Thomas H. Kean, chairman of the Corporation’s board of trustees, argues that polarization is one of the most serious problems affecting U.S. democracy today and suggests ways that we can work together on the nation’s problems
Some years ago, I was having dinner with former vice president Walter Mondale. He mentioned to me that he did not understand how they ever got anything done in Washington. He said that when he was in the Senate, there were about 30 senators, a combination of so-called “Rockefeller” Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats. People like Charles Percy on the Republican side and Sam Nunn for the Democrats. Every time they got stuck, Mondale recalled, they went to those people and around them they built compromises. Every important bill for a period of almost 30 years had their fingerprints. They were the center, and around the center the most important bills became law.
Compare that to today. Centrists are down to at most two or three in each party. The center no longer exists. Moderates are almost extinct, and when they do run, they are usually beaten in the primaries by people from the far left or the far right. For the first time, major bills are passing without any bipartisan support. The lack of civility in Congress reflects that of the general population.
As a state legislator in the New Jersey General Assembly, as a Republican two-term governor of New Jersey, and as chair of the 9/11 Commission, I always insisted on reaching across the aisle because of my deep belief that only bipartisan efforts will stand the test of time and best serve this country’s needs.
This continued polarization is one of the most serious problems affecting democracy in the United States today.
Political parties are not talking to each other. They are not looking for agreements; they are attacking each other instead of compromising with one another. It is becoming harder and harder to get anything done.
In these circumstances, democracy is in trouble. We need to find a way to respect each other again, to talk to each other again, to become friends again, and to become colleagues who can work together on the nation’s problems.
As a member of an old political family and as a politician myself for a number of years, I have not seen much good that was not bipartisan. As a state legislator in the New Jersey General Assembly, as a Republican two-term governor of New Jersey, and as chair of the 9/11 Commission, I always insisted on reaching across the aisle because of my deep belief that only bipartisan efforts will stand the test of time and best serve this country’s needs.
Governor Thomas H. Kean first joined the Corporation’s board of trustees in 1991, serving twice as chair. When Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian, Kean’s close collaborator, died suddenly on April 15, 2021, Kean provided advisory guidance and leadership, working alongside the board’s vice chairman, Janet L. Robinson, retired president and CEO of the New York Times Company, and the foundation’s staff until Dame Louise Richardson joined the Corporation as president in January 2023. A new PBS documentary Are We Safer Today? highlights Kean’s bipartisan leadership of the 9/11 Commission as the members of the commission explore their historic work and its ramifications for today.
When I was elected one of the youngest speakers in the New Jersey General Assembly, there was no majority. There were 49 Republicans, 50 Democrats, and one Independent. I told both parties that I would not post a bill unless it had a Democratic sponsor and a Republican sponsor. This was unprecedented, but it turned out to be one of the most effective legislatures in the history of the state. Everybody had to get along, because if they wanted a bill passed, they had to find somebody on the other side of the aisle to do it with them.
It was a little easier in those days. We always went out to dinner after the session, and nobody asked what your party was before they pulled out your chair. We went to each other’s funerals and weddings. We knew each other’s spouses and families. These days people can serve in the House of Representatives for 10 years and hardly know people in the other party. They work in Washington Tuesdays through Thursdays. At night, they have fundraisers for their own parties. They don’t socialize with the other party, and they don’t know each other’s families. Cross-party breakfasts and dinners and social engagements make governing a lot easier.
I served as governor for eight years, yet my party never had a majority in the state senate. During my term, the Democrats never blocked a major bill or a major appointment. We worked together, and we shared the credit. This approach worked as I was reelected by the largest majority in state history.
When I chaired the 9/11 Commission, we spent a long time getting to know each other. We were five Democrats and five Republicans. Once we had formed relationships, we got into the real work. When we started, I made a rule for the commission that no Republican ever sat next to another Republican and no Democrat ever sat next to another Democrat at committee meetings or in the public hearings. I wouldn’t appear on major television or radio shows unless I could bring my Democratic vice chair Lee Hamilton with me. Having set that precedent, I asked other commissioners to do the same, to take someone from the other party — sort of like Noah’s Ark, we appeared two by two.
We are an unusual country. Our ancestry comes from many different people all over the world. We have been held together by a few documents and symbols for the past 200 years. Now we are arguing about some of these things. Meanwhile our diversity is increasing, not decreasing.
The 9/11 Commission produced a unanimous report. It was essential that we be unanimous because we were going into a presidential election and both parties at the time were ready to cast blame. It was necessary that we agree on what went wrong and how the attack was allowed to happen. Using the facts, we made recommendations that were controversial but allowed us to take steps to make sure the country was never that vulnerable again. We made 41 recommendations, 40 of which were approved in a bipartisan manner by Congress. Our report is still a textbook in schools and colleges 20 years later. I don’t think anything comparable has been done since.
We are an unusual country. Our ancestry comes from many different people all over the world. We have been held together by a few documents and symbols for the past 200 years. Now we are arguing about some of these things. Meanwhile our diversity is increasing, not decreasing. Unless we can share some common beliefs and values and recreate a center from which we can compromise, it will be hard to progress or perhaps even survive.
There is so much to be done, but people must be willing to do it. It starts with listening to each other. It starts with respecting each other. We must bring people together on every occasion that we can. We need to start bringing back relationships. In politics we should show our willingness to support those who are willing to compromise. When you disagree with someone, the key is to listen to them. And then you reason with them. No matter how crazy somebody’s idea is, talk to them. Find out what you have in common. Because there are things that you have in common. Out of that simple act, I think we can start to rebuild trust — in the country and in each other.
Thomas H. Kean is chairman of the board of trustees of Carnegie Corporation of New York. He served as governor of New Jersey for two terms from 1982 to 1990. He also chaired the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, known as the 9/11 Commission, which was responsible for investigating the causes of the September 11 attacks and providing recommendations to prevent further terrorist attacks.
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