Jim Jeffords An Icon of Independence

Author: Kelsey Rinehart

Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.) addressed a large crowd in Mead Chapel last Wednesday in a panel discussion with Middlebury College Student Government Association President Ginny Hunt '03 and Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies Chris Klyza. Jeffords strode in, grinning and waving enthusiastically to the students, faculty and area residents that had packed into Mead Chapel to see him. He received glowing introductions from John Morgenstern '03, who was instrumental in getting Jeffords to come to Middlebury, Faculty Head of Cook Commons and Professor of Italian Patti Zupan and President John McCardell.
Jeffords' first words were, "Thank you, Mr. President. It's the first time I've said that in a long time." The crowd erupted in laughter and applause. In an informal conversation addressed to the Middlebury College community, Jeffords spoke about his new autobiography, "An Independent Man," covering topics ranging from global climate change to education to war with Iraq. He then responded to the audience in a question and answer session moderated by Professor of Political Science David Rosenberg.
In response to Hunt's question regarding how the daily tests on his values have shaped his political career, Jeffords remarked, "I have always tried to make sure that I listen to people, that I understand what the needs are, and also go out and talk to the people." In response to another question, he mused about the political atmosphere in the South, noting, "The conservative nature of the population in the South leads it to different conclusions on funding of education, in particular."
Education was a topic on which Jeffords expressed strong feelings. "I spent years doing what I could by traveling all over this nation, visiting the schools. The systems that we have are far from what we could have. That's the problem with this nation. The Republicans, unfortunately, have a strong feeling that the federal government should not be involved in local education, and they just feel that the states should be able to do that. What I found is that we had to really involve ourselves in improving education," he stressed. On the issue of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, Jeffords said, "I was the ranking member on a subcommittee that dealt with the problems with disabilities, and it was an opportunity for us to understand the horrors of the nation at that time with young people that had disabilities. It was terrible. We said the federal government should provide 40 percent of the funds for the local schools. It's somewhere around 14 percent now. This is horrible. This is the constitutional right of these children to have a free and appropriate education. We have to keep fighting."
In his new book, Jeffords reflects on his journey to the nation's capital and his experiences there, relating the crucial lessons he has learned along the way. Born in Rutland in 1934, James Merrill Jeffords went to Rutland public schools, received his undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1956 and served three years of active duty with the U.S. Navy before receiving his degree from Harvard Law School in 1962.
Among other achievements, Jeffords tested for his black belt in tae kwon do, hardly flinching while he broke the two-inch boards. He resides in Shrewsbury, Vt., with his wife Elizabeth, and has two children, Leonard and Laura. In response to a question posed by Klyza, Jeffords related the strain that his life in politics has placed on his personal life. "It's a very pressured situation. Liz and I made a commitment that no matter what happened, the children would be held as free from that type of pressure as they could be, and that worked pretty well. We had our problems, but we never really were separated. We always had the common enemy -- the kids," he said, causing peals of laughter to resonate in Mead Chapel.
The son of Olin M. Jeffords, former Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, Jim Jeffords grew up amid a political atmosphere. "I came from a political family, but not in the traditional sense," Jeffords commented in an interview with The Middlebury Campus. Two noteworthy Vermonters attracted Jeffords to a career in public service. "Ernest Gibson and Leonard Wing -- they were an inspiration to me. I followed their leadership," he said.
Gibson made history when he interrupted 80 years of dominating leadership by the Proctor family after being elected Governor of Vermont in 1946. Wing was the celebrated commander of the 43rd Infantry Division in World War II.
Since 1966, when the 32-year-old Republican began his career in politics as a state senator from the Rutland district, Jeffords served Vermont as its sole Congressmen for seven terms, from 1975 to 1988, and is currently serving his third term as a senator. Jeffords introduced the federal bottle deposit law and was praised for his "Education for All Handicapped Children" bill during his first term. He went on to catch the public's attention when he moved out of his apartment and into his office, and when he was the only Republican in the House of Representatives to oppose President Reagan's three-year tax cut plan.
As a senator, Jeffords immediately voiced his concern over the potentially decimating problem of climate change, calling on U.S. lawmakers to take up the cause of the global environmental movement. In his discussion at Middlebury College, Jeffords said, "We're going to be able to put carbon dioxide into the program, which will bring us into concordance with the Kyoto treaty. There are enough moderate Republicans that are concerned about the environment that we're going to be able to get some good legislation through this year." When asked whether he thought Bush would sign such a bill, Jeffords said, "I don't know. If the public pressure was there. If the public around the country says, 'Hey, we're tired of dying prematurely and how about giving us a chance?' and he would listen to them, then he might sign it." On the local level, Jeffords is known for introducing the bill that keeps Vermont vistas clear of highway billboards. He has become known as an outspoken critic of the environmental policy in all areas.
After his first election to office as a Republican, Jeffords gradually moved away from the conservative standpoint, often voicing his opposition to his party's bills. In 1991, Jeffords announced that he would vote against Clarence Thomas' appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court of Justice and voted in favor of a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns. The next year, Jeffords chose to visit Yugoslavia on an information-gathering trip rather than attend the Republican National Convention. In 1999, the senator announced that he would vote against President Clinton's impeachment.
The division between Jeffords and his party came to a head on May 25, 2001, when he abruptly announced that he was leaving the Republican party to be an Independent, to the delight of many and the dismay of others. The select few that witnessed the historic moment wildly chanted, "Thank you, Jim! Thank you, Jim!" and applauded throughout his speech, while others, such as Vermont Republican Chairman Patrick Garahan, expressed opposing sentiments. "He really hurt Bush more than anything. Maybe that's what Senator Jeffords intended to do," he said. At Middlebury, Jeffords commented, "When I made that switch, all over the world, people began to send me things. They're just scared of this nation, what we're going to do to the environment, and scared of what we're going to do now in war, and that's one of the reasons I feel that we have to have a change." Jeffords did not elaborate on this point, much to the dismay of the crowd.
Among the disappointed was Mary Kerr, who said she knew Jeffords well after living in Vermont with her husband Joseph for the past 40 years. She came to Middlebury, joined by many others with similar desires, to find out how the senator felt about the situation in Iraq, and what the Congress was doing about it. "I was ready to hear a man who
would speak his mind, other than in reference to his book," Kerr said. She cited a question in which a student referred to Iraq and the role of a seemingly 'silent' congress, saying, "I felt that the senator didn't answer those questions directly. I was disappointed that he didn't really express where he stood in all this." At the book signing, others expressed similar sentiments of frustration. "What about the "silent" Congress?" exclaimed the parent of a prospective student.
Despite these criticisms, Jeffords received an enthusiastic standing ovation and signed countless books after the talk. Jeffords commented, "I think one of the value-supporting systems is the college system. I remember, in my days at college, the classes I took and the inspiring people that helped me mold the thoughts I wanted to guide my life by." He stated, "Let me assure you, there are a lot of problems out there right now, so I look forward to doing the best I can to try to solve those problems."