CARNAHJAN DREAMED GREAT DREAMS

ST. LOUIS -- This week has been one of the most painful weeks in the history of Missouri. All of us are stunned into a mood of incredibility. We deeply grieve for the three men who perished and for their families.

We have lost a man whose qualities are increasingly rare in public life.

In "King Lear," Shakespeare used the word "scurvy" to describe politicians. Shakespeare did not know Mel Carnahan.

Mel knew that politics and democracy are inextricably linked. He knew that democracy atrophies without the active and vigorous stimulus of competitive politics.

Politics is the art of self-government. Like his father before him, Mel devoted much of his life to that art. He knew that if good people do not study politics, learn it, and practice it, government would be abandoned to those of lesser motives.

Mel Carnahan learned his lessons well. He practiced that art of politics with extraordinary skill. He realized that a successful leader has to exercise patience to bring the diverse opinions and desires of people into some semblance of order so that a consensus could be accepted.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency."

Hear those two words; "practical" and "decency." These two words go to the essence of Mel Carnahan.

Yes, he dreamed great dreams. He dreamed, for example, that the children of Missouri would receive a superior education and proper health care. He knew it was his job to translate dreams into practical realities.

Harry Truman is Missouri's political saint. He also was the politician that Mel Carnahan admired the most. No wonder. There was much of Harry Truman in Mel Carnahan: frank, candid, straightforward, no slick packaging, no phony spin.

Like Harry Truman, Mel very rarely used the pronoun "I." Mel never confused himself with his office. He never succumbed to the arrogance that often accompanies power. He never took unfair advantage. He never allowed the prestige of public office to separate himself from the people he served. He set a standard of integrity that will endure for years to come.

Like Harry Truman, Mel didn't have to preach about "family values." He lived those values and led by example.

Like Harry Truman, Mel will be remembered not only for what he accomplished, but for what he was: a decent, honorable, forthright and quietly courageous man whose life and career were drive by the values he learned here in Missouri.

The great boxer, Jack Dempsey, has these words on his gravestone: "A gentleman and a gentle man." That's how we all will remember Mel Carnahan.

Thomas F. Eagleton is a former U.S. senator from Missouri who was among the speakers at the memorial service for Gov. Mel Carnahan Friday.