By: Tomos Land, Staff Writer
Pulitzer prize-winning journalist James Risen captures the consequential life of Senator Frank Church in his aptly-titled book: The Last Honest Man: The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia and the Kennedys — and One Senator’s Fight to Save Democracy. Church, who served four terms in US Congress between 1956 and 1981, representing his hometown Idaho, was at the forefront of congressional oversight committees probing US foreign interference overseas. Risen details Church’s political career, including the precarious balancing act required to maintain the support of his base in Idaho while pushing progressive policies in Washington and his ultimately unsuccessful presidential ambitions. The book also explores in-depth the fundamental role his wife Bethine Church, the daughter of an Idaho Democratic Governor, played in his political rise. This biography demonstrates the extent to which changing the status quo is possible from within the establishment, something that is becoming increasingly more difficult around the world as waves of populist politics are on the rise.
After winning his seat following a hard-fought primary and an equally taxing senate election in 1956, Church was taken under the wing by future President Lyndon B. Johnson, who at the time served as the Democratic majority leader. Risen explains that after a frosty start to their relationship, it was Johnson who placed Church on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a role the Idahoan would go on to relish and use to make his name. After working steadily through his first and second terms, Church gained national prominence through his opposition to the Vietnam War and became one of its most high-profile critics during his third term. This, despite his earlier work on the Foreign Relations Committee, was when his star began to shine brightly on the national stage as a figurehead of the anti-war and anti-imperialism movement within the US government.
Risen describes Church’s ascendance as not without its struggles, with the maintenance of his home base support in Idaho a key consideration in many of the public positions he took. On issues including the Vietnam War, Church relied on his extraordinary oratory skills, combined with his considerable intellect, to make watertight arguments that ran contrary to the views held by a substantial number of his conservative-leaning constituents. As the remnants of McCarthyism (anti-communist fear-mongering in the ‘40s and ‘50s) gave way to more skepticism of America’s foreign interventions, Church seized on this momentum to chair an investigation into the extra-judicial activities of the FBI and CIA around the world, known as the Church Committee.
Uncovering substantial abuses of power by the US government and its intelligence agencies around the world, including instances of bribery, coercion and assasination, the Church Committee was instrumental in the creation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and intensifying scrutiny and oversight of intelligence operations. The book, which underlines the importance of checks and balances in modern governance, serves as a reminder that even democratic countries rely on the hard work of dedicated and diligent public servants to hold their government accountable.
Without the integrity of office holders such as Church, executive power goes unchecked, a painful example being the current destruction and destitution brought about by the current Trump administration.
Overall, this book is a must read for anyone with an interest in US foreign policy in particular, but also American domestic politics, or anyone simply interested in the importance of accountability in governments. To a more or less extent, the book’s lessons also apply to those seeking to find answers for why even governments in Canada — from the federal government to BC’s own NDP — fail to remain accountable to their responsibilities. Such instances include the current Liberal government’s betrayal of its environmental pledges, and heavy investment into resource extraction initiatives, and the BC NDP’s lack of progress on affordable childcare programs. To this end, I find the book massively underrated and think it’s worthwhile.
