We are gathered here, 1n th1s moment of profound sadness,
to pay our last respects to one of the great leaders of a state
that has 1tself provided leadership for the nat10n precisely because it was governed by men like Philip F. LaFollette.
I can remember" as a boy grow1ng up 1n the no-r th country
of our -state,hearing of the fighting qual1ties and the deep
\
.
commitment to social justice of this man to whom we say sad
farewell today.
But it was not until I sat in his seat in the governor's
office. nearly three decades later, that I understood and
appr~ciated
the scope of his struggle and the magnitude of his
~chievement,
and how deeply 1n h1s debt
a~lof
us are.
And 1t
was notmtil I went to Washington as a United states Senator a
few y_e ars ago
_tha~
I_Jull"y_ grasped the 1mpact of the La Follette
family on the life and laws of our country.
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The- 'L a FO-l-lettes \'l.e~e p1onee-.I!s---.1n- the best sense of that
__
hallowed Amer1can word.
If they came too late to clear the
~
-~-
eam~~a-~st.----ln- t~me
and
to blaze a trail of tolerance and understanding
social comm1tment and progressive actj:on that our country
urgently needed.
Look back over the years.
\
Look back over more than half a
2 -
century. - Look back over the achievements of Robert r1.
LaFollette, Sr., and his two sons, Robert, Jr., and Philip F.
La-Follette.
If we allow our minds to drift back over those
year ~
of strife and struggle, we come to see that the LaFollettes,
~Old
Bob, Young Bob, and Phil, built so much of the foundation of
what we regard, as progressivism and the good life today.
:----~~
The New Deal, and the Fair Deal, and the New Frontier, and the
Great Society--all these major, na,tional concepts which have done
so much for our country, had their roots in the progressivism that
grew out of the soil of Wisconsin--the soil that was tilled and
I
tended and brought to fruition by the LaFollettes.
:-------- -'~-
During his eventful years as governor of Wisconsin, Phil
LaFollette was- often denoun'c edI ~as a radical, but, in retrospect,
it is clear to even those who rejected his far-sighted leadership
,
I
at the time, that he was building soundly a solid foundation for
his state and his country.
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---
For Phil laFollette believed deeply 1n the essential ingred-
1entsof the Amer1can Constitution--that the purpose of American
government was to promote the general 1ielfare
t1-m~~erve-1nd-ivldual-
!!!S! at the same
fre.edom.. Americans, he was wont
~o
say,
do' 'il9t ne-ed to choose betw,een bread and the ballot, for a pro-
gressi;~; dynamicde~oCracy can~ov1de
both for its people.
.
,
Phil laFollette's record in office as three-time governor of
in the history of Wisconsin--except
perhaps for the period during which hts father occupied that offie
Under Phil's leadership, Wisconsin pioneered for ' the whole nation
,
"\
I ~ ,
~.-' '.~.. .......
,
/'
-
3~
-
1n develop1ng new concepts of soc1al secur1ty, conservat10n of
natural resources, and
equa~1ty
of opportun1ty for all c1t1zens,
______. r.egardless
of race, color, or c~reed~
.
The brilliance of his mind and the power of his eloquence
~
'
~
\..
lIer~
respected by foe and friend alike.
His was a restless, rang
mind, forever searching for new paths to progressive action.
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This was a man who fought for what he believed.
--~----~~
~ -
'And 1n the
~
struggle he made many enemies.
those antagonisms.
But time and events have erased
Many of those
who ~ fought
him three decades ag
are ,now happily prepared to embrace his views.
of the man.
This
mi asure of what
~ And
sp~endid
~e
i ~s
This is the measu
the measure of his foresight.
This is the
achieved for Wisconsin and the nation.
always at his side, in triumph
and~
adversity, was his
wife, Isabel Bacon LaFollette, who . has
.,
ma~e
her own last·
ing contribution to the enrichment of the lives of her fellow
oitizens.
.,
To her and to Bob Third, and Judy and Sherry we offer
our heartfelt condolenoes.
All of_us are deeply saddened by the passing of this man-this man who did so much to inspire my generation to seek affirma·
tl"-v-e
~oa-ls--4-n th-ls
- crea~lve-.
struggle to make our lives richer and more
'The- be-st- thing any man can say of another 1s that he
has made the human enterprise more meaningful and t'lort hwhile.
This is what I say about Phil La Follette as we bid him a fond
fa~