Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes, (born August 7, 1950), is an American politician and diplomat from the state of Maryland. He is considered one of the leading blacks in the Republican Party. After a career in the United States Foreign Service, Keyes was appointed Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and then Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations under President Ronald Reagan.
Keyes is also notable for various campaigns for the U.S. Senate and the presidency. Keyes ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination in the 1996 primary season and 2000 primary season. He was the first and only major black Republican presidential primary candidate in the 20th century.
On August 4, 2004, the Illinois Republican Party offered Keyes the nomination as the replacement candidate to run against Barack Obama in the race for the U.S. Senate, replacing Jack Ryan, who withdrew from the race. He formally accepted on August 8.
Keyes is married to Jocelyn Marcel Keyes, an Indian-American, whom he met during his service in Bombay. The couple has three children — Francis, Maya, and Andrew. He is a Roman Catholic.
Education
Keyes was born in New York City, the fifth child of a sergeant in the United States Army and a homemaker. The family traveled frequently, as his father was transferred to domestic installations in Georgia, Maryland, Texas, Virginia and overseas in Italy. After graduation from high school, Keyes attended Cornell University where he criticized local efforts in favor of the civil rights movement and strongly supported the Vietnam War. After receiving death threats because of his political stances, Keyes left Cornell and continued his studies at Harvard University where he completed his bachelor of arts degree in government affairs in 1972. He received his doctoral degree in government affairs in 1979, writing his dissertation on Alexander Hamilton and constitutional theory.
Diplomat
Just a year before completing his doctoral studies, Keyes joined the United States Department of State as a protégé of UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. Keyes viewed Kirkpatrick as a mentor. In 1979, he was assigned to the consulate in Bombay, India, where as a desk officer he met his wife Jocelyn. The following year, Keyes was sent to serve at the embassy in Zimbabwe. He settled in Washington, DC in 1981 as a member of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan reappointed Keyes to the United Nations with the full rank of ambassador. He remained in the United Nations until 1987. That year, Keyes vehemently defended the Reagan policy against the imposition of economic sanctions on South Africa as punishment for apartheid. This was an unpopular position within the African American community, and Keyes was derided by other Black leaders. Keyes resigned in protest over a disagreement in relative United Nations funding. Keyes today remains critical of some UN activities and policies.
U.S. Senate campaigns in Maryland
After resigning from his diplomatic post, Keyes he sought election to the United States Senate representing Maryland in 1988. With only 38 percent of the vote, he lost to incumbent Democrat Paul Sarbanes. In 1991, Keyes briefly served as the interim president of the historically black Alabama A&M University in Huntsville. There Keyes sparked controversy when he ordered university trustees not to speak with journalists.
The following year, he once again campaigned for Senate, losing to Democrat Barbara Mikulski with only 29 percent of the vote. Keyes was criticized when reports came out that he had paid himself a salary from campaign funds of approximately $8,500 each month.
Presidential campaigns
Keyes sought the Republican nomination in the 1996 Presidential election. United States Senate Majority Leader and World War II hero Bob Dole of Kansas won most primaries, caucuses and straw polls and faced Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton.
Keyes again campaigned for the Republican nomination in the in the 2000 primaries. He stayed in the race after the early rounds and was invited to join the two remaining major candidates, John McCain and George W. Bush, in a number of nationally televised debates. Many viewers were more impressed by Keyes than McCain or Bush, and commentators on Fox News Channel and MSNBC went as far as declaring Keyes the winner of the debates. FOX News Channel analyst Dick Morris said, "Bush has no place to go but down. Keyes had an original message and it registered." Keyes' popularity grew in some polls, but with limited name recognition and campaign resources, he constantly trailed McCain until he left the race, and Bush to the race's conclusion. However, Keyes built an increased national profile, especially among supporters of social conservatism and limited government.
