An American Statesman-Lee Hamilton

Lee Hamilton 1931-2026

     Any list of the greatest to serve in the US Congress will include Lee Hamilton.

     Hamilton served with distinction from 1965 to 1999 and during that tenure was chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee and after leaving congress co chaired the 9/11 Commission. Presidents and potentates sought his advice. He was universally admired by Democrats and Republicans. He was considered one of wisest and most even dispositioned to serve in US History.

   He was presented the Lifetime Contributions to Diplomacy Award by the American Foreign Service Association. He was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Despite his renown and international credential he was always down to earth, sincere and a great listener.

    In 1965 I was on duty on the news desk of an Indiana radio station when the buzzer on the door sounded. As I opened it there stood a tall man, with a short cropped haircut in an open trench coat with a stack of papers in his hand. It was Lee Hamilton, newly sworn into office, back in the state delivering a "Newsletter" on the congressional session underway. That was the beginning of a relationship that became a friendship.

    Until I retired from journalism and broadcasting Lee Hamilton was a source of knowledge and information that helped me translate and report to viewers and readers events on a global scale, in the inner rooms and offices of the national security, intelligence and diplomatic realms, and in American politics. A Lee Hamilton inspired character figures into the plot line in one of my historical intrigue novels. 

    Hamilton was also a good man, a decent and admirable human being. He evinced an integrity and was a watch dog for the principles of the democratic republic delineated in the Constitution. But he was a sober eyed realist in a world that seems bent on self destruction.  As we sat in a little known chamber in the capitol dome he told me "there are things that must be done that may not look so positive in the light of day." He was discussing the options that must be available for the conduct of a sound foreign policy. He served in the depth of the cold war. 

    Though he was born in Florida, he was a pure Hoosier, imbued with common sense, a questioning mind, and bedrock virtue. He was also a hoopster. He led his team to the state finals in 1948, when Indiana High School Basketball was legendary. He was injured, but tried to play until forced to the sideline. They lost the championship. He won, what is considered by Indiana basketball aficionados and purists, the greatest award,The Trester Award for Mental Attitude.

    One of my favorite memories with Lee was the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. The Indiana delegation, staying in Buckhead, hosted a party one night. I was there with the media as we mixed with the political stars and delegates. It wasn't long before Lee, Frank O'Bannon, soon to be Lt. Governor and eventually Governor, and this writer found ourselves at one of those little basketball games using a miniature ball and a bright score board. O'Bannon had been a good player in his day. So here we are, three guys, long beyond their prime getting very serious about who was hitting the most shots. An evening passed filled with many chuckles and stories of games and anecdotes. I can't recall who won, but I was happy not to have been last.

   Back in that Cold War era, my late investigative colleague Ben Strout and I worked months to expose a KGB officer, posing as a cultural attache, who was seeking to infiltrate staff of important US officer holders before an upcoming summit. Lee's congratulations, after the exposed officer was recalled, was point of immense pride.

    Those who were will attest to the brilliance of a remarkable evening. I was president of the Indianapolis Press Club and we hosted an evening conversation with Senator Richard Lugar, a brilliant foreign policy light and power in his own right, and Lee Hamilton. It came as the USSR was collapsing, the wall coming down, a new world order being established. Those hours of those two men, off the cuff, both with first hand experience, chatting and debriefing each other was one of those rare moments than can occur only once. The brilliance of the analysis that night was beyond your imagination. 

  And so it is with Richard Lugar, joined eternity by his friend Lee Hamilton.

Stars in the firmament of wisdom, decency, and the dying breed of being a Statesman. 

   See you down the trail.