It’s no accident that the hallmarks of my dad’s career included such traits as bipartisanship, the courage to lead, civility and a willingness to compromise. All these sprang naturally from his source code as a person, which was his faith. As a religiously observant Jew, my dad believed in God, believed we were all created in God’s image, and therefore, that we were all at the most fundamental level, brothers and sisters — all equal, all deserving of respect, all of infinite value.
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His faith, however, drove not just the substance of his work but also the manner in which he went about things. In the book, he focuses his message on how his belief in God was the touchstone for his efforts at practicing politics with courage, civility and an openness to compromise. He drew on the lessons of scripture for inspiration.
I’ll cite just one of his examples. The account is well known: Abraham argues with God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. First, what courage this took — to challenge the Almighty! For Abraham, it was a matter of principle, and he let his courage lead him. Second, an exchange between a human and God that we can easily imagine becoming heated or worse is instead played out with calmness and mutual respect. Last, Abraham is asking God to compromise! And repeatedly, God is willing to compromise if certain conditions are met which, alas, they are not. Courage, civility, compromise.