The 25th Anniversary of Jack announcing his candidacy for the 1988 Republican nomination for President

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Jack's announcement.  Hard to believe!  There have been some wonderful email comments in response by those who knew Jack and I thought I'd share a few of them below. First, here's a link to the C-SPAN video of the announcement.  It's definitely worth watching again, especially during this election frenzy we're in.

CLICK HERE for link to CSPAN video of Kemp announcement

Wow.  After watching this, how could one not ask:  “What if?”  -Tim Coyle


I remember Jack with so much respect and affection. He was unique -- a great son of America.  -Mona Charen


I am working the GOP primary  in VA today. Just played the video on my IPhone. So many voters took turns listening and watching. We certainly need his energy, ideas and courage.  A light went out when we lost Jack Kemp.  -Jamie Burkecc

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to vote for Jack Kemp for President, today?  -Dawn Engle

Just looked at the announcement tape. Great memories everyone…..so many….but, as Jack would be the first to say, we all just need to promote the good  ideas of freedom, opportunity, …and Lincoln!   -Clark Durant

I know Jack would have something nice to say about each of them.

A sharp contrast with the group running this year. -Alfred A DelliBovi

A friend once shared with me -- that whenever he mentioned Jack’s name to someone— their first reaction was to smile. I never forgot that.  What a wonderful thing-- to have people react to hearing one’s name with a sincere smile.   -Jamie T. Burke

Many thanks for this. Trent Lott was among Jack’s former House colleagues today (including Dan Lungren, Connie Mack, Bob Livingston, Vin Weber and Bob Walker) at an oral history symposium on “Jack Kemp and the Reagan Revolutionaries,” cosponsored by the Jack Kemp Foundation and the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress.  It was moderated by Mort Kondracke, this year’s Kemp Chair in Political Economy (who is writing a biography of Jack) as well as Fred  Barnes, Al Hunt, and Alllan Ryskind. Joanne, Jeff, and Judith Kemp attended, as did Dr. Billington, the Librarian of Congress.  -John Mueller

Jack was inclusive, optimistic and brimming with ideas. He believed that Republicans should appeal to all types of people in all walks of life. When I look at our political choices today, I especially miss him. -Kathy Steckelberg

Amen sister I wish he was on the ballot here in our primary today!! 

A short aside to make you all smile....you may remember I got drafted to run for Mayor in the People's Republic of Alexandria, Virginia and agreed to run even after polling showed I could not win there as a Republican. 

One reason I ran was to preach Jack's policies in a town that sorely needed them (majority minority in the schools and almost 20% public housing). 

At my appearances and in the debates I used tenet after tenet of Jack's policies and philosophy...the Democrats came up to my campaign manager  and asked...where does she get this stuff? Its great...does she just make it up?  He explained it was what I believed and that Jack was the source... 

I got endorsed by the black churches and got a standing ovation at the appearances with the public housing folks...just wish this current GOP really understood the power of Jack's programs and approach... Never having run for office before I came within a couple of percentage points of winning in this Democrat-dominated city.

We need him now more than ever !  Best, Ann Stone


Jack had vision, while the rest of the world was wearing bi-focals.  He is sorely missed.  -Bob Heckman

Dick & Carolyn's Wedding - April 15, 1962

Amongst the slides I've been scanning, I found some of Dick and Carolyn's wedding in 1962. They've become a bit blue with age, but I'm sure with someone's photoshop work, they can be brought back to normal.  I'm posting the blue versions, however, since my photoshop skills are less than adequate for the job.  I've also posted three black and white photos of the wedding - some of my all-time favorites.

You can click on the first photo to enlarge it and then scan through the rest by clicking on each enlarged photo in the pop-up window.  Hit the X in the upper right or the ESC button to return to the post.

I was the "junior" bridesmaid, Paula was the flower girl, Nancy was the "spectator" (as Grandpa Kemp lovingly crowned her).  Lorri Clarke was in charge of the guest book.  As presents from the bride, Paula and I received bracelets with our names created out of the gold wire.  We felt like princesses...

In honor of President's Day...

In honor of President's Day and in honor of our favorite Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate, I thought I'd post photos taken in May 2010 of our first peek at the Jack Kemp Collection in the Library of Congress. I'm sorry I hadn't posted them earlier, but after seeing the Kemp audio-visual materials housed at the LOC Culpeper facility (see previous post), it reminded me of what an extraordinary experience it was to see the newly-arrived Kemp boxes at the Madison facility.  [Note: click on photos to enlarge, and click on X in upper right to return to blog.]

A little background:  The main building of the Library of Congress is the Jefferson building, followed by the Adams building. Across Independence Avenue is the Madison building, which was built in 1976.  It was appropriately named after James Madison, since he was the first sponsor of the initial idea of a "library for Congress." In 1783, when he was a member of the Continental Congress, he wrote up a list of books that he felt would be of interest and helpful to legislators. Seventeen years later, the Library of Congress was born.

The Madison building houses the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.  It's impossible to convey the breathtaking magnitude of what is housed in that building:

Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence

Madison's notes on the Federal Convention

George Washington's first inaugural address

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Walt Whitman's notes on "O Captain!  My Captain!"

Alexander Graham Bell's first drawing of the telephone

The papers of Sigmund Freud

The papers of Orville and Wilbur Wright

The papers of 23 Presidents

...and the papers of Jack Kemp.  Yes.  Takes your breath away, right?  Right????

Here's a sample of what we saw there as we walked the aisles behind the scenes.

Emily and Paul next to the papers of
former Chief Justice Earl Warren

The papers of anthropologist Margaret Mead

Johnny and Rob looking at something important
(I can't see what it is...)

The papers of designers Charles and Ray Eames

The papers of Senator Daniel Moynihan

Papers of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
and Congresswoman Patsy Mink

Papers of Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
and Leonard Garment, Special Counsel to Richard Nixon

Papers of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson

And last, but certainly not least, the papers of
Abraham Lincoln

So now, without further ado, here are the Kemp Collection boxes, pre-curation.   When I mentioned to Rob that I thought that Jack possibly had more boxes than the Wright brothers, he said that Jack's collection definitely had more footballs than the Wright collection.  Amen!

Paul, Jenny, Jimmy, Rob, and Curator Connie

Johnny and Curator Connie

Johnny and Connie, part 2

Connie shows Jimmy and Jenny a photo of
Jack and the "Iron Lady" herself, Margaret Thatcher

Jimmy holds a letter to Jack by Reagan

Nancy, Connie, Rob, Johnny, and Paul

Johnny, Rob, Paul, and Jimmy look at a photo montage

(Okay... I want one of these)

Jimmy and Em

Jimmy, Em, Jenny, and Rob

Nancy, Jimmy, Rob

Nancy, Jimmy, Rob part 2

Emily, Paul, Jenny

Em and Jenny

Johnny headin' home...

Jenny, Anne, Em, and Rob

I'll end here with a small glimpse of the glorious interior of the Jefferson building of the Library of Congress.   An inspiring reminder of the value of our heritage as a country, and what a joy it is to know that the Jack Kemp papers will forever be a part of that heritage. We are blessed. Our country is blessed.

 Happy President's Day!