With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Are There No More Wayne Morses?

No Senate voice is in greater need of being heard today than that of Wayne Morse of Oregon. Unfortunately for the country, Morse-- known as the "Tiger of the Senate"-- has been dead more than a quarter century. He still is remembered and honored in his home state, where The Morse Award for Integrity in Politics is given by the Morse Corporation Board in Eugene. (Disclosure: I'm a member of the board.) It keeps alive the ringing words of the man who gave Oregon and the nation a memorable voice of political independence.

Now that voice and its spirit are memorialized in a new short play, "An American Gadfly," with the unexpected effect of shedding light on motivations of the Bush administration. Written by Portland playright, Charles Deemer, the play's contemporary impact was not part of the writer's original design. Built around statements of Morse during his 24 years in the Senate, it demonstrates that the more things change, the more they stay alike.

An Oregon actor read the Morse lines when the 40-minute one-man show was premiered this spring in the original Morse family home, now a National Historical Site in Eugene. But irony and coincidence shared top billing with him. What is striking is the way Morse's statements of four and five decades ago address events of today as pointedly as they did issues in his own time. His caustic, often angry words seem to draw parallels between the Eisenhower election of 1952 and that of George Bush in 2000, and might be as well suited to the war in Iraq as they were to that in Vietnam. In the following excerpts, Morse's words appear in capital letters.

Morse was elected to the Senate as a Republican, as a Democrat, and in his most natural identity, an Independent. It was as a Republican that he in 1952 became the first in his party to endorse Ike, the war hero. EISENHOWER WAS ATTENDING TO THE BUSINESS OF NATO IN EUROPE WHILE BOB TAFT WAS RUNNING AROUND THE COUNTRY TALKING AS IF HE HAD THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION WRAPPED UP.

He had met Ike, and was impressed. I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CROSS-EXAMINE GEN. EISENHOWER MANY TIMES WHEN HE APPEARED BEFORE THE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE. I FOUND HIM TO BE HONEST WITHOUT EXCEPTION, AND A MAN OF GREAT INTEGRITY.

He felt otherwise about the man with whom Ike shared his ticket. THE RUNNING MATE IS DICK NIXON, HAND-PICKED BEHIND CLOSED DOORS BY GEN. EISENHOWER HIMSELF. BUT YOU CAN'T TELL ME THE TAFT PEOPLE AREN'T BEHIND THIS. DICK NIXON IS DESPISED IN EVERY UNION HALL IN THE COUNTRY.

He made his feelings known when he called to congratulate Nixon. I THINK THE PLATFORM TAKES US BACK 50 YEARS. IT MAKES McKINLEY LOOK LIKE A LIBERAL. THE ENTIRE CIVIL RIGHTS PLANK STRIKES ME AS WEASEL-WORDED DOUBLE-TALK.

Morse's view of Eisenhower changed because Ike agreed with military advisers who were convinced war with the Soviet Union was inevitable. I NOW HAVE SERIOUS DOUBTS ABOUT THE WISDOM OF PUTTING A MILITARY MIND IN THE WHITE HOUSE. ALL I HEAR IS DOUBLE-TALK AND POLITICAL MUSH. ADLAI STEVENSON (who lost to Eisenhower) SOUNDED LIKE A STATESMAN COMPARED TO HIM.

The party system discouraged Morse. YOU DON'T HAVE TWO PARTIES IN THIS COUNTRY. YOU'VE GOT A COALITION OF REACTIONARY REPUBLICANS AND REACTIONARY DEMOCRATS WHO ARE RUNNING AMERICAN POLITICS, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT PARTY LABEL THEY WEAR.

In his independent mode, Morse felt like a political outcast, a status that suited him, including where he sat in the Senate chamber. THE REPUBLICANS DISOWN ME. THE DEMOCRATS HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER ME. I'LL BRING MY OWN CHAIR TO THE SENATE AND SIT IN THE AISLE. I'M NOT SURE WHICH POLITICAL CONVENTION I'LL GO TO. MAYBE I'LL HAVE MY OWN. I COULD HOLD IT IN A PHONE BOOTH. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO BE INDEPENDENT, NO MATTER WHAT PARTY I'M AFFILIATED WITH.

He had prices to pay. PHONE CALLS TO MY WIFE, MIDGE, AT ALL HOURS, RANGED FROM THREATS OF VIOLENCE TO VILE PORNOGRAPHY. CLASSMATES CHARGED MY DAUGHTERS WITH TREASON. LIFELONG FRIENDS PHONED OR WROTE THEY NEVER WANTED TO SEE US AGAIN-- ALL BECAUSE I FOLLOWED MY CONSCIENCE.

