About Senator Arlen Specter

When you walk into the Arlen Specter Center at Jefferson University in Philadelphia, there are numerous photos and other memorabilia celebrating Senator Specter’s career, but a small, somewhat innocuous political cartoon, created by the artist Tony Auth, expresses the Senator’s career better than the hundreds of other items that accompany it. In this simple drawing, Specter spans a chasm between two cliffs where on one side, an angry donkey represents the Democratic Party and on the other side, an angry elephant represents the Republicans. Underneath is the caption: “Senator Specter’s Comfort Zone.”

At first glance, the drawing represents the constant pull between the policies offered by both parties that Specter experienced throughout his life. However, on a different level, it represents a man in the middle of events. There are some public servants who go through their careers without causing major controversy or changing or even affecting national and international policy. Specter was not that person. Specter consistently appeared as an individual in the middle of events, and his presence profoundly influenced the outcomes. His New York Times obituary aptly captured this fact, stating, “… the irascible senator from Pennsylvania…was at the center of many of the Senate’s most divisive legal battles.”

His actions may have been regarded as positive or negative, depending on the political bent of his critic, but Specter was always considered passionate. Whether it was his input on the political fallout of presidential scandals (President Clinton’s impeachment and President Reagan’s Iran-Contra debacle), the making of foreign policy (the Mideast and Cuba), the funding of medicine and health (promoting stem cell research), facilitating the economic health of the nation (the Stimulus Bill), investigating corruption while also championing LGBT rights at a very early stage (the Magistrates’ Affair), or passing criminal justice initiatives or investigations (the insanity plea reformation and the Kennedy assassination): Specter had critical and significant impact.

The stories behind these major historical events bring alive the risks taken, the mistakes made, the victories enjoyed and the defeats suffered, not only by Specter, but by the nation. The Specter archives illustrate the life of a man who effected change, whether his actions provoked praise or scorn; what has been left behind are the records of a legacy of someone who left a lasting impact on the nation.

• Evan Laine, Specter Center Faculty Director