Bill Brock when he was in Congress
Bob Corker’s recent election to the U.S. Senate makes him the first Chattanoogan to serve as U.S. senator since former Lookout Mountain resident Bill Brock held that same seat from 1971-77.
And no one is happier for the former Chattanooga mayor and Riverview resident than Mr. Brock himself, who now lives in Annapolis, Md., near Washington, D.C.
“I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to see him in the U.S. Senate,” Mr. Brock recently said over the telephone. “He is exactly the kind of caring, thoughtful and entrepreneurial individual we need in Washington.
“He doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body,” he continued. “He will contribute to more civil discourse. That is how you get things done.”
As Mr. Brock recently reflected on his own career in elected office in a seemingly nostalgic manner, he remembered that shortly after he began serving as a U.S. representative from the Third District in early 1963 after upsetting Democrat Wilkes Thrasher Sr., he received a call from Estes Kefauver. The well-known Democratic Tennessee senator and former Chattanoogan, who had run for president in both 1952 and 1956 and was Adlai Stevenson’s vice presidential running mate in 1956, wanted to hold a dinner party in his honor, despite being a member of the rival party.
“Here I was, a young Republican who had pulled the upset and he went out of his way to make me feel welcome,” Mr. Brock said. “That taught me so much how politics ought to work.”
Although Mr. Brock has not held elected office in 30 years, he has continued to add to his resume with appointed positions that have also been impressive. He went on to serve as the chairman of the Republican National Committee and helped get Ronald Reagan elected in 1980 in a landslide. He also served as a special U.S. trade representative and secretary of Labor under President Reagan.
Even today, at age 76, he recently served on the commission that issued the report titled “Tough Choices for Tough Times,” which received much media attention after suggesting sweeping reforms in the U.S. education system.
A graduate of McCallie School and Washington & Lee, Mr. Brock said he first became seriously interested in politics after serving in the U.S. Navy and being impressed with how Republican President Dwight Eisenhower had ended the Korean War.
Upon his return to Chattanooga, he realized a different kind of war had to be fought against voter fraud and political apathy. The Democratic Party seemed to be the only party of significance locally, he said, and young or active people were not encouraged to become part of the process.
“I got frustrated that there was not any competition in the political process in Chattanooga, so a bunch of us decided to get active,” he said, adding that he was involved at that time in the Chattanooga Jaycees, Orange Grove Center and what is now the Siskin Foundation.
When he decided to run as a Republican in 1962 while only 31 years old, Democratic incumbent J.B. Frazier Jr. had already lost to Mr. Thrasher, who was a Kennedy Democrat, in the primary. Mr. Brock felt Mr. Thrasher was too liberal for even the Democrats in the Third District and was thus susceptible to getting beat.
“Darn if I didn’t get elected the first time I ran,” he said. “I had a terrific crowd of young people supporting me at that time.”
In 1964, some approached him about running for U.S. senator against Albert Gore Sr. In office for less than two years, he did not feel he was ready. But the suggestion did start him thinking about running for that seat in 1970.
“Obviously that put a thought in my mind,” he said. “I had decided to run 3-4 years before 1970 and was trying to build a statewide organization.”
Although Sen. Gore Sr., the father of the 2000 presidential candidate, is praised in hindsight for supporting civil rights and being against the Vietnam War, Mr. Brock thought he was very beatable. “I saw him as someone who had emotionally, physically and intellectually left Tennessee,” he said. “I felt like he didn’t represent the values of the people of Tennessee. He was way too liberal.”
Mr. Brock won and, after eight years as a U.S. representative, he began serving in the Senate. He found the Senate different in that more work and legislation could get done because he was one of only 100 people, compared to 455 in the House. He also found that senators did not worry as much about crossing party lines to work together. As an example, he said that he worked closely with and became a good friend of both Democratic senators Hubert Humphrey and Ed Muskie.
While he was senator, Gerald Ford, a former colleague in the House who had also pushed for bipartisanship, ascended to the vice presidency and presidency. When the funeral ceremonies for the former president were held shortly after Christmas, Mr. Brock was one of six Democratic and six Republican former lawmakers who received the casket upon its arrival at the capitol. Mr. Ford had made this request before his death, and Mr. Brock said the invitation from the Ford family touched him deeply.
In 1976, after one term as U.S. senator, Mr. Brock said he lost to Jim Sasser at a time when the American public was still angry over the Watergate Hotel break-in scandal that had led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. “If there was any air left in the balloon, I couldn’t find it,” he said with a laugh. “I was operating on fumes. Our people weren’t voting. They were so disenchanted they stayed home.”
But Mr. Brock, in a way that few other politicians have done after getting beat, quickly refueled politically. After serving in several important positions under President Reagan, he decided to run for U.S. Senate in Maryland against Democratic incumbent Paul Sarbanes.
He lost, but that still did not derail him, In recent years, he has been involved in such altruistic ventures as working to combat Alzheimer’s Disease and, of course, trying to improve education.
He said that traditional American education has prepared students for an industrial world, but that the world’s economy today is based more on knowledge. “We cannot let kids come out of high school bored to death and not educated,” he said. “If we keep letting that happen, our standard of living is going to go down.”
And more than 40 years after going to Washington, he often returns to Chattanooga these days. His two sons, Oscar Brock and Bill Brock IV, live here, as do five grandchildren. Other local relatives include his brothers, Frank and Pat Brock, and hundreds of nieces, nephews and cousins. So, he has plenty of reasons to want to visit, he said.
The rejuvenation of Chattanooga has also helped draw him back, he added.
“If you look at what a wonderfully beautiful town it is, then give the community credit,” he said. “It has done more to unify itself and clean up the water and the air. And the whole riverfront area is incredible. Chattanooga is one of the nicest places to live. It is a very, very special place.”
John Shearer
jcshearer2@comcast.net