During the Iowa caucus, Michael Moore filled a truck with a portable mosh pit of teenagers with speakers blaring music by the band Rage Against the Machine. Moore offered the endorsement of his television show The Awful Truth to any candidate who would leap into the pit. Encouraged by his daughter and despite objections of his Secret Service detail, Keyes leaped into the pit to bodysurf and traded body slams with one of the teens. Keyes was later criticized by candidate Gary Bauer, who mistakenly called the band "The Machine Rages On," during a primary debate in Manchester, New Hampshire for the stunt. Keyes responded that the mosh pit "exemplifies the kind of trust in people that is the heart and soul of the Keyes campaign...and when you trust them, they will in fact hold you up, whether it's in terms of giving help to you when you're falling down or caring for their own children." [1]
Federal election documents and court records showed that Keyes owed $524,169 from his two presidential campaigns, as well as $7,481 in unpaid state income taxes in Maryland. Some charges were dismissed while others were settled in 2004 before accepting an invitation by Illinois to run for office in that state.
Media and advocacy
Keyes has done much and varied work as a media commentator and talk show personality. He hosted a syndicated radio show called America's Wake-Up Call: The Alan Keyes Show from Owings Mills, Maryland. He also launched various web-based organizations — notably Renew America [2] and the Declaration Foundation [3], both headquartered in Washington, DC. His show and websites champion conservative issues and causes including opposition to abortion, affirmative action, and gay rights, and advocate the abolition of the income tax; Keyes also supports the death penalty, gun rights, school vouchers and stricter drug penalties. A devout Roman Catholic, Keyes does not believe in the separation of church and state and favors a view that the founding fathers of the United States intended the laws of the country to be based on principles of religion.
For 23 weeks he hosted a television talk show, Alan Keyes is Making Sense, on the MSNBC cable news channel. It was last broadcast on June 27, 2002.
U.S. Senate campaign in Illinois
On August 1, 2004, the Illinois Republican Party under the leadership of Judy Baar Topinka notified Keyes of the party's interest in his candidacy for the United States Senate. Just days before, nominee Jack Ryan officially filed documents removing himself from the race against Democrat Barack Obama. Ryan's withdrawal was a result of fallout from the contents of a divorce suit made against him by his ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan. Keyes was seen as a viable candidate against Obama, whose poll numbers skyrocketed after a keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Keyes declined to give an answer and opted to consider the invitation with his family before making a decision.
The prospect of a Keyes candidacy was leaked to the press on August 2. Democrats were quick to point out that Keyes placed a mere third place in the 2000 Illinois presidential primary election with nine percent of the vote. In the 1996 Illinois presidential primary election, Keyes placed fourth with four percent of the vote. Some observers contended that some of Keyes' positions could appeal to politically conservative voters in downstate Illinois. The race is considered by most professional forecasters to be a lock for Obama.
GOP summit of August 3
On August 3, the Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party convened a seven-hour summit at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago to interview potential nominees for the race. Over a dozen prospects were represented with the exception of Keyes. Two of the most prominent potential candidates were Kane County businessman Jim Oberweis and White House advisor Andrea Barthwell.
As the meeting adjourned, Topinka told a press conference that "We don't quite have white smoke yet, but we had a very spirited discussion." She announced that two finalists, Keyes and Barthwell, had been chosen. Neither had prior in-state political experience and Keyes was not an Illinois resident. Some Republicans objected strongly to a possible Barthwell candidacy, given a scandal in which she'd been acused of having "engaged in lewd and abusive behavior" against an employee. [4].
