Four-term US Sen. Christopher ‘Kit' Bond remembered for training a generation of Missouri leaders
The Missouri State Highway Patrol escorted his body from St. Louis, where he
died
last week at the age of 86, to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, where hundreds of people gathered for a memorial service. Bond is to lie in state through Wednesday so members of the public can pay their respects.
'Over and over again, Kit launched the careers of young people, talented, committed, dedicated people who later, after appointment, found opportunity beckoning them to achievement levels they hadn't anticipated,' said John Ashcroft, who was a governor, senator and attorney general under President George W. Bush. 'Kit was a person of both individual and governmental integrity. I have no recollection of anytime where Kit failed to live up to his commitments.'
As a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Bond secured federal money for big and small projects in Missouri, scoffing at government watchdog groups that considered him a master of pork-barrel spending.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver recalled that while he was serving as mayor of Kansas City, a monument to honor World War I veterans known as Liberty Memorial had fallen into disrepair. He likened the 217-foot (66-meter) tall structure that was built after a burst of postwar patriotism to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He said Bond stepped in with federal dollars to help restore it.
'Working together as friends was the propellant that allowed us, with others, to alter the landscape of Kansas City,' Cleaver said.
Early in his career, Bond was considered a political wunderkind. When he took office at age 33 as Missouri's youngest governor, he was also the state's first Republican chief executive in about three decades and garnered consideration as a vice presidential candidate. His early success stalled when he lost a reelection bid, but he later rebounded to win another term as governor before being elected to the Senate in 1986 and eventually becoming the patriarch of the Missouri Republican Party.
Testaments to Bond's longevity in the public arena are stamped across Missouri. A federal courthouse in Jefferson City and a life sciences center at the University of Missouri-Columbia are named after him. A highway bridge crossing the Missouri River in Hermann and one in Kansas City also carry his name.
'Kit Bond was an exceptional person who was blessed with many talents,' said former U.S. Sen. John Danforth. 'He was very smart. He was highly educated. He had boundless energy. He wanted for nothing. He could have clung on to what was his and lived comfortably only for himself. But that was not what he did. He invested his talents, put them at risk, and he produced such a great return to the state.'
___
Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Hong Kong's CK Hutchison seeks Chinese investor to join Panama Ports deal
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong conglomerate that's selling ports at the Panama Canal said Monday it may seek a Chinese investor to join a consortium of buyers, a move that could please Beijing but bring more U.S. scrutiny to the geopolitically fraught deal. CK Hutchison Holdings' initial plan to sell port assets in dozens of countries to a group that includes U.S. investment firm BlackRock Inc. pleased President Donald Trump, who has alleged that China interferes with the critical shipping lane's operations in Panama. However, they apparently angered Beijing and drew a review from Chinese anti-monopoly authorities. A Hutchison subsidiary has operated ports at both ends of the Panama Canal since 1997. After months of uncertainty brought by tensions between Washington and Beijing, Hutchison said in a statement that the exclusive negotiations period with the consortium has expired. However, it added 'the Group remains in discussions with members of the consortium with a view to inviting major strategic investor from the PRC to join as a significant member of the consortium,' referring to the People's Republic of China. It said they needed to change the membership of the consortium and the structure of the transaction for the deal to be able to pass reviews by 'all relevant authorities." The awkward position Hutchison found itself in for months highlights the challenges Hong Kong business elites face in navigating Beijing's expectations of national loyalty, especially when relations between China and the United States are strained. Hong Kong has overhauled its electoral system to ensure the city is run by 'patriots.' CK Hutchison is owned by the family of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing. It announced March 4 that it would sell all its shares in Hutchison Port Holdings and in Hutchison Port Group Holdings to the consortium that also includes BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, a subsidiary of the Mediterranean Shipping Company. In May, Hutchinson co-managing director, Dominic Lai told shareholders that Terminal Investment was the main investor. Its parent company is led by Italian shipping scion Diego Aponte, whose family reportedly has a longstanding relationship with Li's. The initial deal, valued at nearly $23 billion including $5 billion in debt, would have given the consortium control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, located at either end of the canal. That agreement also required approval from Panama's government.
Fox News
21 minutes ago
- Fox News
'We are bullish about the future because America is back,' says Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., touts the successes of the Trump administration so far this term on 'One Nation.'
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Oklahoma state superintendent under investigation after board members report seeing naked women on his office TV
Oklahoma's controversial state superintendent is under investigation after state Board of Education members alleged they saw images of naked women on his office's television during a closed meeting last Thursday. State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the fiery Republican pick leading one of the nation's lowest-ranked education systems, was in the middle of a meeting during an executive session of the Oklahoma State Board of Education when images of naked women allegedly popped up on his television screen, two board members told The Oklahoman. 4 Pictures of naked women were allegedly seen on a television behind Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters during a meeting last Thursday. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images One of the board members said she could barely believe what she was seeing. 'And I was like, 'Those are naked women'. And then I was like, 'No, wait a minute. Those aren't naked, surely those aren't naked women. Something is playing a trick on my eye. Maybe they just have on tan body suits. This is just really bizarre',' board member Becky Carson told the outlet. 'I saw them just walking across the screen, and I'm like, 'No.' I'm sorry I even have to use this language, but I'm like, 'Those are her nipples.' And then I'm like, 'That's pubic hair.' What in the world am I watching? I didn't watch a second longer. I was so disturbed by it, I was like, 'What is on your TV?' I was very stern, like I'd been a mother or a classroom teacher. And I said, 'What am I watching? Turn it off now!'' Ryan Deatherage, another board member, added that Walters was sitting with his back to the television, so he wasn't able to see the alleged X-rated video in the moment. 4 Walters has denied all allegations about the situation — calling them 'falsehoods.' DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'I am in shock and I'm not wanting to distract them. I'm trying to listen. Quite frankly, I didn't know how to handle it. I was just in shock. I was being human and I didn't know what to think. I kept thinking that it was just going to go away and so I quit watching it,' Deatherage told the outlet. Carson wound up having to tell Walters about the lewd images lingering on the screen behind him, which he then shut off without any explanation or apology. Walters later issued a statement Sunday denying all claims as 'categorically false.' 4 Two Oklahoma Board of Education members claimed that Walters offered no apology or explanation for the bizarre images. AP 'These falsehoods are the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change. They aren't just attacking me, they're attacking the values of the Oklahomans who elected me to challenge the status quo. I will not be distracted. My focus remains on making Oklahoma the best state in the nation, in every category,' Walters said. Other members of the board told the outlet that while they didn't see the images themselves, Walters appeared 'shook up' and 'flustered or embarrassed' by whatever Carson pointed out. Walters, a staunch conservative, has previously made national headlines for his stances and policies in Oklahoma schools. He repeatedly sought to enforce strict rules about what's permitted inside the classroom, including restrictions against LGBTQ+ students that have come under fire from critics on the left. 4 Walters is best known for the anti-LGBTQ+ policies he's put forward, along with other rules loosening restrictions on Christian education in public schools. DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images At the same time, he's loosened prohibitions on the separation of church and state by requiring the Bible to be taught in public schools as a 'historical document.' Deatherage and Carson said Walters should hold himself to the same standards he enforces on educators, noting that the board has 'suspended teaching certificates for less than this.' It's unclear who may have been responsible for the racy images and why they were bizarrely featured on the government office's system. The investigation into the incident is being led by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
