By Lee Hamilton A dozen years ago, the preface to a report on federal election reform began with these words: “Polls indicate that many Americans lack confidence in the electoral system, but the political parties are so divided that serious […]
Tag: Lee Hamilton
Op - Ed
Nine presidents
By Lee Hamilton One reason I consider myself fortunate to have led a life in politics is that, over time, I’ve had a chance to work with nine presidents. From Lyndon Johnson through Barack Obama, I’ve talked policy, politics and, […]
Op - Ed, Opinion
Encourage good media
By Lee Hamilton I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to journalism, I’m a traditionalist. Old-fashioned, even. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that even while confidence in the media drops to new lows and Time […]
Op - Ed, Opinion
Why we need to scrap the debt ceiling
By Lee Hamilton Back when I was in Congress, I got a call from a constituent one day. I’d recently voted to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, and the man was more than irate. “Don’t you understand that we’ve got […]
Op - Ed, Opinion
Talking to the other side
By Lee H. Hamilton I’ve had a number of conversations recently that convince me our country is divided into two political camps separated by a deep and uncomfortably wide gap. No, I’m not talking about liberals and conservatives, or pro- […]
Op - Ed, Opinion
First 100 days: A president struggling to get on track
By Lee H. Hamilton I have significant differences with Donald Trump’s political stances, but I want him to enjoy a successful presidency. It’s good for neither the country nor the world when a U.S. president struggles or fails. Yet I […]
Op - Ed, Opinion
We need to safeguard the “public” in public office
By Lee Hamilton For the last few years, I’ve been keeping a file of clippings about the erosion of transparency and candor in government. I’m sorry to report that it’s getting rather full. This is not a good thing. Public […]
Op - Ed, Opinion
The media’s responsibility to our democracy
By Lee H. Hamilton Politicians spend a good bit of their time complaining about the media. But why should they have all the fun? I’m going to join in, though I tend to get upset about different things than most […]
Opinion
What does Congress need? Your attention!
By Lee H. Hamilton Now that the conventions are over, I know that all eyes are on the fall presidential campaign. But I’m going to ask you to shift your focus a bit, to Congress. Don’t do it as a […]
Op - Ed
Those who know Congress best are shaking their heads
By Lee H. Hamilton I had the good fortune last week to spend some time in Washington, D.C., with about a dozen former members of Congress. As you’d expect, we got to talking about the current Congress. Very quickly it […]