GOP summit of August 4
On the morning of August 4, talk radio stations were flooded by calls about the choices. Some expressed frustration that the second place victor in the March primary election, Jim Oberweis, did not receive the nomination; many were unsatisfied with Keyes and Barthwell. Others welcomed the decision and expressed enthusiasm for the candidates. A second meeting was scheduled at the Union League Club for August 4 at the request of Illinois party leaders interested in Keyes' possible nomination. Keyes flew from his Maryland home to Chicago to meet with the Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party. He was greeted at the club by crowds chanting his name and raising signs that read, "Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage." Keyes told the press, "Well, I have come in in response to, I think, a very strong effort on the part of the leadership in the state of Illinois to take advantage of what is a priceless opportunity, a priceless opportunity for the state and for the country that arises from the fact that the Democrats have nominated somebody who is a radical idealogue but who is an articulate spokesman for the positions that have been characteristic of the Democratic platform." [5]
In March 2000, Keyes had denounced Hillary Clinton for campaigning for a United States Senate seat from New York where she had only recently established residence, "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn't imitate it." However, when asked about the discomfort of some Republicans of his lacking state residency Keyes noted that he still opposed such a move but explained that the party had asked him to run under unusual circumstances created by the original nominee's withdrawal, "I do not take it for granted that it's a good idea to parachute into a state and go into a Senate race, so I think it has to be something where I would be convinced that that's not only consonant with federalism as I understand it, but that it's in the best interest of the state and of the nation and that's what it would have to be." Pundit Robert Novak defended Keyes against allegations of carpetbagging on the television show Crossfire on August 9, 2003 by asserting that Hillary Clinton was merely an opportunist whereas Keyes is a principled conservative.
Nomination
Keyes spoke to the Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party for over ninety minutes behind closed doors. Upon the conclusion of the August 4 summit, they offered Keyes the nomination as their candidate against Barack Obama. Keyes decided to announce whether he would accept the nomination on August 8 after consulting with his family. Keyes said, "I'm deeply honored, of course, and also deeply challenged by the offer that they have made that I should be the nominee of the Republican Party for the Senate of the United States. I also believe that the deep and serious and intense committed deliberations that have been made by the leadership in this party deserve from me also a deep and serious and committed deliberation about what ought to be my response." [6] Speaking about the state Democrats and his possible entrance into the race Keyes said, "I think they have thrown down a gauntlet of national challenge to the Republican Party of the state of Illinois."
On August 8, after worship services, discussions and a reception with party leaders, Keyes formally accepted the nomination among thousands of supporters at a banquet hall, crowds spilling into the parking lot, in Arlington Heights. Keyes entered the hall to the sounds of the Chicago Bulls theme, and promised to wage "a battle like this nation has never seen."
Keyes has an uphill battle, as Obama has broad popularity across the state and has been campaigning for several months in areas generally regarded as the Republican base. Keyes was also heavily criticized for running for Senate in Illinois, a state where he established legal residency in only after he was nominated. The Chicago Tribune sarcastically greeted him in an editorial, saying that "Mr. Keyes may have noticed a large body of water as he flew into O'Hare. That is called Lake Michigan." [7]
Alan Lee Keyes, (born August 7, 1950), is an American politician and diplomat from the state of Maryland. He is considered one of the leading blacks in the Republican Party. After a career in the United States Foreign Service, Keyes was appointed Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and then Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations under President Ronald Reagan.
Keyes is also notable for various campaigns for the U.S. Senate and the presidency. Keyes ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination in the 1996 primary season and 2000 primary season. He was the first and only major black Republican presidential primary candidate in the 20th century.
On August 4, 2004, the Illinois Republican Party offered Keyes the nomination as the replacement candidate to run against Barack Obama in the race for the U.S. Senate, replacing Jack Ryan, who withdrew from the race. He formally accepted on August 8.
Keyes is married to Jocelyn Marcel Keyes, an Indian-American, whom he met during his service in Bombay. The couple has three children — Francis, Maya, and Andrew. He is a Roman Catholic.
Education
Keyes was born in New York City, the fifth child of a sergeant in the United States Army and a homemaker. The family traveled frequently, as his father was transferred to domestic installations in Georgia, Maryland, Texas, Virginia and overseas in Italy. After graduation from high school, Keyes attended Cornell University where he criticized local efforts in favor of the civil rights movement and strongly supported the Vietnam War. After receiving death threats because of his political stances, Keyes left Cornell and continued his studies at Harvard University where he completed his bachelor of arts degree in government affairs in 1972. He received his doctoral degree in government affairs in 1979, writing his dissertation on Alexander Hamilton and constitutional theory.
