Remembering Bob Ward, rarest of Republican leaders
Connecticut’s political class will strain every sinew to pay proper tribute to Bob Ward, the former legislator, commissioner and state auditor who died last Sunday at 68. We are all in his debt.
Bob served in the legislature from 1984 until he retired in 2006. He served as the House Republican leader for his final 12 years in the legislature. He is the best argument against term limits that Connecticut will see.
Bob won his first term in the House from a district centered in North Branford after two unsuccessful bids. Most people would have given up after that second defeat. Not Bob. He heard the call to serve and was determined voters in the 86th House District would hear it, too.
I served for six years in the House with Bob before he became the caucus leader in 1994. During those years we became friends as we served together, before he was unanimously elected caucus leader in 1994.
The signs of the distinguished tenure that would follow were already emerging. He was an early advocate of reforming the state’s porous ethics laws, supporting restrictions on the revolving door of legislators becoming lobbyists. Bob, unlike many of the Republicans and Democrats who held leadership positions, never sought to turn his public service into a lobbying career. He eschewed the grimy business of making a living from trading connections for favors with winks and nods.
Bob became the House Repub
lican leader at an unusual time. His immediate predecessor had left the legislature after the humiliating revelation that he had connived to change the law to protect himself from a legal client’s negligence claim. Bob was the best elixir for a duped Republican caucus, a living rebuke to what had come before.
Bob possessed an unusual combination of attributes and, rarer still, knew how to deploy them. He was quick-witted and enjoyed a remarkable memory for detail. Some legislators know a little bit about a lot things, others know a lot about a few things. Bob was the rarest of politicians: He often seemed to know everything about everything, which, to the cost of many of us, made him a shrewd poker player. He brought that formidable intellectual presence to public service while also practicing law full time as he and his wife, Anita, raised four children and many dogs, always dogs.
By 2003, Bob’s reputation as a star legislator was secure. Then events, unexpected and uninvited, caused Bob to render his greatest service to the people of Connecticut.
Bob had been a reliable ally of Republican Gov. John G. Rowland but not one of his Waterbury cronies or a member of the ever-expanding circle of favor seekers. He maintained a sensible distance as the infection of corruption spread. Reporting by the Courant and some federal grand jury subpoenas in 2003 revealed that Rowland had been misusing his office for personal gain.
When Bob discovered Rowland had been lying to him in the early and middle stages of the scandal, he unleashed his fury in private. In public, he shed his partisan instincts and batted for Connecticut. I don’t know if revelations of corruption today would cause our leaders to summon the same spirit that the discreditable series of blows to the public trust did nearly two decades ago.
We know this: When Connecticut required a leader who was in a particular position to protect the public from rancor and division, Bob Ward answered the call. He did not waver. Rowland and his diminishing band of frightened loyalists tried to sow discord among Republicans and between Republicans and Democrats. They failed.
In the last 50 years in Connecticut few political events rival the moment Ward and Democratic Speaker of the House Moira Lyons stepped forward together in early 2004 to announce they would form a bipartisan committee of inquiry into the possible impeachment of Rowland.
In most instances of high political drama, Robert M. Ward’s actions would be described as moments of courage. That would diminish him. He required no prompting to do what the moment demanded. Bob followed his instincts, appointing fair-minded colleagues to find evidence, take testimony, and, if they had gotten that far, recommend action. Standing for justice, not the politics of the moment.
The inquiry forced Rowland to resign, The disgraced former governor would plead guilty to criminal charges a few months later. Bob Ward led our state through a perilous hour by being Bob Ward. It is the highest tribute of public service Connecticut can pay to one of its own.