Remembering Kit Bond: A skilled statesman who shaped Missouri politics | Opinion

We join all of Missouri in mourning the loss of former U.S. senator and Missouri governor Christopher “Kit” Bond. Bond died May 13 in St. Louis, at the age of 86.

Our thoughts are with his family, and with the many friends he met during his lifetime career in politics and public service.

“Kit Bond was a skilled statesman, public servant, and a man who truly loved Missouri,” Gov. Mike Kehoe said in a statement released Tuesday.

Many Kansas Citians may know of Kit Bond only from the local bridge that bears his name. A half-century ago, though, Bond was something else, and more: a statewide political phenomenon, destined, some believed, for national greatness.

Bond helped create the modern Missouri GOP. Today’s Republican dominance of the state legislature and statewide offices would be unthinkable without him.

In the early 1970s, then-Missouri Attorney General Jack Danforth recruited Bond and others to rebuild the party. They were reformers, focused on replacing the state’s entrenched Democratic leadership with youthful, problem-solving energy. They were pragmatic and focused on Missouri’s many challenges.

Bond served for a time as state auditor, then won the governorship in 1972 — at the ripe age of 33. He took office as the youngest governor in state history, and entered the national conversation as a template for a new generation of younger, moderate Republicans.

As is usually the case with can’t-miss politicians, however, Bond’s path would not be smooth. In 1976 he lost re-election to “Walkin’ ” Joe Teasdale, a Jackson County Democrat, who matched Bond’s youth and energy. Teasdale’s narrow victory sent Bond, for a time, into the political wilderness.

He would eventually rebound, and never lose another election. He faced Teasdale in a 1980 rematch, winning in the Ronald Reagan landslide year. Bond then sought and won a U.S. Senate seat in 1986. He would serve in the Senate for 24 years.

Friendship with Emanuel Cleaver

As a senator, Bond was reliably conservative, with an occasional moderate streak. He was also fiercely protective of Missouri’s interests, and, as a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, he brought federal dollars to the state — which, in those days, was considered a plus.

He always defended what others called pork-barrel spending. Money not spent here, he reasoned, would just go somewhere else. Missouri, he said, deserved its fair share of federal largess.

Bond also promoted urban interests when possible. In the 1990s, Bond developed an important and interesting friendship with then-Kansas City Mayor Emanuel Cleaver, working on housing and other city issues. The friendship was so close that Cleaver, a Democrat, hinted he would vote for Bond, to the chagrin of the state’s Democrats.

Bond was also the focus of some controversy. In the 2000s, he feuded with the conservative wing of the state GOP. During a tangle with U.S. Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, Bond’s office asked the George Bush White House to replace U.S. Attorney Todd Graves, his brother.

Bond later apologized for his role in the scandal.

Like many more moderate Republicans, Bond saw his party change in the 2000s into a problem-causing, not a problem-solving, organization. He retired from public service in 2011, launching a lobbying firm based in Missouri.

Make no mistake: Kit Bond was a partisan, and sharply defended Republican ideals as he understood them. He was always ready to defend that approach: Unlike Missouri’s two current U.S. senators, Bond was never afraid of tough questions, or a tussle with journalists.

He came to the state, and to the Kansas City area, on numerous occasions. He was quick with a joke. He poked fun at The Star and other mainstream outlets — but he did it with humor. He loved the push-and-shove of politics, and he loved Missouri with a passion.

Sadly, elected officials of Bond’s temperament and approach are today nonexistent in Washington, or Jefferson City. We deeply regret that fact, and we think Bond regretted it too.

Today, then, we mourn his passing, as a person, a family member, a friend. Missouri is a better place because of Kit Bond.

We also mourn the American government Kit Bond knew. It has also passed away, into something he would struggle to recognize.

This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 2:40 PM.