Diplomat
Just a year before completing his doctoral studies, Keyes joined the United States Department of State as a protégé of UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. Keyes viewed Kirkpatrick as a mentor. In 1979, he was assigned to the consulate in Bombay, India, where as a desk officer he met his wife Jocelyn. The following year, Keyes was sent to serve at the embassy in Zimbabwe. He settled in Washington, DC in 1981 as a member of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan reappointed Keyes to the United Nations with the full rank of ambassador. He remained in the United Nations until 1987. That year, Keyes vehemently defended the Reagan policy against the imposition of economic sanctions on South Africa as punishment for apartheid. This was an unpopular position within the African American community, and Keyes was derided by other Black leaders. Keyes resigned in protest over a disagreement in relative United Nations funding. Keyes today remains critical of some UN activities and policies.
U.S. Senate campaigns in Maryland
After resigning from his diplomatic post, Keyes he sought election to the United States Senate representing Maryland in 1988. With only 38 percent of the vote, he lost to incumbent Democrat Paul Sarbanes. In 1991, Keyes briefly served as the interim president of the historically black Alabama A&M University in Huntsville. There Keyes sparked controversy when he ordered university trustees not to speak with journalists.
The following year, he once again campaigned for Senate, losing to Democrat Barbara Mikulski with only 29 percent of the vote. Keyes was criticized when reports came out that he had paid himself a salary from campaign funds of approximately $8,500 each month.
Presidential campaigns
Keyes sought the Republican nomination in the 1996 Presidential election. United States Senate Majority Leader and World War II hero Bob Dole of Kansas won most primaries, caucuses and straw polls and faced Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton.
Keyes again campaigned for the Republican nomination in the in the 2000 primaries. He stayed in the race after the early rounds and was invited to join the two remaining major candidates, John McCain and George W. Bush, in a number of nationally televised debates. Many viewers were more impressed by Keyes than McCain or Bush, and commentators on Fox News Channel and MSNBC went as far as declaring Keyes the winner of the debates. FOX News Channel analyst Dick Morris said, "Bush has no place to go but down. Keyes had an original message and it registered." Keyes' popularity grew in some polls, but with limited name recognition and campaign resources, he constantly trailed McCain until he left the race, and Bush to the race's conclusion. However, Keyes built an increased national profile, especially among supporters of social conservatism and limited government.
During the Iowa caucus, Michael Moore filled a truck with a portable mosh pit of teenagers with speakers blaring music by the band Rage Against the Machine. Moore offered the endorsement of his television show The Awful Truth to any candidate who would leap into the pit. Encouraged by his daughter and despite objections of his Secret Service detail, Keyes leaped into the pit to bodysurf and traded body slams with one of the teens. Keyes was later criticized by candidate Gary Bauer, who mistakenly called the band "The Machine Rages On," during a primary debate in Manchester, New Hampshire for the stunt. Keyes responded that the mosh pit "exemplifies the kind of trust in people that is the heart and soul of the Keyes campaign...and when you trust them, they will in fact hold you up, whether it's in terms of giving help to you when you're falling down or caring for their own children." [8]
Federal election documents and court records showed that Keyes owed $524,169 from his two presidential campaigns, as well as $7,481 in unpaid state income taxes in Maryland. Some charges were dismissed while others were settled in 2004 before accepting an invitation by Illinois to run for office in that state.
Media and advocacy
Keyes has done much and varied work as a media commentator and talk show personality. He hosted a syndicated radio show called America's Wake-Up Call: The Alan Keyes Show from Owings Mills, Maryland. He also launched various web-based organizations — notably Renew America [9] and the Declaration Foundation [10], both headquartered in Washington, DC. His show and websites champion conservative issues and causes including opposition to abortion, affirmative action, and gay rights, and advocate the abolition of the income tax; Keyes also supports the death penalty, gun rights, school vouchers and stricter drug penalties. A devout Roman Catholic, Keyes does not believe in the separation of church and state and favors a view that the founding fathers of the United States intended the laws of the country to be based on principles of religion.
