“I’m getting tired of being introduced as the ‘Barney Frank of the Right,’” Missouri’s newly-minted Republican Rep. Jack Buechner (pronounced “BEEK-ner”) told this reporter in 1987.
With his owlish glasses, rotund form, and rapid-fire wisecracks, Buechner — the only Republican to unseat a Democratic House Member anywhere in 1986 — was frequently likened to the Massachusetts Democrat who had already become a leftist icon.
“After I’ve been here a few terms,” Buechner said with a wink, “They’ll be calling Barney ‘the Jack Buechner of the Left!’”
Buechner, who died on March 6 at age 79, never fulfilled the promise to be a major congressional player. After only two terms, Buechner lost re-election in 1990 by a wafer-thin 54 votes.
Although there were numerous reasons for this never-expected upset, most Show-Me State Republicans attribute Buechner’s loss to his vote for the tax increase favored by Republican President George H.W. Bush and opposed by most House Republicans.
But Buechner would make his big mark as a former Member of Congress. As president of the Former Members Association (FMA) from 2004-06, a fraternity of more than 700 past senators and U.S. Representatives, the Missourian revived the group’s “Congress to Campus Program.”
Under this program, colleges nationwide would be visited by two past Members of Congress — one from each party — and they would conduct classes as well as speak informally to students. The sharing of legislative acumen and the camaraderie that crosses party divisions proved highly popular on the campus.
“Congress to Campus” remains in place and far more widespread today and is considered Buechner’s legacy.
A product of parochial schools in Kirkwood, Missouri and graduate of Benedictine College (Kansas), the young Buechner’s conservative worldview was largely shaped by the Roman Catholic Church (as it was before the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s). In addition, he was highly motivated by reading “National Review” and the books of its editor, William F. Buckley, Jr.
“When I ran the speaker’s bureau at Benedictine, I went ballistic when Bill Buckley agreed to speak on campus,” Buechner excitedly recalled to this reporter, “After he gave his outstanding-as-always performance, one of the liberal priests on the faculty took to the stage to rebut him. Suddenly — and no one knew why — pieces of the ceiling began to fall on the priest as he spoke. I looked at Bill, who folded his hands and said: ‘I appreciate the footnotes, Lord.’”
After graduation from St. Louis University School of Law, Buechner threw himself into private practice. But politics beckoned him. He was a delegate for national convention delagate for Barry Goldwater in 1964 and worked on the U.S. Senate race of conservative Rep. Tom Curtis in ’68.
In 1972, he was elected to the state House of Representatives. While generally voting as would heroes Buckley and Goldwater, the gregarious Buechner also reached out across the aisle in Jefferson City. He befriended several Democratic colleagues and would occasionally vote for something they supported such as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
Elected minority leader in 1976, Buechner was convinced he would never see a Republican majority in the state House and retired in 1982. Two years later, however, Buechner decided to take on five-term Democratic Rep. Bob Young. After running what he later admitted was a “lousy” campaign, Buechner narrowly lost to Young as Ronald Reagan carried Missouri’s 2nd District (Greater St. Louis) with 60 percent of the vote.
Two years later, Buechner roared back and, with a new and improved campaign, he unseated Young by 7400 votes. For one who loved politics and the legislative process so passionately, Congress was heaven on earth. On his first day as a Member of the House Budget Committee, Buechner eagerly questioned Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker. He also served on the House Science and Technology Committee.
Re-elected handily in 1988, the Missouri man seemed destined for a long career in Congress. But two years later, after President Bush abandoned his “no new taxes” pledge, Buechner’s response to it would be key to his undoing.
“Jack did not want to vote for it, didn’t like it at all,” Andy Leonard, Buechner’s onetime law partner recalled to reporters, “But Bush and [White House Chief of Staff John] Sununu put pressure on him to support the budget that raised taxes and he finally did. It finished him in November.”
Defeated for re-election, Buechner remained in Washington. He served as president of the International Republican Institute (IRI), taught political thought at three different colleges, and threw himself into the work of his beloved Former Members of Congress group.
Veteran St. Louis radio talk show host Ray Hartman may have best summarized Jack Buechner: “He really devoted his last three decades after leaving Congress to helping make our politics better.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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