Remembering A Fighter And Advocate

Bob Schieffer On Hamilton Jordan, Who Fought His Most Important Battles After Leaving The Washington Spotlight

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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My friend Hamilton Jordan died last week and his obituary was in all the big newspapers, including the front page of the Washington Post.

The stories told how, as the boy wonder of American politics, he had devised the strategy that got an unknown Southern governor named Jimmy Carter elected president, and how he had become one of the most powerful men in America as Carter's White House chief of staff.

The stories were fine but they missed the point. The defining experience of Hamilton's life was not his time in the political spotlight, but what happened to him later, and how he handled it.

After leaving Washington he contracted cancer - and beat it. By the time he was 50, he had beaten two more cancers, experiences which caused him to become an advocate for cancer awareness.

He and his wife founded Camp Sunshine for children with the disease, raised money to fight it, and his wise advice on how to deal with it made a difference in the lives of thousands, including mine. He also helped those with other diseases, helping found Camp Kudzu for children with diabetes.

In all, he contracted six different cancers until his body finally gave out last week at the young age of 63.

So many times, he could have asked, "Why me?" Instead, time and again, he asked, "How can I help someone else?"

We all want to make a difference. Hamilton Jordan did - even as he fought his own long battle.

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And finally on this Memorial Day weekend, when we honor those who gave their lives on the nation's battlefields, let us remember as well the wounded, those who came home from the battle not as God made them, but as war has left them.

There are many fine organizations that help them; two of the best are the Yellow Ribbon Fund and the Walter Reed Society.

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E-mail Face the Nation.

[irliberal]

Goodbye Mr Jordan, thanks for making a difference for the better.

[tbweb]

Bob Schieffer Inks New CBS News Deal

Way to go Bob! Like they say, news of my demise has been greatly exaggerated! :)

Good show today also Bob, Sen. Clintons campaign did a great job tap dancing around the "Assassination" word. Sen. Clinton could have made her same points without the use of the "Assassination" word, I and many Americans were really offended by her poor choice of words. Sen. Clintons real problem is that she is smarter than that and knows better too, I wonder if her lack of sensibility had anything to do with Sen. Kennedys strong support and endorsement of Sen. Obama over her. Being smart like Sen. Clinton is means her window of cute "innocent looking" political tricks is smaller than most and on this occasion Americans did not let her get away with it!

[ralphj53]

If senator Hillary Clinton is STILL in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination... why would she RISK using Robert Kennedy''s assasination as a "point of Reference" to how long this race can continue?

The way I look at it.... she is NOW dodging a lot more than "sniper fire" as she gets off the plane of "hoof in mouth desease"

She should QUIT now, and stop spending money she doesn''t apparently have... to continue her campagne!

But then.. if "it takes a village" to understand her purposes for continuing the race, then I wouldn''t understand because I obviously haven''t read her book.

You know.... some people just don''t make sense to me.

Thanks,
slim6744