For 23 weeks he hosted a television talk show, Alan Keyes is Making Sense, on the MSNBC cable news channel. It was last broadcast on June 27, 2002.
U.S. Senate campaign in Illinois
On August 1, 2004, the Illinois Republican Party under the leadership of Judy Baar Topinka notified Keyes of the party's interest in his candidacy for the United States Senate. Just days before, nominee Jack Ryan officially filed documents removing himself from the race against Democrat Barack Obama. Ryan's withdrawal was a result of fallout from the contents of a divorce suit made against him by his ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan. Keyes was seen as a viable candidate against Obama, whose poll numbers skyrocketed after a keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Keyes declined to give an answer and opted to consider the invitation with his family before making a decision.
The prospect of a Keyes candidacy was leaked to the press on August 2. Democrats were quick to point out that Keyes placed a mere third place in the 2000 Illinois presidential primary election with nine percent of the vote. In the 1996 Illinois presidential primary election, Keyes placed fourth with four percent of the vote. Some observers contended that some of Keyes' positions could appeal to politically conservative voters in downstate Illinois. The race is considered by most professional forecasters to be a lock for Obama.
GOP summit of August 3
On August 3, the Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party convened a seven-hour summit at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago to interview potential nominees for the race. Over a dozen prospects were represented with the exception of Keyes. Two of the most prominent potential candidates were Kane County businessman Jim Oberweis and White House advisor Andrea Barthwell.
As the meeting adjourned, Topinka told a press conference that "We don't quite have white smoke yet, but we had a very spirited discussion." She announced that two finalists, Keyes and Barthwell, had been chosen. Neither had prior in-state political experience and Keyes was not an Illinois resident. Some Republicans objected strongly to a possible Barthwell candidacy, given a scandal in which she'd been acused of having "engaged in lewd and abusive behavior" against an employee. [11].
GOP summit of August 4
On the morning of August 4, talk radio stations were flooded by calls about the choices. Some expressed frustration that the second place victor in the March primary election, Jim Oberweis, did not receive the nomination; many were unsatisfied with Keyes and Barthwell. Others welcomed the decision and expressed enthusiasm for the candidates. A second meeting was scheduled at the Union League Club for August 4 at the request of Illinois party leaders interested in Keyes' possible nomination. Keyes flew from his Maryland home to Chicago to meet with the Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party. He was greeted at the club by crowds chanting his name and raising signs that read, "Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage." Keyes told the press, "Well, I have come in in response to, I think, a very strong effort on the part of the leadership in the state of Illinois to take advantage of what is a priceless opportunity, a priceless opportunity for the state and for the country that arises from the fact that the Democrats have nominated somebody who is a radical idealogue but who is an articulate spokesman for the positions that have been characteristic of the Democratic platform." [12]
In March 2000, Keyes had denounced Hillary Clinton for campaigning for a United States Senate seat from New York where she had only recently established residence, "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn't imitate it." However, when asked about the discomfort of some Republicans of his lacking state residency Keyes noted that he still opposed such a move but explained that the party had asked him to run under unusual circumstances created by the original nominee's withdrawal, "I do not take it for granted that it's a good idea to parachute into a state and go into a Senate race, so I think it has to be something where I would be convinced that that's not only consonant with federalism as I understand it, but that it's in the best interest of the state and of the nation and that's what it would have to be." Pundit Robert Novak defended Keyes against allegations of carpetbagging on the television show Crossfire on August 9, 2003 by asserting that Hillary Clinton was merely an opportunist whereas Keyes is a principled conservative.
