhardy
for any democratic state to consider international terrorism to be 'someone
else's' problem…. Liberal democracies must acknowledge that international
terrorism is a 'collective problem.'"
In the middle of the last century, the world faced the choice of whether
to confront or to appease the spreading menace of communism. There was no
one more committed to facing and defeating that ideology than Scoop Jackson-and
no one who recognized the danger more clearly. America's triumph over Soviet
communism is part of Scoop's legacy. In his unwavering support for a strong
defense, he helped to shift the balance. And, he took real political risks
in doing so. But, as Scoop himself used to say, "In matters of national
security, the best politics is no politics."
Over the course of nearly three decades of service on the Senate Armed Services
Committee, Scoop Jackson worked day in and day out to make sure that the
brave men and women who wear our country's uniform had the support they
needed to do their job. Scoop Jackson understood that the freedom we enjoy
in this country has been preserved by the dedication and self-sacrifice
of brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. And we all owe them our
thanks. [Applause]
Scoop's insistence on matching and surpassing the Soviet Union across the
board, a policy to which President Reagan later gave his wholehearted support,
was a decisive factor in hastening the demise of the Soviet empire.
I think that Scoop Jackson's greatest influence on those of us who knew
him and had the privilege to work with him, was his unassailable hope and
his unwavering faith in this country. He was fond of another unbounded optimist
named Teddy Roosevelt. Scoop would quote these words of that Rough Rider:
"We see across the dangers the great future," Roosevelt said, "and we rejoice
as a giant refreshed…. [T]he great victories are yet to be won, the greatest
deeds yet to be done."
Indeed, one of the things that characterized Scoop was a willingness to
confront the truth squarely, including some of the world's worst evils,
but at the same time, to think in hard practical terms about how to overcome
them.
As George Will said in a moving eulogy, Scoop may have missed "the ultimate
prize of our politics," perhaps because, as George put it, "he lacked the
cracking temperament that marks persons who burn on the surface with a hard,
gemlike flame. If [Scoop's] political metabolism seemed uncommonly calm,
that is because," Will wrote, "he had the patience of a mature politician,
a gift for planning, a thirst for detail, and a sense of ripeness in issues.
He had a flame, but he had a depth in which he kept it."
Scoop Jackson would see today in the close connection between states that
sponsor terrorism and states that terrorize their own people confirmation
of his conviction that America's self-interest lies in supporting the interest
of others to freely determine their own future.
Again, he came by this conviction firsthand when he saw the breakdown of
law and even of civilization in Europe in the 1940s. He became convinced
then that this country was destined to be a part of preserving peace in
the years to come, and wrote to one of his constituents right after the
war that "it is to our own self-interest"-I'm quoting-"if nothing else,
to do our part in ensuring a just and lasting peace when the war is over."
And Scoop Jackson would champion their dream. As Helen Jackson reminded
us in accepting Scoop's posthumous award of the Medal of Freedom, the Senator
from Washington often said: "if you believe in the cause of freedom, then
proclaim it, live it and protect it, for humanity's future depends on it."
Letter to the Family of the Late Senator Henry M. Jackson on the Launching
of the U.S.S. Henry M. Jackson:
The White House
Washington, D.C.
October 15, 1983
Dear Mrs. Jackson, Anna Marie and Peter:
The launching of a Trident Submarine is indeed a special event. But when
that submarine bears the name U.S.S. Henry M. Jackson the event has greatly
added significance. This submarine will join other strategic missile submarines
named for men of great character: George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas
Edison, Daniel Webster. Henry Jackson belongs among these Americans. This
living vessel is a fitting monument to him. Statues and configurations of
stone cannot carry on his life's work. However, the mighty ship you launch
today will carry on his lifelong quest for peace for all mankind and security
for our country.
Like Senator Jackson, those who built and will man the U.S.S. Henry M. Jackson,
are content to do their job professionally and silently, foregoing greater
material rewards they could claim in other fields. As with Senator Jackson,
this ship's real achievement will not be in conquest but in restraint, not
in waging war but in preserving peace.
The U.S.S. Henry M. Jackson through decades to come will be a constant reminder
to the fleet and to all Americans of the virtues for which your husband
and father stood: truth, peacefulness, strength and steadfastness. These
were the personal traits which commanded our respect when he was alive.
These are the qualities for which he will be remembered.
Nancy and I extend our every best wishes,
Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan
Dear Scoop,
The agreement which has been achieved concerning immigration of Soviet Jews
to Israel has been published in this country -a few hours ago and is evoking
waves of joy throughout Israel and no doubt throughout Jewish communities
in every part of the globe. This great achievement could not have been possible
but for your personal leadership which rallied such wide support in both
Houses of Congress, for the endurance with which you pursued this struggle
and for the broad human idealism which motivated your activities on behalf
of this great humanitarian cause. At this time therefore I would like to
send you my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude.
Yitzhak Rabin
Prime Minister of Israel
