Terry and the SOBs

I spoke Monday night to the Wake County Democratic Men’s Club – which, I learned, also has women members.
 
I talked about the two groups that have always competed for political dominance in North Carolina: the “Just Say No” crowd of Jesse Helms, Richard Burr and the Tea Party and the “Go Forward’ crowd of Kerr Scott, Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt.
 
“Go Forward” was the name of Kerr Scott’s program as governor from 1949-1953.
 
I was invited and introduced by Boyd Bennett, retired director of state prisons and first vice president of the club.
 
Boyd is distantly related to a key figure in the history of the “Go Forward” crowd: Bert Bennett. I believe Bob said his father and Bert are second cousins.
 
Bert is a legendary figure. He was Sanford’s campaign manager in 1960 and Hunt’s political mentor.
 
We talked during the meeting about the tough outlook for Democrats this year. And I was reminded of a story Bert likes to tell about Sanford.
 
After Sanford win in 1960, he named Bert chairman of the state Democratic Party. Bert had to go to the kind of political dinners he hated.
 
As Bert tells it, “We’d won, and there was some damn speaking thing, you know.  I had to go.  I had to sit at the head table.”
 
As the dinner dragged on and the speakers droned on, Bert took a napkin and wrote a note to Terry. He knew that Terry’s wife Margaret Rose was unhappy because Terry was gone so many evenings, away from the family and their kids.
 
Bert wrote: “Terry, why do you stay in this business?
 
Right away, the note came back.  Sanford had written: “To keep the SOBs out.”
Avatar photo

Gary Pearce

Categories

Archives

Recent Posts

Terry and the SOBs

I spoke Monday night to the Wake County Democratic Men’s Club – which, I learned, also has women members.
 
I talked about the two groups that have always competed for political dominance in North Carolina: the “Just Say No” crowd of Jesse Helms, Richard Burr and the Tea Party and the “Go Forward’ crowd of Kerr Scott, Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt.
 
“Go Forward” was the name of Kerr Scott’s program as governor from 1949-1953.
 
I was invited and introduced by Boyd Bennett, retired director of state prisons and first vice president of the club.
 
Boyd is distantly related to a key figure in the history of the “Go Forward” crowd: Bert Bennett. I believe Bob said his father and Bert are second cousins.
 
Bert is a legendary figure. He was Sanford’s campaign manager in 1960 and Hunt’s political mentor.
 
We talked during the meeting about the tough outlook for Democrats this year. And I was reminded of a story Bert likes to tell about Sanford.
 
After Sanford win in 1960, he named Bert chairman of the state Democratic Party. Bert had to go to the kind of political dinners he hated.
 
As Bert tells it, “We’d won, and there was some damn speaking thing, you know.  I had to go.  I had to sit at the head table.”
 
As the dinner dragged on and the speakers droned on, Bert took a napkin and wrote a note to Terry. He knew that Terry’s wife Margaret Rose was unhappy because Terry was gone so many evenings, away from the family and their kids.
 
Bert wrote: “Terry, why do you stay in this business?
 
Right away, the note came back.  Sanford had written: “To keep the SOBs out.”
Avatar photo

Gary Pearce

Categories

Archives