Henry M. Jackson Quotes

Henry Martin "Scoop" Jackson was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Washington. A Cold War liberal and anti-Communist Democrat, Jackson supported higher military spending and a hard line against the Soviet Union, while also supporting social welfare programs, civil rights, and labor unions.Born in Everett, Washington to Norwegian immigrants, Jackson practiced law in Everett after graduating from the University of Washington School of Law. He won election to Congress in 1940 and joined the Senate in 1953 after defeating incumbent Republican Senator Harry P. Cain. Jackson supported the major civil rights of the 1960s and authored the National Environmental Policy Act, which helped establish the principle of publicly analyzing environmental impacts. He co-sponsored the Jackson–Vanik amendment, which denied normal trade relations to countries with restrictive emigration policies.

Jackson served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 1963 to 1981. He was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, in 1972 and 1976. While still serving in the Senate, Jackson died in 1983.

His political beliefs were characterized by support of civil rights, human rights, and safeguarding the environment, but with an equally strong commitment to oppose totalitarianism in general, and communism in particular. The political philosophies and positions of Scoop Jackson have been cited as an influence on a number of key figures associated with neoconservatism, including Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, both of whom previously served as aides to the Senator. The Henry Jackson Society is named in his honor.

✵ 31. May 1912 – 1. September 1983
Henry M. Jackson photo
Henry M. Jackson: 5   quotes 1   like

Famous Henry M. Jackson Quotes

“The danger of Americans being killed, the danger of divisiveness that would accrue from those developments … are all too real. A superpower should not play that kind of role in a cauldron of trouble, because sooner or later we are going to get hurt.”

on Reagan's 1982 decision to send troops to Lebanon) Harrop, Froma. " Dems Need Another Scoop Jackson http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-11_23_05_FH.html", RealClearPolitics, 11-23-2005.

“In matters of national security, the best politics is no politics.”

As quoted in [STATE OF THE UNION: REAGAN REPORTS TO THE NATION; PRESIDENT REAGAN'S SPEECH BEFORE JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS, February 5, 1986, New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5DA1331F936A35751C0A960948260&sec=health&pagewanted=3]

“We all want to put the brakes on the arms race…we all want to achieve arms control…but to those who say we must take risks for peace by cutting the meat from our military muscle, I say you are unwittingly risking war.”

" Henry “Scoop” Jackson for President 1972 Campaign Brochure http://www.4president.org/brochures/scoopjackson1972brochure.htm", 4President.org. Retrieved 07-02-2006.

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