Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, who announced this week that he will retire when his term is up in 2020, is one veteran politician who won’t have to die to get a positive story written about him.
He has a long record of public service that deserves high praise — two-term governor of Tennessee, Education secretary in the George H.W. Bush administration, president of the University of Tennessee and three-term U.S. senator from Tennessee. He even ran for president — twice — in 1996 and 2000.
His eight years as governor and 18 years as senator will make him the longest serving governor and senator in Tennessee history. He must be doing something right.
As chairman of the important Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Alexander built a distinguished record. In October, he co-authored sweeping opioids legislation that addresses prevention, treatment and recovery. President Trump called it “the single largest bill to combat a drug crisis in the history of our country.”
In 2016, Alexander wrote the 21st Century Cures Act to speed up medical product research and development and bring new advances to patients faster and more efficiently.
He also is credited with spurring the Every Student Succeeds Act which made needed fixes to the “No Child Left-Behind” Law. His work was widely hailed and honored by the National Governors Association as a major education advance.
The list goes on.
Through it all, Alexander, 78, has managed to exude a can-do positive attitude and a wry sense of humor. And he doesn’t run out on television every five minutes to trash political rivals, spout pithy partisan lines, or toot his own horn — all easy ways to become a media darling in Washington. He’s busy reaching across the political aisle and getting things done.
In other words: Boring.
When running for president back in 1996, he like to say he was inspired by his grandfather’s advice: “Aim for the top. There’s more room there.”
But he kept his feet firmly on the ground. Wearing his signature red-checked hunting shirt, he walked 90 miles across New Hampshire in 1995 to get to know voters better. He often told the story of his walking into a Hooksett general store and saying to some guys…
