Resilience, Integrity, Dignity: Congressman John Sarbanes speaks at the Dukakis Center on the eve of Inauguration Day

“My father was for the little guy.” This claim, worn like a badge, is a core element in the lore surrounding the late Paul Sarbanes, the former US Senator from Maryland.

In an hour-long discussion ostensibly full of stock pledges John Sarbanes, the son, currently Congressman from Maryland, pierced the hackneyed with the sincerity that must run deep in the Sarbanes gene. Rarely has such a thoughtful and articulate public figure addressed a public audience in the 20+ years of the Dukakis Center.

Congressman Sarbanes was on hand to share his impressions of the 2020 US General Election -- in which he was re-elected to serve an eighth term in the US House of Representatives -- and to take stock of this critical moment in American political history. The evening was crowned with a moving tribute to the Congressman’s father, Paul, long a friend and colleague of the our Center’s namesake, Michael Dukakis.

Beginning with another tribute, to Martin Luther King, Congressman Sarbanes proceeded to laud the resilience of the institutions of American democracy and to lay out reasons to be guardedly optimistic, despite the unprecedented drama of the election campaign and post-election transition. Like his father an innate reformer and pragmatist, the Congressmen shared the principles which animate HR 1, the “For the People Act,” which he introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives in January 2019.

When asked to share more intimate reflections on his father’s legacy, Congressman Sarbanes painted a portrait of a man of supreme integrity, who would gladly share credit for a successful idea if such would help get the job done. This man of the people, this champion of the little guy, was possessed of a clear sense of the inherent dignity of his constituents, a great public servant who happily drew his inspiration from his Hellenic roots.

This was the fourth and final online event in a series dedicated to the 2020 US General Election.