Jack Kemp's gift—and curse—to GOP

Unfortunately, while [his] positive legacy goes for the moment unclaimed, Kemp’s negative legacy has been eagerly embraced. Like some of his political heirs, Kemp not only hoped for the best, too often he was willing to gamble the futu

The obituaries for Jack Kemp described him as a “former congressman” and “former cabinet secretary.” Just like Norman Mineta!

These descriptions were not inaccurate, of course, but they were hopelessly inadequate. Kemp was the sponsor of the Kemp-Roth tax cut that formed the basis of the Republican platform in 1980. He championed one after another of the tax reductions and reforms that constituted the most exciting portion of the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s. A visionary advocate of a Republican rainbow coalition of tomorrow, Kemp was the great hope of a generation of conservative activists, the true prince, the president who should have been: Adlai Stevenson and Eugene McCarthy and Mario Cuomo all rolled into one. That he got no further in American politics than Secretary of Housing and Urban Development says much about him—and about us.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
David Frum is editor of FrumForum.com and the author of six books, including most recently COMEBACK: Conservatism That Can Win Again. In 2001 and 2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. In 2007, he served as senior foreign policy adviser to the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign.