In her new book, “The Art of Power,” former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi praises the late Congressman John Murtha – and rightly so.
Murtha – a forceful Washington, D.C., dealmaker who negotiated across party lines with Republican opposition when necessary – brought millions in federal money back to his constituency, including Fayette County. A longtime member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Murtha turned defense dollars into jobs for his constituents while also channeling federal funds to local tourism and historic preservation projects.
Murtha, who grew up in Mt. Pleasant and lived in Johnstown, was widely criticized for lavishing taxpayer money on his hometown residents. In 2008, Esquire magazine named him one of the 10 worst members of Congress, in part because of the $100 million he secured in “earmarked” congressional funds that year.
His political clout was so great that Murtha didn’t seem to mind. His attention was focused on the people who sent him to Washington election after election. When he died in 2010, he was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s history.
Pelosi, who gained ground on her way to becoming speaker thanks to Murtha’s support, makes no mention of any of this. Instead, she focuses on the role he played in fighting the U.S. war in Iraq after 9/11.
Murtha, a retired Marine colonel (reserve), received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam. In Congress, he was a defense hawk, voting for the congressional resolution authorizing the George W. Bush administration to send troops to Iraq to find and destroy the weapons of mass destruction that the country’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, allegedly stockpiled there.
Murtha later regretted the vote. It was clear that Saddam did not possess weapons of mass destruction. By 2005, the United States was bogged down in Iraq, and in blitzkrieg battles with Iraqi insurgents, dozens of American soldiers were wounded and killed. In November 2005, Murtha (as Pelosi reports) told his Democratic colleagues in the House that Bush’s policy in Iraq was “deeply flawed… It is time for a change of direction. We cannot continue on the current course.”
Pelosi writes: “Through his service to national security, (Murtha) gave people confidence in a new path for our military and hope for peace.”
Suddenly, Murtha was catapulted into the national spotlight. The former speaker – Pelosi leaves office in 2023 at age 83 – notes that Murtha “could barely walk through an airport without receiving thanks and applause.”
Martha’s attitude toward the war was not universally accepted. I remember a speech he gave to a graduating class at Seton Hill University in Greensburg around this time. Several of the parents in attendance gave Murtha a dressing down, shifting in their seats and cheering loudly as he spoke.
Pelosi recalls a fundraiser in San Francisco for the yet-to-be-built Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The event was hosted by filmmaker George Lucas and sponsored by the NBA. The event featured an unexpected tribute to Murtha. At the mention of his name, Murtha was applauded in absentia.
Pelosi, who attended the event in her hometown, recalled: “I was very happy because I loved Jack and his wife Joyce – he was my campaign manager when I first ran for Speaker of the House – but more importantly, his courage.
“Jack had led many congressional delegations to our troops, and we often visited our troops when they came home, especially our seriously injured soldiers. I remember one of our visits to Walter Reed Hospital, the U.S. Army hospital. We were about to enter a patient’s room when we were asked to wait a moment. This was not unusual – but on this occasion the soldier wanted time to welcome Jack. As the door opened, Jack saw the young man get up from the bed and salute him while wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey…
“No one visited soldiers in hospitals more often than Jack, to comfort the patients and their families, to witness their recovery, and to understand their problems. Jack encouraged all of us to accompany him. On one of my visits, I was talking to a twenty-year-old soldier, and as he was describing his wounds to me, he said, ‘And, ma’am, there’s nothing going on down there.’
“For him and so many other young men, this is another terrible price of war.”
At the end of “The Art of Power,” Pelosi again turns her attention to Murtha, calling him a “wise” adviser and her “hero” on the Iraq issue.
Considering that Pelosi is perhaps the most impressive and influential Speaker of the House of Representatives of all time, that’s high praise.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown. He can be reached at [email protected].
