Opinion: A note to Sen. Max Cleland
A note to the late Sen. Max Cleland on Veterans Day
On this Veterans Day, we are going to take a break from the redistricting drama at the state capitol and instead pay our respects to a honorable statesman that the nation lost this week.
Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland passed away on Tuesday at the age of 79. He had a history in Georgia politics that spanned four decades, from serving as a state senator and Secretary of State.
Cleland not only dutifully served this country in elected office. He served in the U.S. Army during the height of the Vietnam War, eventually becoming a captain.
Cleland’s patriotism cost an arm and a leg — or in the Senator’s case, two legs. In 1968, he was caught in the middle of a grenade blast in Vietnam. He underwent several surgeries following the explosion and regained consciousness to find that he had lost three limbs: his right arm and both of his legs. But the 25-year-old army captain walked away from the blast with something that many of his fellow soldiers lost: his life.
He spent the next three years recovering from surgery and learning to adapt to his new way of life with just one limb. In 1971, Capt. Cleland was called to service once again. Not in the line of duty, but in public office. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate that year and quickly established himself as a champion for Georgia veterans.
From 1977 to 1981, Cleland served as administrator of the U.S. Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter, a fellow Georgian:
“Fellow veterans cheered when President Jimmy Carter appointed Cleland to lead the Veterans Administration, a post he held from 1977 to 1981. The VA and the wider medical community recognized post-traumatic stress disorder — what had been previously been dismissed as shell shock — as a genuine condition while Cleland was in charge, and he worked to provide veterans and their families with better care.”
Following his tenure at the VA, Cleland returned home to Georgia and ran for Secretary of State, a job that he would hold for 14 years before running for the United States Senate in 1996 to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn. Secretary Cleland won the election by around 30,000 votes in one of the closest Senate races in the country that year.
In the Senate, Cleland established himself as a moderate Democrat. He often sided with Republicans on issues pertaining to the economy and national security. But he never backed down from his support of abortion rights or environmental legislation. He was a member of the Armed Services Committee, a position that he used to advocate for veterans in Georgia and across the country.
The biggest battle of Sen. Cleland’s career came in 2002, when he was challenged by Republican Congressman Saxby Chambliss. Washington Republicans made defeating Cleland a top priority in order to recapture control of the Senate.
National security was the biggest issue during the campaign, and Cleland’s opponents ran several negative ads that his supporters claimed raised questions about the Senator’s patriotism for opposing some of President Bush’s homeland security measures. The ads, which featured the likeness of Osama bin Laden, were eventually taken down following criticism.
Chambliss, for his part, accused Sen. Cleland of violating his oath of office because he voted for an amendment to a chemical weapons treaty that eliminated a ban on citizens of terrorist nations being on U.N. inspection teams in Iraq. The vote passed the Senate 56-44, with some Republicans voting in support of the measure. In fact, one of those Republicans was Sen. Bill Frist, the head of the Senate Republican campaign committee who personally recruited Chambliss to run against Cleland.
Cleland started the campaign as the heavy favorite, leading by double digits in polling for most of the year. But the race began to tighten as election day approached. Outside spending ramped up significantly and Republicans sent President Bush to Georgia three times to campaign for Chambliss. In the end, Chambliss defeated Cleland by a 53%-46% margin.
The result was a heartbreaking conclusion to a Cleland’s lifelong career of public service, both in uniform and in Washington. But it goes without saying that the barrage of negative attacks pale in comparison with the wounds, injuries and trauma that he faced while serving this country overseas.
My message to Sen. Cleland on this Veterans Day is quite simple: “Thank you.”
Very few of our elected leaders today embody the patriotism, sacrifice and bravery that you proudly possessed. Your opponents may have attempted to score political points by scrutinizing your military service, but those attacks only underscored the type of leader that you were. You never backed down from a fight and didn’t owe anyone an explanation about your time overseas. Having to ride in a wheelchair for the rest of your life was an explanation in and of itself.
You lost three limbs and nearly lost your life defending the country that you loved. We will never be able to repay you for your many sacrifices, but we can and will continue to honor you by following your example. Your leadership style could be used now more than ever in this increasingly hostile political climate.
So while you may no longer be with us, you set a great example for all of us to follow: don’t let anyone question your loyalty or love for this country, because you do not owe them an explanation.
Whether we’re male or female, Black or white, Democrat or Republican, gay or straight, we all have the same thing in common: we are all Americans. We’re all going to put our patriotism on display in different ways, but as the Senator demonstrated, we should not let anyone tell us that we do not love this country. As long as YOU know that you love this country, that’s all that matters. Because you are not going to change everyone’s mind.
Lastly, I’d like to offer my condolences to Sen. Cleland’s family, friends and former staffers during this difficult time. Words alone are simply not enough to thank Sen. Cleland for his lifelong career of public service to this beautiful state. But as I said, the best way to honor his legacy is to live by his example in a time when it is desperately needed.
