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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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U.S. needs leaders like Cecil Andrus

Idaho lost a political giant when Cecil Andrus died last Thursday, but his tenure as governor and secretary of the Interior serves as a reminder of what can be accomplished when divisions aren’t extreme.

It’s stunning to think that an Idaho Democrat served four terms as governor and won nearly 70 percent of the vote in his final race, but Andrus did just that. He left office in 1995, and it’s been pretty much one-party rule ever since.

As Marc Johnson, Andrus’ former chief of staff and press secretary, said on Facebook, “This is one of those times when you can really say it marks the passing of an era.”

Andrus thrived during a time when each party had a fair number of moderates and it wasn’t considered sedition to work across the aisle. He formed important political relationships with Republicans such as Washington Gov. Dan Evans. Oregon Sen. Tom McCall, Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson and his replacement in the governor’s office, Phil Batt.

He served at a time when Western Democrats balanced conservation and environmentalism with a love of hunting, fishing and the need for natural resource-related employment.

Before the term “quality of life” surfaced, Andrus was a proponent of incorporating conservation into economic policy, saying: “First, you must make a living, but you must have a living that is worthwhile.”

Andrus lived in Orofino after serving in the Navy in World War II and was a lumberjack and sawmill worker. He was an avid fly fisherman and elk hunter, but was still denounced by the National Rifle Association, which didn’t appreciate his support for banning “cop-killer” bullets. He memorably explained his opposition, noting that he had ”never seen an elk wearing a bulletproof vest.”

His unpretentious nature and political pragmatism resonated throughout his two stints as governor, from 1971-77 and 1987-95. Though Democrats never controlled either chamber of the Legislature while he was governor, he accomplished plenty, especially in the areas of education and conservation, and only had one of his vetoes overridden.

As secretary of Interior under President Jimmy Carter, he worked with Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska to preserve vast tracts of land in that state. They accomplished this by balancing business and conservation interests. The U.S. national park system doubled in size during his tenure.

Today, deal-making consists of trying to hammer the other side into submission with a winner-take-all mentality. The result is gridlock. In Andrus’ era, it meant building relationships and forging compromises. The result was progress.

The outpouring of admiration for Andrus from Republicans and Democrats says it all. He represents the type of leadership and an era of politics the nation sorely misses.

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