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Tony Earl
Tony Earl
The recent of death of former Governor Tony Earl has been acknowledged with numerous tributes celebrating his distinguished career in public service. I have been privileged to contribute to many of these accolades and have shared my own remembrances of his ground-breaking contributions to the state of Wisconsin as a legislator, governor, cabinet secretary and environmental advocate.
Given my intimate friendship with Tony, my reflections have less to do with his esteemed accomplishments and more to do with his character and values, qualities that made his achievements possible—his inner means paving the way for his progressive ends.
Tony and I arrived as first term state representatives in 1969. From the very beginning our lives were closely bonded whenever the legislature was in session. We sat next to each other on the floor of the Assembly, shared office space, were seated next to each other on the Committee on Joint Finance and shared a room at the Loraine Hotel in Madison. Even more, we often closed the day by privately enjoying a glass of Port and smoking cigars at a local pub—sometimes more than one glass.
It was during these moments together that I learned to appreciate all the manifold gifts that Tony relied on to excel in politics, public service, and friendship. His mannerism and skills—his voice, language, style, orderly thoughts and confidence—were perfectly at play when he spoke on the floor of the legislature as majority floor leader. Perhaps above all, he loved to balance his carefully crafted arguments with reason, imagination, creative irony and humor.
At the end of a legislative day, Tony would indulge his fondness for rich conversation and friendship in one of several bars on the Capitol square. In those years, Democrats and Republicans would gather together in bipartisan camaraderie. The bars were a place of common ground and Tony’s social-minded character and affable nature were right at home in the congenial atmosphere. Later in life he would often reflect on those evening gatherings with colleagues of both parties as some of the most satisfying moments in his social life.
When Tony left the legislature, he continued to refine his political skills and ambitions when he became a cabinet secretary of two high level state departments and served as governor from 1983 to 1987. It was in these positions of authority and opportunity that his moral compass always pointed at the need to advance greater measures of equality and justice, especially for those who were disadvantaged by income disparities, gender, race and sexual orientation.
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The Business of Statesmanship
When Tony was serving as governor, I introduced him one evening to a large audience in Milwaukee. I had Tony’s progressive values and policy initiatives in mind when I included in my introduction a quote from the American writer and political commentator Walter Lippmann:
The real business of statesmanship is not the preservation of order, the guarding of privilege, or the simple maintenance of existing structures of government. It is the anticipation of social needs, the invention of new program, the preparation of new opportunities. The deliberate making of issues is nearly the core of the statemen’s task.
That was precisely how Tony viewed his role as a progressive stateman. e understood that the “deliberate making of issues” opened the door to a discussion of social problems and the need for structural change. And in Tony’s strategic mind the “making of issues” was one of his vital responsibilities as governor.
The virtue that I believe marked and motivated Tony’s creative initiatives was courage, an ethical and existential quality that philosophers call the radical courage to affirm one’s essential self despite risk and uncertainty. It was this vital part of his nature and character that gave Tony the opportunity and strength to thrive in the ground-braking thicket of politics and policymaking.
To be sure, he was not naïve about the limits of political power and the finite capacity of all politicians. Tony was an idealist without illusions; a progressive who viewed all political endeavors within the lens of political pragmatism, believing the most we can often expect from even the finest acts of courage are partial victories in an imperfect world.
Yet it was not just his courage and the quality of his values that defined his identity and selfhood. It was the temper of his personality that radiated generosity, empathy and wisdom. It was his gracious mannerisms and sense of courtesy. His tenderness and self-effacement.
All these character traits were part of Tony’s gentle nature. He truly was a gentleman, a model of civility; a generous spirit who gave part of his essential self to others in the form of friendship and a caring wisdom. For all of these reasons the wholeness of Tony Earl’s character and political vision was an inspiration for many who benefited from his presence, values, service and caring friendship.
For over 50 years he was for me a gentleman, a stateman and a dear friend. His presence will endure in my memories and continue to remind me of many of the most meaningful moments in my life.
