Former Tennessee congressman and current chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council Harold Ford Jr. reflected on his failed 2006 U.S. Senate campaign and urged young people to become more engaged in politics during the annual Noah Krieger Memorial Lecture Monday.
In a dynamic and wide-ranging address to a half-full Salomon 101, Ford stressed the need for students to "think outside of every box, think outside of every convention and challenge every orthodoxy."
Because of the opportunities afforded Ivy League students, Ford told the crowd "a taller burden rests on you than on other folks."
"It is incumbent on this generation to be the new ambassadors for our country, the new agents of change in America," Ford said. "So many are counting on you to not only do better for yourself, but to do better for your community and for your country."
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan Law School, Ford was elected in 1996 - at the age of 26 - to represent Tennessee's 9th congressional district in the House of Representatives. He served in the House for ten years, where he was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate House Democrats known for fiscal conservatism.
In 2005, Ford launched an unsuccessful bid to become the first black U.S. senator from a southern state since Reconstruction. Republican Bob Corker defeated Ford last November by fewer than three percentage points in a testy and often intensely personal race. Ford's race - arguably the subject of a controversial Republican National Committee ad - and his family's legal problems became central issues in the campaign.
Since the defeat, Ford has joined investment bank Merrill Lynch as an adviser and Vanderbilt University as a public policy professor. On March 14, Fox News announced Ford will provide political commentary for the network.
Ford began his speech by noting that it was a great start for "a Penn boy to get a standing ovation at Brown," and he thanked Mayor David Cicilline '83, who was in the audience, for "having me here and for not having me pulled over in this town."
Speaking about America's need to provide everyone with better educational opportunities, Ford cited Brown's recent initiative to improve public schools in Providence as a step in the right direction. "It is my belief that U.S. dynamism and U.S. strength are a result of education," he said.
But Ford lamented the United States' stature as one of the world's least popular nations in global polls, along with countries like Iran and North Korea. "Our stature in the world has been diminished. We're not thought of as a moral leader," he said.
Though he agreed with the United States' mission to "expand democracy, freedom, liberty and tolerance throughout the world," Ford said he disagreed with the Bush administration's approach and called on the United States to engage with Syria and Iran.
"America can't be seen as enforcing a way of life on a group of people, who frankly don't want what we're giving them," he said.
Ford also touched on the role faith has played in his major life decisions. A Baptist, he talked of growing up in a house where "if you ate on Sunday you went to church."
In a question-and-answer session after the speech, Ford spoke candidly about his views on public campaign financing, the war in Iraq and his plans for the future. One student asked Ford if his opposition to gay marriage and other socially conservative views pandered to Tennessee voters, and to what extent politicians have to compromise their values to get elected.
"You have to be who you are," Ford responded. "I have never compromised my values. I happen to believe that we should do all we can to reduce the number of abortions in this country. If that makes me weird to you, so be it."
"All I can be is who I am. I accept the fact that I could be wrong and so could you," he said.
Ford spoke, in response to students' questions, about his campaign defeat.
"I take full responsibility for the loss, for not running a better and smarter campaign," he said. "We'll get it right next time."
Though he flatly denied planning to run against current U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., for his seat in 2008, Ford repeatedly referred to his "next campaign." Of his future political plans, he said, "I hear there is a governor's race in 2010."
Ford also reflected on the role of race in American politics in response to a question from the audience.
"I don't think that race has a role to play in politics anywhere in America. People should vote for whomever they feel best represents them," he said. Ford acknowledged that he was disappointed by the racial tenor of the campaign.
"At the end of the day the people who did that have to live with themselves and answer to their God," he said. "You can't spend your energy agonizing about things over which you have no control."
Ford relayed an oft-repeated anecdote about a campaign stop at the Little Rebel bar restaurant in Tennessee. With a prominently displayed Confederate flag, and a parking lot full of pickup trucks adorned with George W. Bush bumper stickers, Ford said his campaign assistant told him it might not be the best place to stop following a successful day on the campaign trail. Ford said he had a premonition about stopping at the bar, which was immediately affirmed when a woman at the bar gave him a big hug and said, "Baby, we've been waiting to see you!"
Ford said the lesson to draw from this experience is that "our country's greatness has never, ever rested on the standard-bearers in society, on the people who just stood and watched things pass by. The greatness of our country rests with those who dared to be big, to think big, with those who tried their hardest to execute big ideals. Our generation requires nothing less," he said.
Natalia Nazarewicz '10, a native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., said though she doesn't agree with all of Ford's views, she thinks he is an engaging and charismatic speaker.
"Voters in the South tend to vote for people whom they would most like to have a beer with," she said. "He is more conservative on a lot of issues than I would like, but I think that is reflection of political realities."
Nashville native Arthur Kim '08, who worked on Ford's Senate campaign, said he thought Ford had an off night. "I have seen him give phenomenal speeches on the campaign, but I felt like his speech tonight lacked some direction," he said.
The Noah Krieger Memorial Lecture is named in honor of Noah Krieger '93, who died soon after graduating from Brown. His family established a program at the Taubman Center for Public Policy to honor his life and celebrate his memory. Past Kreiger lecturers have included former U.S. presidential candidate Howard Dean and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.
