Jack Kemp Dies

Jack Kemp, the ex-quarterback, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative," died Saturday. He was 73.Kemp died after a lengthy illness, according to spokeswoman Bona Park and Edwin J. Feulner, a longtime friend and former campaign adviser. Park said Kemp died at his home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington suburbs.Kemp's office announced in January that he had been diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer. By then, however, the cancer was in an advanced stage and had spread to several organs, Feulner said. He did not know the origin of the cancer.He played a pivotal role in the ascent of the Republican Party, moving the party to embrace supply side economics and making tax cuts a central element of the party platform.

From 1977, the Buffalo-area congressman advocated in favor of the Kemp-Roth tax cut, which became law in 1981 under President Reagan. Kemp served in the House from 1971 to 1989.

He was seen as a rising star in the party in the Reagan years, but his 1988 presidential campaign against Bob Dole and George HW Bush flamed out.

Kemp served as Bush's HUD Secretary, but was always viewed warily by Bush loyalists.

Despite their political differences, Dole the deficit hawk and Kemp the supply sider teamed up in 1996 on the GOP ticket.

Kemp gave Dole a boost, but the pick was not enough to make the contest competitive.

After, Kemp teamed up with William Bennett on the conservative PAC Empower America, but never entered electoral politics again.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Kemp "one of the nation's most distinguished public servants. Jack was a powerful voice in American politics for more than four decades."

“He championed free market principles that improved the lives of millions of Americans and helped unleash an entrepreneurial spirit that all of us still benefit from today. Jack was a leading voice for a strong national defense, civil rights, and any other policy that empowered people. Whether as a quarterback, a congressman, or a cabinet secretary, his life was defined by vision and by a firm commitment to the service of others."

Former President George W. Bush expressed his sorrow after hearing of Kemp's death.

"Laura and I are saddened by the death of Jack Kemp." he said. "Jack will be remembered for his significant contributions to the Reagan revolution and his steadfast dedication to conservative principles during his long and distinguished career in public service. Jack's wife Joanne and the rest of the Kemp family are in our thoughts and prayers."

Aside from pushing the GOP to embrace tax cuts, Kemp also urged his party to reach out to minority voters. He credited his liberal views on race in part to his time on the gridiron, recalling in an article entitled "The Inspiration of the Football Huddle":

"We didn't tolerate bigotry on the field, either. Any difference in race, creed and class immediately dissolved in the common aim of a team win. Divisiveness only weakens a team. It has no place in a huddle, on or off the field."

The garrulous Kemp was a hit on the GOP dinner circuit, his passion for politics infectious if occasionally grating on his political rivals.

Kemp, whose football career lasted from 1957-1969, led the Buffalo Bills to back-to-back AFL championships in 1945 and 1965, and was the league's Most Valuable Player that second year. He co-founded the the American Football League Players Association in the 1960s, and was five times elected its president.

No fan of European football, known here as soccer, he once observed on the House floor, "I think it is important for all those young out there — who someday hope to play real football, where you throw it and kick it and run with it and put it in your hands — [that] a distinction should be made that football is democratic capitalism, whereas soccer is a European socialist sport."

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