Remembering Senator J.J. Exon
Jun 11, 12:11 PM CST
We’re currently creating a section within the new nebraskademocrats.org that has all our archives of press releases and media statements. This statment will be located in our press releases section sometime next week.
Nebraska Democrats Mourn the Passing of Senator J.J. Exon
LINCOLN, NE—Nebraska Democratic Party Chairman Steve Achelpohl released the following statement:
“With the passing of former Governor and Senator J.J. Exon, the Nebraska Democratic Party sends our deepest condolences to the Exon family and friends. Senator Exon has left us, but his spirit and dream of bringing “the good life” to all Nebraskans lives forever.
“Senator Exon is the father of our modern Nebraska Democratic Party, and we pledge to honor his legacy by fighting on behalf of Nebraska’s working families to ensure tomorrow is always better than today.
‘Until his final breath, Senator Exon continued to support Nebraska Democrats in many capacities, and even joined us in Boston as a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. His strong will and desire for a strong State Party will never be forgotten. It shall be our duty to live up to his examples of leadership, and to continue carrying on his vision of making Nebraska ‘the good life’ for future generations. We will miss him dearly.”
Please post any memories, experiences, or personal stories about the father of the modern Nebraska Democratic Party. Thank you.
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Jim Exon Dies at 83 (June 11)
Lincoln
Updated: 7:23 PM Jun 11, 2005
Risa Avila
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“Nebraska is a little less today than it was yesterday,” says Nebraska Democratic National Committee chair, Vince Powers.
Nebraska political icon, Jim Exon, died Friday night in a Lincoln hospital at the age of 83 due to natural causes.
“He created the Nebraska Democratic party that we know today,” says Powers.
Exon was born in South Dakota and moved to Nebraska to attend the University of Omaha. As a World War II veteran, Exon recognized the importance of America’s military.
“I worked for him in his administration, worked with him on so many occasions and came to not only respect him but truly like him as a person and a public servant,” says Senator Ben Nelson.
Senator Exon began his political career as a precinct worker and was the State Democratic Party Chairman when he was elected as governor in 1970, serving two terms. Exon served as a Nebraska senator for 18 years.
“Governor and Senator, Jim Exon was a tremendous individual, and outstanding political figure in our state, he was a great competitor, we all have great respect for him,” says Governor Dave Heineman.
Senator Chuck Hagel remembers working with Senator Exon, “I always appreciated the opportunities I had to visit with Senator Exon on many issues. We didn’t always agree. However, I had the highest regard for Senator Exon personally and respected his deep and wide government experience serving the people of Nebraska. He will be missed by the Nebraskans he served so well and loved so much.”
Exon was noted by many as being very down to earth, but I think he is a particularly strong television candidate.
Powers remembers interacting with Senator Exon last year at the National Democratic Convention in Boston, “He was sitting there next to me and we were talking and someone found out that Jim Exon, former governor and former United States senator was in the cheap seats with us and came up to him and said ‘Senator, we have a suite you can sit in and there’s food and drink and what not’ and the senator looked up and said ‘no I’m just fine right here’.”
Not a surprise from someone who was always comfortable with the people.
— al Jun 11, 06:43 PM CST #
June 12, 2005
Exon was a ‘consummate tactician’
BY HENRY J. CORDES, ROBYNN TYSVER AND JOE BRENNAN
During a meeting just over a week ago at a Lincoln care facility, Exon was peppering W. Don Nelson, one of his former aides now working for U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, about Gov. Dave Heineman and Rep. Tom Osborne both being in the governor’s race.
“And it wasn’t just a perfunctory conversation,” Nelson said. “It was one of him wanting to talk about specifics.”
Political giant. Influential governor and senator. Family man.
That’s how Nebraskans were remembering Jim Exon on Saturday, a day after his death at age 83.
Exon’s funeral will be Wednesday at the State Capitol. His body will lie in state starting Tuesday afternoon in the Capitol Rotunda. His funeral will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Rotunda. Wadlow-Rozanek Funeral Home, 5200 “R” St., is handling funeral arrangements and can be reached at 402-467-5200.
Much has been said of Exon’s role in revitalizing the Nebraska Democratic Party, helping the minority party compete – and even thrive – in a Republican majority state.
Perhaps it was summed up best by Bob Kerrey, the man whom Exon helped elect governor and later prodded into running for Senate.
“I don’t think there is a modern Democratic Party in Nebraska without Jim Exon,” Kerrey said. “He is to the Democratic Party in Nebraska what Jimmy Stewart was to that town in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’”
Friends say he was able to do it because he was the “consummate tactician” and had a knack for knowing what Nebraskans thought.
“Everyone joked about his big ears, but that was something of a humorous distraction,” said Nelson, the former aide. “He may be one of the most careful listeners Nebraska has ever produced.”
But Exon was more than just a mere political figure.
As governor, he staked out serious positions in battles with the Legislature while helping expand state services and bring them into the modern era.
And in the U.S. Senate, he was viewed as a moderate who could work as an “honest broker” between the two parties.
“He was kind of a go-to person to deal with on issues on both sides of the aisle,” said Bill Hoppner, who served as Exon’s chief of staff in his first four years in the Senate.
To Candace Wolf of Lincoln, he was none of those things. She just called him Dad. It’s as a family man that her father would most like to be remembered, she said.
Exon also is survived by his longtime wife, Pat, of Lincoln; son, Steve, of Bellevue and daughter Pamela Bricker of Greeley, Colo.; and 15 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Wolf was only 10 when Exon was elected governor. Her parents shielded her from the public eye and the political wars so she would have a normal childhood.
“My Dad was the ultimate protector,” she recalled. “The minute he would walk in the door of the mansion, he was just Dad.”
In his last Senate term, he came home every weekend to see Pat, who had stayed behind in Lincoln, and the grandchildren.
And recently, while Exon battled cancer, Pat fought her own battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Exon visited the state’s former first lady every day at a care facility, taking her ice cream.
Said Wolf: “They had a love affair we could all wish to have – 61 years.”
— vincepowers Jun 12, 02:48 PM CST #
— vincepowers Jun 12, 02:49 PM CST #
— Christopher T Nowicki Jun 12, 10:47 PM CST #
— Scott Gregory Jun 17, 12:00 PM CST #