The Memorial Service for Governor William Winter and First Lady Elise Winter, this spring, was a reminder why one attends celebrations of life. One sees individuals who one has not seen in eons. Family, friends, and acquaintances coalesce as if time stood still.
An aspect of Governor Winter’s life that went unacknowledged — central to his story — was that his father, Aylmer Winter, served in the Legislature, from Grenada County. Governor Winter regularly visited the State Capitol — where his father worked — as a boy. It was not the institutional history that Governor Winter possessed from the time that he was first elected as a State Legislator, — while a law student, at age 24 in 1947 — which has been lost but that comprising almost one hundred years; nearly half of Mississippi’s two hundred and five year existence as a State.
I most lament not Governor Winter’s passing — although I miss him — but his collegiality: Political well-being inheres in people converging to further the commonwealth rather than blood sport as if Capulets and Montagues — “and never the twain shall meet”.
Stories shared at the Memorial Service underscore that the venomous hostility observed in public life today — treated as commendable behavior that people should fund and further, as curious as the concept seems — is unnecessary.
Governor Haley Barbour recounted a definitional vignette: The two men were on a flight to Memphis together, in 1979, during which William Winter spoke with Barbour, seeking his opinion about whether a third campaign for Governor was worth pursuing. Barbour encouraged Winter to run, expressing the sentiment that, if a Democrat were to prevail — as occurred without exception until 1991, there was no one that Barbour would prefer sitting in the Governor’s Office than William Winter.
Comity rarely exists among Democrats and Republicans today. Perish the thought that one should protect the public interest by promoting the most qualified individual to hold elected office. Members of “warring factions” crave the candidacy of the easiest opponent to defeat — the common interest and best trajectory for the polity being of scant consideration.
A moving tribute, composed of video clips, was assembled by my cousin David Crews, who was Governor Winter’s Press Secretary. David declared that “It was tough to be a moderate in the Sixties” (although immoderation is undervalued amidst the polarized environment in which we live). Senator Thad Cochran commented that Governor Winter stressed that “We need to put this behind us” — this being the vituperative divides which have hobbled Mississippi, impeding an ability to forge a prosperous future. JoAnne Prichard Morris mentioned that, in pursuit of prosperity, Governor Winter wanted to present the “best possible face of Mississippi”.
Former President Bill Clinton stated that the three priorities of Governor Winter, while attempting to optimize outcomes, were improving public schools, creating jobs, and supporting Civil Rights; recognizing that retarding classes of people lowers median standards — the apt adage being that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”.
Clinton noted that Governor Winter was highly intelligent, highly motivated, and openly ambitious. Governor Winter’s attributes fostered a formidable force, although no one would suggest that he had a mean bone in his body. Governor Winter was sweet-natured, always a gentleman — compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others, essential elements of leadership.
A malignant meanness is frequently found in the Mississippi mindset — people’s hieing to lynchings and public executions cannot be explained otherwise. Governor Winter will remain the most important individual in Mississippi History as far as the eye can see because he created a persona, an example, that exploitation — cold and cruel callousness — is dispensable.
Jay Wiener is a Northsider
