Losing Charles Krauthammer, a man of principle

In the fall of 1972, a 22-year-old man with a promising medical career and bold future aspirations sank to the bottom of a swimming pool, unable to move. A diving accident had left him paralyzed from the neck down just moments before, but the young Charles Krauthammer remained calm and composed.

“There was no panic,” Krauthammer said in 2013, recounting the near-death experience. “There was no great emotion. I didn’t see a light. My life had not flashed before me. You sort of get to a place where you’re ready.”

And so he was on June 8 when he announced that his doctors had informed him that he had only a few weeks to live, the result of an aggressive, rapidly spreading cancer. “This is the final verdict,” he wrote. “My fight is over.” He died on Thursday.

It is a grievous loss. Throughout his life, Krauthammer’s calm reason and collected thought never failed him. He went on to finish medical school after his accident and soon after entered the turbulent world of commentary, establishing himself as a pillar of principled thought and an advocate for sound truth and right reason.

Krauthammer, who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1987, was an elegant writer whose work reflected a beautiful mind: austere, resolute, precise and free of hypocrisy. He was a man of deep conviction, clinging to the principles he believed brought greatness to America. But regarding complex moral issues, Krauthammer gently reminded his audience that there are some things mankind simply does not have the answers to, and that these questions require great humility.

And in divisive, polarizing times such as these, Krauthammer’s example is more important than ever. Wary of political extremes from a young age, Krauthammer said he “detested the extreme left and extreme right and found myself somewhere in the middle.” And so he remained intellectually independent. Though he started out as a centrist Democrat, Krauthammer found himself rooted in a particular branch of conservatism — one that reveres principles rather than partisanship.

Political tribalism is destroying civil discourse and tearing apart our nation. Krauthammer knew that and used his words to cross the divide by pointing to our common humanity, so often masked behind the pettiness and pride that defines politics.

Krauthammer was a man of quiet courage, who, despite his hardships, did not let them define him. He went on to describe his fateful accident as his “one bad break,” saying that overall, “I’ve been dealt a pretty good hand.” He used that hand to make an impact in any way it allowed. And what an impact it has been.

“I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking,” Krauthammer wrote in his last column. “I am grateful to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this extraordinary nation’s destiny. I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life — full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.”

— Los Angeles Daily News, Digital

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