‘Need an Eisenhower to appeal to our better selves.’ Roberts reflects on Ike’s legacy
Sen. Pat Roberts had planned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Allies’ World War II victory in Europe by overseeing the dedication of a memorial to the Kansan who led the troops to victory over the Nazis.
The dedication for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington would have taken place on May 8 on the National Mall and featured an appearance by President Donald Trump, a keynote speech by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a military flyover.
But the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible.
Roberts, R-Kansas, the chair of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, said the long-awaited memorial will be dedicated in September in a ceremony that could require extra precautions depending on the virus.
Roberts and others have been working for 20 years to create a monument on the National Mall for Eisenhower, who grew up in Abilene, Kansas, before going onto serve as Supreme Allied Commander and a two-term president.
The retiring Kansas senator said during the time of national crisis he’s trying to draw lessons from Eisenhower.
“His whole career is that you would persevere and get the job done,” Roberts said. “He wanted to win the peace, not the war. And I think that really speaks volumes about the man.”
Roberts praised Eisenhower’s ability to navigate relationships with military and political leaders from multiple nations during the war.
He said Congress should look to that example, lamenting that Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have struggled to pull together during the crisis.
“I guess we need an Eisenhower to appeal to our better selves,” said Roberts, whose father was a friend of Eisenhower and served chairman of the Republican National Committee following the Kansan’s election as president.
Congress has passed multiple relief bills, but there continue to be disagreements among party lines over how to respond to the crisis.
One current dispute facing the Congress is whether to provide aid to states and cities for revenue losses caused by stay-at-home orders, which required businesses to shutter for several weeks causing sales and income tax revenue to plummet.
Roberts said he’s open to additional aid for states and cities to ensure essential services continue to be funded, but he wants to restrict it to revenue losses caused by the virus as opposed to other factors.
“I think we all agree it should be virus-oriented: If you can quantify the loss according to the virus as opposed to a bad management situation,” Roberts said Tuesday after a GOP caucus lunch.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has asked the state’s delegation to support aid for states as Kansas faces a more than $650 million shortfall for next fiscal year.
While Roberts hasn’t fully committed to backing Kelly’s request, the Republican senator applauded the Democratic governor’s handling of the crisis. He said Kelly made gutsy decisions as the virus spread in the state’s urban areas and in meatpacking plants in rural Kansas.
“She is focused. As far as I’m concerned, (Kelly is) very easy to get along with,” said Roberts, who praised Kelly for closely communicating with the state’s federal delegation during the crisis.
“No matter where I call in Kansas, no matter who I talk to… I haven’t found anybody who is not pulling together.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 2:55 PM.
