Lee Hamilton '52 Looks Back and Ahead in Year-End Column

December 31, 2017

In a year-end newspaper column, veteran statesman and 1952 DePauw University graduate Lee Hamilton writes, "This was an interesting year that’s just passed, wasn’t it? And here’s the thing: I suspect 2018 will be just as intriguing."

A Democrat who served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Hamilton points to a strong economy, which he says may face challenges from rising interest rates and other factors in the new year. 

Let’s start with some good news. The economy had a good year in 2017, seeing overall growth, subdued inflation, progress on wages, and even some signs that economic growth is reaching the poor.  "Income inequality -- a drag on the economy and a strain on our social structure -- is accelerating. Equally worrisome is lackluster growth in productivity. And while the Trump Administration pursued an active deregulatory course in 2017, it will slow in 2018, because one key statutory authority undergirding those decisions has expired."

The nation continues to grow its debt, Hamilton notes, adding, "There has been no sign of a letup in political polarization; indeed, if anything, it’s been exacerbated over the past year, with conservatives moving to the right and Democrats becoming more left of center on issues like immigration, health care, welfare, and race. The two parties will continue to be highly polarized. It used to be that both the Republicans and the Democrats held a mix of liberal and conservative views. That has changed. The wings are coming to define what is 'mainstream' in both parties."

Hamilton also sees cultural divisions widening and America's relationships with key allies, especially in Europe, eroding.  "The dominant foreign policy issue -- absent a crisis -- will be our relationship with China. While I think it’s premature to believe that China will inevitably overtake the U.S. as the world’s leading power, its rise is a key historical phenomenon that will continue to play out in 2018. North Korea will remain the principal 'hot spot'."

Hamilton believes that "voters are tired of polarizing politicians, which offers us a chance to look for leaders with consensus-building skills, and to develop those skills ourselves, in all sorts of groups and organizations." He's also hopeful that "there’s real interest in preserving a sense of opportunity for all Americans, a goal that is deeply ingrained in our country."

He concludes, "And for all the stresses and strains of the past year -- and the upcoming one -- I believe people will respond to leaders in both public and private life who focus on what’s working well in the country, who avoid war, who emphasize common ground, and who are clearly devoted to the common good. Let’s hope 2018 proves me right."

You'll find the complete column at the website of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

A history major and basketball standout at DePauw, Lee H. Hamilton was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. He was inducted into the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame and has also received the Churchill Award for Statesmanship, the Eisenhower Medal for exceptional leadership, the Distinguished Service Award from the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute Freedom From Fear Award, among many other honors. He's also a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and DePauw's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Hamilton currently serves as a senior advisor to the Indiana University Center on Representative Government, is a Distinguished Scholar in IU's School of Global and International Studies, and is a professor of practice at IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

The New York Times' David Brooks opined of Hamilton, "The country is hungering for leaders like him: open-minded, unassuming centrists who are interested in government more than politics."

Congressman Hamilton has been a frequent visitor to his alma mater over the years.  He delivered an Ubben Lecture on March 15, 2011 as well as his alma mater's commencement addresses in 1971 and 1998.

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