The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Why I’m paying tribute to the late editor David Hawpe
Some of you may be surprised I am writing a column paying tribute to David Hawpe, the longtime editor of The Courier Journal editorial page and a frequent critic of my work in Washington. I will be the first to admit that, like most conservatives, I have often had a somewhat challenging relationship with the left-leaning press.
Nonetheless, I want to put our differences aside and remember David as a deeply committed public servant. Apart from everything else, we shared a great love for Kentucky, for freedom of speech, and for the value of education. Liberal Kentuckians lost an irreplaceable spokesman when David passed away this summer.
David and I became well-acquainted during his 13-year stint as a Courier Journal columnist. We would speak over the phone and during my in-person visits to The Courier Journal — always vigorously debating whichever one of my policy positions the editorial board had decided to criticize that day.
While we frequently disagreed on politics, neither of us ever strayed from our mission to improve the commonwealth and the lives of its residents. He was a passionate man who loved our state dearly.
Perhaps our most famous spat centered on the McConnell Center, an educational institution I established at the University of Louisville to provide young Kentuckians with scholarship and leadership opportunities, as well as access to some of the political world’s foremost leaders. Somehow, David got it in his head that the center was being used as some sort of backdoor fundraising scheme — a ridiculous assertion that was resoundingly proven false.
I won’t bore readers with all the details of our disagreement. But it is important to note that David was also a supporter of the McConnell Center, both in principle and financially. He even went so far as to describe it as “just the kind of ambitious, star-studded program a university needs to upgrade its image and inspire its faculty and students.”
David was a strong advocate for education in his own right. He served as an active alumnus and member of the board of trustees at our shared alma mater, the University of Kentucky. So I am sure he was relieved when, after decades of court proceedings and countless Courier Journal “exposés,” it was revealed the McConnell Center was not being funded by our nation’s foreign adversaries, but instead by run-of-themill Kentucky businesses and families.
David and I also found agreement on First Amendment issues. Under David’s leadership as editor, The Courier Journal won four Pulitzer Prizes and was an ardent defender of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. So I was delighted when David crossed partisan lines to award me with his paper’s Barry Bingham Sr. First Amendment Award, going so far as to call me a “stalwart on the First Amendment.” David deeply appreciated his right to criticize my leadership in the pages of The Courier Journal, and I always appreciated the right to respond, just as forcefully.
Born in Pike County and raised in Louisville, David was a lifelong Kentuckian with a broad-based understanding of the commonwealth few other journalists possess. He could report on our state without falling back on the caricatures and stereotypes that so often infect the national media’s narrative. Though we differed on the issues, I never doubted David’s affection for Kentucky and its people.
Through his long career in Kentucky journalism, David developed into something of an institution himself. His screeds against conservatism may not have stopped our state from becoming deep red, but they certainly served as an important dissenting opinion in our diverse, multifaceted commonwealth.
David brought important leadership and insight to The Courier Journal and his commentary will be missed. I share my deepest condolences with his friends, family and colleagues.