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A LAST HURRAH

Watching another “news” story today about another partisan battle in Congress reminded me of a more peaceful and bi-partisan time that I spent in DC  - a long day directing a film segment covering the last day before Senator Clifford Case - a very popular Republican Senator, retired after 10 years as a congressman and  24 years representing New Jersey as one of our two Senators.

We packed a van at 3:AM for the long  ride south to Washington.  Kent Manahan, a new reporter for our nightly news had somehow arranged that we would have total access to this busy Senator’s time - she was new to TV but quickly became an excellent reporter and in a few years the anchor of the news show.  We finally arrived at sunup before the daily traffic surage and got a spectacular view of the Capitol building - majestic and monumental in the golden dawn of a clear cold January day.  We had access to a  special parking lot near the Old Senate building which was also a beautiful example of historic governmental architecture. I was excited (and also a bit nervous) about the many setups we had to do in just one day.  We brought tons of  backup equipment that I hoped would get us through the film shoot.

    Our first setup was the Senator's Office which was filled with the memorabilia of a long career in politics.  When the Senator arrived and after a staff member gave us coffee and donuts Kent did a 45 minute standard  interview covering much of Senator Case's personal journey from NJ to halls of Congress.  We shot “B-roll” of many of his pictures.  Senator Case had a lot of seniority and it was evident in the size of his office.  While we packed up for the next location we listened to chats with his aides and took a couple of constituent calls.

Next we went where few visitors ever go. We rode in the private Senitorial elevator to the basement along with Senator Edward Kennedy and a few others.  As the door closed Kennedy immediately began telling  a joke, he stopped in the middle of a sentence  and addressed Senator Ed Muskie.  "Ed I know you are Polish...so I'll tell my joke a little slower."  Senator  just shrugged and groaned while we all had a very hardy laugh at his expense.  Apparently he was the regular object of Kennedy’s humor.    In the basement we all boarded two small automatic subway vehicles and rolled into  a  tunnel which connected the building to the Senate side of the capitol building.  We all took a freight elevator to the Hall of Presidents that was setup for a private luncheon honoring Senator Case later that day.  Before friends and colleagues started to arrive Senator Case sat done to a piano that would be used for background during the affair.  And to our surprise the Senator played several of his favorite tunes.  When he finished he said directly into our rolling camera, “I can play the old stuff but frankly don’t get most of the tunes the kids play today.  During the luncheon we filmed the speeches by representatives from both sides of the aisle who all had some great stories to tell (even some of them we actually could use on our broadcast!)   

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to filming short sound bites from a variety of staff and a comment from the NJ’s Democrat Senator,  former pro basketball player, Bill Bradley and ended our day with shots of the Senator’s chamber desk (which I sat in for a moment because the room was empty).  As we were packing up for the trek home Kent returned from walking with the Senator back to his office and informed us that he had been invited to a farewell cocktail party at the State Department - but no pictures.  

We had some time so we took a walk around the nearby streets like a bunch of tourists.  The State Department was a very impressive building where so much had taken place in the late 70’s - it was very formal and quiet, like entering a famous cathedral.  In an upper room I gawded at the famous face I recognized from the evening network news. The shrimp were giant and the Champagne expensive.  (And decades later I would live in Delaware alongside the famed caterer who managed this “affair”.  Our leaders do live a good life.

As the party wound down and the dignitaries left for other events I walked out on a long porch that overlooked the great mall and I joined by another.  He introduced himself, “Hello I’m Cyrus Vance (the Secretary of State).  After pleasantries were over as we watched the sun set he said, “I love this time of day, it’s peaceful.”   He pointed out that we could see the flame of President Kennedy’s gravesite and then left me to think about the history I was a small part of today.

   And then we headed home.



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