Jack Kemp, RIP
By
Jack Kemp really knew how to throw a football, but he will be remembered first not as an athlete or as a politician, but as one of the most intellectually-driven men in the supply-side and economic freedom movements.
When I began reading Jack Kemp’s opinion column as a young teenager, Kemp’s career as an elected official was already essentially over. As he is eulogized, we’ll hear much about his political accomplishments, including his role as an influential congressman, his tenure as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and his losing campaign as Bob Dole’s vice presidential candidate in 1996, but his importance for me and many other young conservatives and libertarians was in the intellectual arena rather than the political one.
Kemp was possibly the leading political proponent of “supply-side” economics, but not as an abstract and impersonal thesis. His singular and idealistic focus on the practical power of the entrepreneurial spirit was his trademark. From his experimentation with enterprise zones to his articulation of the very real effects of capital gains taxes on small business people, Jack Kemp was a relentless advocate for the real world good that could be gained by setting people free. Steve Forbes once said, “Other than President Ronald Reagan himself, few people in the political world have had more influence on the last quarter century of wealth creation and rising levels of entrepreneurial business expansion than Jack F. Kemp.” The Kemp-Roth tax cuts are widely acknowledged to have been the catalyst for record economic growth in the 1980s. We like to think it is particularly fitting that the job growth during this period resulted largely from an explosion in small business.
We didn’t agree with all of his policy proposals, but his entrepreneur-focused vision was a departure from the way politicians, pundits, and especially ivory-tower academics thought about economics. His ability to think in terms of how economic theory can be useful for real people was rare and refreshing, because he didn’t begin by stripping those real people of their individual dignity or their unique dreams and desires the way most policy wonks and professors do.
As a younger fan of Jack Kemp’s, I always wondered whether Kemp might appeal to me because I had the the optimism of youth and lacked the experience to know whether Kemp’s vision of entrepreneurs was accurate or wishful-thinking. Would realism and cynism gained as a byproduct of life make Kemp’s optimism seem naive or his clarity seem simple-minded? Would Kemp still appeal to me when I was older?
Now, many years later, I am older with a few mistakes under my belt and a few bruises and bumps to balance against the dreams of my idealistic youth. Still, I don’t find Kemp’s vision any less appealing today than I did then. In fact, I find it more appealing because I understand it now as a reflection of Kemp’s unique and uplifting sense of life, which was not so much the reflection of hard realities, but a better understanding of them.
[We'll continue to update this post at Daily Uprising with links to eulogies, memorials, and articles about Mr. Kemp as they become available]
Red State: Jack Kemp a Conservative Star and a Wonderful Friend
Paul Craig Roberts: Jack Kemp – American Hero
World Net Daily: Jack Kemp’s ‘Opportunity and Outreach’
13 Wham: Buffalo Bills’ Statement Regarding the Passing of Jack Kemp
Prime Buzz: Bob, Elizabeth Dole Remember Jack Kemp
Pepperdine University: Pepperdine Mourns the Passing of Jack Kemp
Bleacher Report: The Passing of Former Bills QB Jack Kemp and the Sad Reality I Faced
WGRZ: Sports, Political Figures React to Jack Kemp’s Passing
TPM: Jack Kemp, Football Star and Politician, Dies
Associated Press: Jack Kemp, Tax Crusader and ’96 VP Candidate Dies
National Post: Bob Barr on the Late Jack Kemp
PR Newswire: Hawk Corporation Mourns the Passing of Board Member Jack F. Kemp
Mercury News: Jack Kemp was Ahead of His Time in Football
Canadian Press: Jack Kemp Remembered as Buffalo Bills Unquestioned Leader
Vail Daily: Kemp Felt at Home in Vail
Buffalo News: Kemp was a Born Leader for Bills
FOXNews.com: Jack Kemp, Former GOP VP Candidate and Quarterback, Dies at 73
NYT: Jack Kemp, Star on Field and in Politics, Dies at 73
Volokh Conspiracy – Jack Kemp, RIP
Gateway Pundit: Former GOP VP Candidate Jack Kemp Dies
Newsbusters Flashback: In Backhanded Bias, Kemp Choice Spurred Talk of ‘Haters’
Wizbang: Breaking: Jack Kemp has Died
Hot Air: Breaking: Jack Kemp, RIP
Fox News: Obama Praises Kemp’s Commitment to Equality
Pr News Wire: Statement by Tom Ridge on the Passing of Jack Kemp
Bloomberg: Jack Kemp, Who Dealt Supply-Side Gospel, Dies at 73
My Way: Jack Kemp, Football Star and Politician, Dies
AP: Jack Kemp, Quarterback Turned Politician, Dies
ESPN: An Appreciation of Jack Kemp
ABC News: (Video) Recalling Jack Kemp, Charles M. Maguire
