The life of John Worth Kern

by Claude G. Bowers

I am indebted to Senator Charles S. Thomas, one of the keenest intellects in the senate, for an appraisement of his leadership from the viewpoint of his fellow senators:

“Senator Kern was the most kindly, efficient and practical of men, and an ideal leader for a majority just coming into control of a great body like the senate, after an exile of twenty years. No other member of that majority could, in my judgment, have done the work so well and so satisfactorily as Senator Kern; hence his unanimous selection for that position was inevitable when the sixty-third congress was organized.

“The senate was composed in the main of members from the southern states, with a large contingent of new men from the north and west, having comparatively little legislative experience, but all eager to accomplish the legislation promised the people by the national Democracy. This desire very naturally aroused ambitions for chairmanships and other places of distinction upon the great committees, threatening rivalries and possible conflict that might prove dangerous to the very slight majority then existing. These differences were adjusted by Senator Kern after many conferences, some of them presenting difficult situations, and some apparently incapable of solution. The senator’s judgment of men, his methods of appeal and his wonderful tact in dealing with his associates enabled him in the course of ten or fifteen days to report a plan of organization absolutely satisfactory to all of his associates with a solitary exception. Even that exception finally gave way to Senator Kern’s resourceful, courteous and generous methods of treatment. I think it can be said with perfect truth that the enactment of the great program of reform legislation by the sixty-third congress was due as much to Senator Kern’s splendid leadership as to any other single influence. An epitaph to that effect should be written upon his monument.”

To former Senator James A. O’Gorman of New York, for whom Kern had a feeling of admiration and affection, I am indebted for an estimate which emphasizes other points that entered into the making of his leadership efficient:

“My relations with Senator Kern were close and familiar during the four years that he was chairman of the Democratic caucus. This position carried with it the Democratic leadership of the senate. During this period I was a member of the Democratic Steering committee, of which Senator Kern was chairman. I entered the senate with him on April 5, 1911, and his selection as Democratic leader in 1913, after two years’ service in the senate, was a testimonial of the great respect in which he was then held by his colleagues. His upright character, his recognized ability and his attractive personality had already given him a strong hold upon their esteem. At our conferences, which were frequent, he was wise and resourceful in suggestion. On these occasions he invited the freest discussion of legislative plans and policies, and was always candid, sympathetic, conciliatory and helpful.

“He had a clear and strong mind, a sound judgment, an unbending integrity, a comprehensive knowledge of our constitution and laws, and a power of laborious application that enabled him to render valuable and efficient public service. Patriotism, honor and loyalty to his friends were his eminent characteristics. He was a strong partisan, but there was a kindliness about him that turned aside all feelings of ill will or animosity. He was sociable and companionable in the intercourse of life, and in his hours of recreation in Washington he was frequently the center of a group of devoted and admiring friends, who were attracted to him by those qualities of mind and heart which in earlier days won him recognition among the people of his native state, which he represented so faithfully and efficiently in the senate of the United States from 1911 to 1917.”

Senator O’Gorman’s reference to his partisanship and “the kindliness which turned aside all feelings of ill will or animosity” suggests the fact that he was personally popular with the most partisan Republicans of the senate. It would have been difficult to have found two more intense partisans than Kern, and Senator Gallenger of New Hampshire, who was the Republican leader, but nothing ever occurred to mar their cordial intercourse.

His self-effacement, his innate modesty, his repugnance to the pose, the fact that his name is not attached to any of the most important legislative measures of the administration, and that for the sake of facilitating the advancement of the program he consumed no time in speeches, may combine to rob him of the credit for the part he played in the general history of the four eventful years, but from the president and his cabinet down through the members of the congress there will never be any other estimate upon his leadership than that it was splendidly efficient.

The relations between Senator Kern and Senator Willard Saulsbury of Delaware, president pro tempore of the senate, were affectionate, and the latter’s estimate of Kern is of special interest:

“I shall never think of Senator Kern except with the affection implied in the nickname I gave him soon after we became acquainted, ‘Uncle John.’ We sat at the same table for hours each day practically from April until October, 1913, while the Democrats were preparing with great labor the Underwood-Simmons tariff bill. It was the first time for many years that great responsibilities had been placed upon our party organization. Senator Kern was unanimously chosen the Democratic leader of the senate after serving in that body for only two years. In his position as Democratic leader and chairman of the caucus he displayed great ability and tact in handling a majority of senators composed of men whose opinions in some cases differed widely. Every one respected him and many of us loved him. We felt when he left the senate that the party to which he belonged and the country had met with an irreparable loss, and his death, coming so soon after his retirement, was felt by many of us as though he had indeed been to each of us an affectionate ‘Uncle John.’ Dignified, upright, able, I doubt if any one ever impressed himself upon his colleagues more favorably than he. He was called to the performance of high duties at a very critical time in the history of our country and performed them in accordance with the high traditions of the place he filled. Indiana has produced many statesmen of ability and high ideals, but none greater, as I believe, has she recognized among her honored sons than when ‘Uncle John’ came to the senate. The kindly, sweet and generous character influenced us all in our personal relations with each other, and when, as he occasionally did, he took a high, strong stand in favor of a given course, he carried us irresistibly to the conclusion desired.”