On New Year’s Day 1963, a powerhouse in Oklahoma politics and one of the chief advocates for the oil industry, Senator Robert S. Kerr, dropped dead. Although a Democrat, Kerr was not particularly liked by liberals for his aforementioned staunch support of the oil industry as well as his opposition to Medicare. In his place Governor J. Howard Edmondson, who had departed office beforehand, was appointed by his successor, George Nigh. Despite Edmondson’s background as governor and his ideological orientation being a better fit for the state of Oklahoma, in 1964 he was defeated for the nomination to complete Kerr’s term by Fred Harris (1930- ), a state senator who had previously run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1962. Harris very narrowly won a full term against Republican and celebrated football coach Bud Wilkinson 51-49%. Wilkinson was one of those candidates who would have likely won had Barry Goldwater not been at the top of the Republican ticket.
The Great Society Congress
As a senator, Harris proved a liberal in most respects, his liberalism stemming from his background as the son of poor pro-New Deal Oklahoma sharecroppers (Linnett). With the peculiar exception of Medicare, he supported Great Society legislation. His predecessor, Edmondson, had also opposed Senator Albert Gore’s (D-Tenn.) Medicare proposal in 1964. Harris’ liberalism on the issue of civil rights was particularly clear when he supported Senator Ted Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) state poll tax ban amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was opposed by President Johnson. He particularly specialized in rural issues and since Oklahoma has a large Indian population, on Indian affairs. Harris, contrary to the wishes of his constituents, voted against the Dirksen School Prayer Amendment in 1966. Harris said of his vote in a letter mailed out to 20% of voters, “I believe in the separation of church and state and I believe prayer and Bible reading should be voluntary” (Lowitt). He did, however, support Senator Dirksen’s (R-Ill.) other effort at amending the Constitution during the Great Society Congress, an amendment which would permit state legislatures to have one of their houses be based on factors other than population in response to Supreme Court “one man, one vote” decisions Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964). Whatever bouts of fiscal conservatism he had gave way to strong liberalism after winning a full term in 1966. His reelection along with his liberalism on civil rights led to his appointment by President Johnson to the Kerner Commission in response to urban riots.
The Kerner Commission
The Kerner Commission was comprised of a diverse group of people, but it was Harris and Mayor John Lindsay of New York City who took the reins and were primarily responsible for the conclusion reached. Namely, that society was moving in an increasingly de facto segregated direction, and that extensive federal action and spending would be required to remedy the situation. President Johnson, having enough on his plate already, rejected the Commission’s conclusion and recommendations as did conservatives, who already thought the country was spending too much money. Harris’ work as a senator as well as on the commission got him positive attention including a particularly prominent one in Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
VP Harris?
In 1968, Hubert Humphrey was mulling over who to pick for vice president, and two names were foremost in his mind: Harris and Senator Ed Muskie of Maine. However, Harris was quite a young man to be selected vice president, being only 37 at the time of consideration. Humphrey ultimately at the last minute decided on Muskie, with age being the deciding factor. Harris instead was made a co-manager of Humphrey’s campaign as well as being placed at the head of the Democratic National Committee, a post he held until early 1970.
Strong Opponent of Nixon
When it came to President Nixon’s critics, it was difficult to find a stronger one than Senator Fred Harris. Harris had become a critic of the Vietnam War during the Johnson Administration, and in 1970 he voted for both the Cooper-Church Amendment and the McGovern-Hatfield “End the War” Amendment, the latter the first time a timetable was voted on by the Senate for withdrawing from Vietnam. Harris not only opposed Nixon’s picks of Clement Haynsworth Jr. of South Carolina and G. Harrold Carswell of Florida for the Supreme Court, but was also the only senator to vote against the nomination of Virginian Lewis F. Powell Jr. to the Supreme Court. Harris also exhibited some old-fashioned progressivism in his call to abolish the Interstate Commerce Commission (Walker). A traditionally conservative way of doing things in government is to establish regulatory commissions and place people friendly to industries in them. Harris regarded his philosophy as “new populism”, which he defined as “a fair distribution of wealth, income and power should be the specific goal of the country” (Linnett). This hearkens back to the old Populist Party of the 1890s as well as traditional progressive thought in the Democratic Party. In 1971, Harris wrote Now Is the Time, in which he encouraged numerous groups, including Black Power activists, college students, suburban housewives, and “rednecks” to join forces to politically combat socioeconomic privilege (Linnett). That year, he announced his bid for president but was unable to collect sufficient contributions to be a major contender for the Democratic nomination. Opting not to run for reelection, he was succeeded in office in 1972 by Governor Dewey Bartlett, a Republican who was pretty much the reverse of Harris. Harris to this day is the last liberal to represent the Sooner State in the Senate. Although Democrat Dave Boren would be elected to the Senate in 1978, he was a moderate. Harris’ DW-Nominate score was a -0.4, his adjusted Americans for Constitutional Action (ACA) score an 8%, and his adjusted Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) score an 84%. The main difference between the latter two organizations interpretations of Harris is that ACA tracks Harris’ strong move to the left earlier than ADA’s, but both agree that in his first year in the Senate he was a moderate liberal.
The 1976 Election and Retirement from Electoral Politics
Fred Harris was an undercard contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 1976, a favorite son if you will. He ran on his “new populism” platform, declaring the chief issue of the election to be privilege, railing against the concentration of wealth, and calling for “a widespread diffusion of economic and political power” (Mohr). His campaign slogans included, “Take the rich off welfare” and “The issue is privilege” (Linnett). Although he came in third in the Iowa caucuses, this didn’t translate into traction and his funds soon ran dry, forcing his exit from the race. He retired from electoral politics and entered academia, moving to New Mexico and serving as a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico. However, Harris has since been active in the New Mexico Democratic Party and attended Democratic National Conventions.
Unlike most of the people I write about, as of writing Harris is still alive at 93, and he’s if anything as liberal as ever. He has completely opposed the rise of Donald Trump in politics, stating in 2016 that “It really pisses me off when they talk about populists being racists, and calling George Wallace and Donald Trump populists. Trump populism is really just demagoguery. It’s not my kind of populism” (Linnett). Harris felt and still feels that he relates to the sort of person who supports Trump. He stated his view that Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment about half of Trump supporters was a major mistake, holding that “We know these people! They want someone to pay attention to them. They’re asking us, ‘What about me? Why don’t some of you talk to me about my life? I’m paying too much in taxes and not getting anything out of it” (Linnett).
References
ADA Voting Records. Americans for Democratic Action.
Retrieved from
Harris, Fred Roy. Voteview.
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Linnett, R. (2016, December 31). What the ‘Godfather of Populism’ Thinks of Donald Trump. Politico.
Retrieved from
What the ‘Godfather of Populism’ Thinks of Donald Trump – POLITICO Magazine
Lowitt, R. Harris, Fred Roy. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
Retrieved from
https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=HA033
Mohr, C. (1976, April 9). Harris Quits Active Role In Presidential Campaign. The New York Times.
Retrieved from
Harris Quits Active Role In Presidential Campaign – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Walker, J. (2009, November 1). Five Face of Jerry Brown. The American Conservative.
Retrieved from
Five Faces of Jerry Brown – The American Conservative
Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History 