By Stephen Smoot
Several years ago, United States Senator Joe Manchin sat at the head of a table in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. He had come to hear questions and share information from the Region Nine Economic Planning and Development Council.
The large room held a massive U shaped table with each of the many seats filled by stakeholders. Several others stood, including those operating television cameras from the nearby station in Hagerstown, Maryland.
As is the Senator’s wont, he gave each question significant time to answer and discuss. Yet, like all active and successful Members of Congress, his staff had put together a tight schedule.
Standing at the back of the room on this day was his Eastern Panhandle aide Mary Jo Brown. Brown, a retired principal, had all of the height, gravitas, and feistiness of a Lady Margaret Thatcher in her prime. This stood her in good stead when she served for decades as a school principal, and when, in her retirement from that job, she often had to get a reluctant Senator back on the road to his next engagement.
Brown was waving frantically at Manchin from the back of the room, but he remained engrossed in conversation. So Brown strode with purpose to the front of the room until she stood beside the Senator. Then she dropped a stack of folders in front of him and glared as if he was a naughty young man repeatedly sent to her principal’s office.
The Senator looked at her, then looked back at the crowd and smiled warmly. He said “I guess that means it’s time to go!” He then obediently followed his staffer from the room and to the next event.
One can try to tell the story of a political figure by his or her accomplishments, but nothing gets to the heart of a human being like a good and illustrative story. Everything one needs to know about Joe Manchin the human being is contained therein.
Manchin himself stated that successful political figures have the strength and courage to show their true selves. He told CBS News in 2008 that “I just think, you know, when we talk about a politician, I think a person has to be themselves. Let the voters see the real you.”
Manchin entered state politics as an elected official during some of the worst economic times faced by the state. From 1982 to 1986, Manchin served in the West Virginia House of Delegates, then in the State Senate until 1996. Starting in 2001, he served as West Virginia Secretary of State, then ascended to the office of Governor four years later.
Manchin served two terms as governor, then succeeded Carte Goodwin as United States Senator. Goodwin filled in between the death of Robert C. Byrd and after the election of Manchin.
As Governor, Manchin’s greatest achievement foreshadowed the road that he’d follow as Senator. During his term as Governor, rising revenues from severance taxes put the state in a strong financial position. Liberal Democrats saw opportunities to fund more social programs, while conservative Republicans urged him to cut taxes.
Manchin satisfied neither group. Instead, he got the State Legislature to pass a series of acts to strengthen the state’s pension debt.
Four years ago Reason Foundation, one of the most widely-recognized libertarian organizations, published an article entitled “West Virginia Pension Reforms Offer Lessons For States and Cities.” As the article explains, as of Manchin’;s first term as Governor, the Mountain State had only 23 percent of the assets needed to cover its pension debt.
Today West Virginia ranks ninth best in terms of pension debt solvency, with assets covering 89 percent of the debt.
New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and California are the four worst states on the list.
This has put the State in an enviable position ever since, with much larger and wealthier states seeing more trouble. Paying down the bills with a windfall of money, much as a responsible household would, has combined with the pro-business State Legislature’s moves over the past decade to create a robust and expanding state economy on several fronts.
Paying the bills does not produce a visible legacy in the manner of King Herod, but it does set a sturdy foundation for the world of others.
At one point, Manchin stated that he wanted the Mountain State “to stop playing defense and start playing offense,” then “grab the reins of history.” His “offense” may have looked more like a power I team grinding out yardage than a quick strike passing game, but it did put West Virginia on a path different than it had trod since the Great Depression.
As the years pass, the focus on Manchin from journalism will dwindle while that from history will examine him more and more. As a Governor, he worked to build the basis on which the prosperity in subsequent years would rest. As Senator he occupied that time-honored tradition of West Virginia Democrats in that body, standing in the middle of the field, building bridges to get work done.
As a West Virginia political figure, however, Joe Manchin will be part of that pantheon of accomplished individuals that includes Stephen Elkins, Nathan Goff, Henry Gassaway Davis, Arch Moore, Shelley Moore Capito, and several others who took the values of the state and its people and made a significant difference at the state and/or federal level.