Nomination
Keyes spoke to the Central Committee of the Illinois Republican Party for over ninety minutes behind closed doors. Upon the conclusion of the August 4 summit, they offered Keyes the nomination as their candidate against Barack Obama. Keyes decided to announce whether he would accept the nomination on August 8 after consulting with his family. Keyes said, "I'm deeply honored, of course, and also deeply challenged by the offer that they have made that I should be the nominee of the Republican Party for the Senate of the United States. I also believe that the deep and serious and intense committed deliberations that have been made by the leadership in this party deserve from me also a deep and serious and committed deliberation about what ought to be my response." [13] Speaking about the state Democrats and his possible entrance into the race Keyes said, "I think they have thrown down a gauntlet of national challenge to the Republican Party of the state of Illinois."
On August 8, after worship services, discussions and a reception with party leaders, Keyes formally accepted the nomination among thousands of supporters at a banquet hall, crowds spilling into the parking lot, in Arlington Heights. Keyes entered the hall to the sounds of the Chicago Bulls theme, and promised to wage "a battle like this nation has never seen."
Keyes has an uphill battle, as Obama has broad popularity across the state and has been campaigning for several months in areas generally regarded as the Republican base. Keyes was also heavily criticized for running for Senate in Illinois, a state where he established legal residency in only after he was nominated. The Chicago Tribune sarcastically greeted him in an editorial, saying that "Mr. Keyes may have noticed a large body of water as he flew into O'Hare. That is called Lake Michigan." [14]
Campaign
After receiving the nomination, the Keyes family moved into a townhouse in the south Chicago suburb of Calumet City. Keyes immediately began to build his campaign, taking over the downtown Chicago North Clinton Avenue office of the Jack Ryan organization.
During the first two weeks of the campaign, Keyes scheduled major national and local media interviews. His stances on several issues attracted widespread national media attention, in particular when he said that the 17th Constitutional Amendment, providing for the direct election of United States Senators, unfairly diminished the power of state legislatures.
Keyes was also adamant in his characterization of abortion as a "genocide" of black Americans, citing statistics alluding to a decline in the black population of the United States across generations as a result of abortion. He also compared doctors who performed abortions and women who received them to terrorists of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and referred to Obama's stance on abortion to be "the slaveholder's position." [15]
During the 2004 Republican National Convention, Keyes gave a radio interview, where he said that those who practice gay sex are guilty of "selfish hedonism." When asked if that description included Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, Keyes said: "Of course, she is. That goes by definition. Of course, she is." Keyes’s remarks caused a powerful backlash even within the Republican Party, drawing sharp criticism from Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and others.
In an interview at his campaign headquarters in Chicago after the convention, Keyes also claimed that Obama was a "hard-line, academic, Marxist socialist" who "voted for infanticide." This is because Obama voted for an illinois legislation as state senator that allows a doctor to allow a child to slowly die after a failed abortion that leads to the child surviving an abortion. In other words the legislation legalizes the homicidal killing of a baby that escapes the abortion procedure due to the doctor's errors. Keyes believes that this support for child homicide of a live born healthy baby puts Obama to the extreme left of the democratic party and even left of those who support partial birth abortion. Keyes found this objectionable because studies after studies show that 75% of American are against partial birth abortion. He is most certain that 99% of Americans would be against the homicidal killing of a live born baby which is what Obama supported with his votes in the Illinois state legislature. Unfortunately, it has been well documented that Obama's sanctioning of child homicide has led to the killing of live born babies in some Chicago hospitals.
Keyes also publicly stated that he supports machine gun ownership.
Further reading
- Masters of the Dream: The Strength and Betrayal of Black America by Alan Keyes, William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1994.
- Our Character, Our Future by Alan Keyes, Zondervan, 1996.
- While I Was Waiting at Gate 18 by Alan Keyes, W Publishing Group, 2000.
External links
- Christ-Centered Mall Biography of Alan Keyes
- Renew America Archives of Alan Keyes
- Alan Keyes Campaign Website
- Alan Keyes Campaign Weblog
- Barack Obama Campaign Website
Further reading
- Masters of the Dream: The Strength and Betrayal of Black America by Alan Keyes, William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1994.
- Our Character, Our Future by Alan Keyes, Zondervan, 1996.
- While I Was Waiting at Gate 18 by Alan Keyes, W Publishing Group, 2000.