The environment and access to information were issues in his time, too. THE PRESIDENT SIDED WITH ECONOMIC PIRATES TO BEGIN A SYSTEMATIC AND COMPLETE GIVEAWAY OF THIS COUNTRY'S VALUABLE NATURAL RESOURCES, AND THE REPUBLICAN PRESS WAS CONDUCTING A VIRTUAL NEWS BLOCKADE AGAINST LETTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. THEY WILL TRY TO MAKE MONSTERS OUT OF THOSE WHO TRY TO PREVENT THIS GIVEAWAY PROGRAM OF THE PEOPLE'S TREASURE. OUR PATRIOTISM WILL BE ATTACKED.

In 1955, the safety of Formosa was at stake, and tiny islands of Matsu and Quemoy, just off the Chinese mainland, were the pawns. SO WHO IS THE REAL AGGRESSOR AND THE REAL THREAT TO PEACE? WHO IS BEHAVING LIKE AN INTERNATIONAL BANDIT? WE HAVE NO BUSINESS MAKING THESE UNILATERAL RESOLUTIONS WHEN WE SHOULD BE TAKING THE ENTIRE DILEMMA TO THE UNITED NATIONS.

Morse saw merit in fighting for losing causes. GREAT GOOD CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY ENTERING FIGHTS AND ESPOUSING POLICIES EVEN THOUGH THEY, AT THE MOMENT, WILL BE UNSUCCESSFUL. IT WAKES PEOPLE UP. IT MAKES THEM THINK. OUR GREAT CANCER IS THAT POLITICIANS DON'T ENTER FIGHTS, AND DON'T BATTLE FOR POLICIES UNLESS THEY BELIEVE THEY CAN WIN.

Morse said he was told by President John Kennedy just before his assassination in 1963: "I'VE COME TO THE CONCLUSION YOU PROBABLY ARE NOT WRONG IN YOUR CRITICISM OF OUR INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAM. I WANT YOU TO KNOW I'M IN THE MIDST OF ANALYZING AN INTENSIVE STUDY THAT CONCERNS, IN PART, AN ANALYSIS OF YOUR SENATE SPEECHES ON VIETNAM." THAT WAS MY LAST MEETING WITH HIM. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT STUDY. I DO KNOW VIETNAM DIDN'T DISAPPEAR. BEFORE LONG, LYNDON JOHNSON WAS TURNING AROUND AND OUTGOLDWATERING THAT TRIGGER-HAPPY MADMAN, BARRY GOLDWATER.

He criticized his fellow senators who (all but one) voted for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that he opposed. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL YOURSELVES LIBERAL. THERE'S NO OTHER BONAFIDE LIBERAL IN THE SENATE EXCEPT MY COLLEAGUE FROM ALASKA. YOU'VE LET YOURSELVES BECOME JELLY-BELLIED PUPPETS OF THE ADMINISTRATION!

He said the president should be administrator of the people's will. FOREIGN POLICY BELONGS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NOT TO THE PRESIDENT. UNDER OUR CONSTITUTION, ALL THE PRESIDENT IS IS THE ADMINISTRATOR OF A PEOPLE'S FOREIGN POLICY.

How democracy dies. FICTION, PROPAGANDA, CONCEALMENT OF BEHIND-THE-SCENE DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITIES AND A SHROUD OF GOVERNMENT SECRECY WITHHOLD THE FACTS FROM THE PUBLIC.

He challenged President Johnson about "psychological habituation" to war. MR. PRESIDENT, THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES THE TECHNIQUES EMPLOYED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO REDUCE OPPOSITION TO THE WAR IN VIETNAM.

Why there is so much anti-U.S. feeling in the world. ARE WE SURPRISED AT ALL THE CRITICISM BEING SHOT AT US FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD? DOES IT REALLY COME AS ANY SURPRISE THAT WE ARE BECOMING THE MOST FEARED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD? I DON'T CARE IF PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS. IT'S THE TRUTH !

Secret to last winning election. EVERY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN OREGON ENDORSED MY OPPONENT, BOB DUNCAN. BUT WE WON BECAUSE WE GAVE THE PEOPLE OF OREGON THE FACTS ABOUT THIS WAR.

There is a way to win the peace. PEACE CAN BE WON AND MAINTAINED ONLY IF WE CONVINCE FREEDOM-LOVING PEOPLE ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD THAT THE RULE OF REASON, PROCEDURES OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE, AND THE RELINQUISHMENT OF SELFISH INTERESTS ARE ESSENTIAL. THESE MUST BE SUBSTITUTED IN THE THINKING OF PEOPLE EVERYWHERE IN PLACE OF EMOTIONAL NATIONALISM THAT STILL DOMINATES THE WORLD.

Wayne Morse left the Senate after 24 years when defeated at the polls by Robert Packwood, whose legislative legacy was in strong contrast to his predecessor's. He was campaigning to regain his seat when he died at 73 in 1974. His words testify to his unselfish commitment to justice and public service. But his most fitting eulogy was spoken by an independent man of courage centuries before him:

"I am that gadfly which the gods have attached to the State. You think you might easily strike me dead. Then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless the gods in their care of you sent you another gadfly." Socrates in his own defense.

Do the gods no longer care?