In memoriam: Rep. Tom Lantos
Posted: Monday, February 11, 2008 6:19 PM by Cathy Finkler
Scott Fitzgerald said there are no "second acts in American life."
In the case of Tom Lantos, the second act of his life was that of a member of the U.S. Congress. An expert on foreign policy and a fighter for human rights everywhere, as well as a gentleman with a distinguished European accent, he was one of the intellectuals in what members of congress fondly call "the people's house."
I remember having lunch with Tom at the Library of Congress one quiet Friday when the House was out of session. Tom liked visiting over there; I think he liked the academic environment of the Library. He also had no airs about wanting to eat at some fancy Washington restaurant. A man with big mind and a world of experience, tastes and curiosities, he lived modestly and had no need for the company of those with greater wealth.
Tom once told me how he managed to both live on two coasts; he was a Congressman from Northern California and had not become caught up in the wealth of those who find their way into the world of Washington and the U.S. Congress. "Two reasons, he said: I survived the Holocaust and have a wife, Annette, who doesn't mind living like a grad student."
A Hungarian Jew, Tom escaped capture by the Nazis not once but twice. He was saved by the courageous intervention of the legendary Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands from the death camps.
Tom came to America, gained his education, worked in business and for Sen. Joe Biden, won election to the Congress and was the only survivor of the Holocaust to do so.
He had a wonderful heart and was a majestic American. When he was asked to react to the opening of the Berlin Wall, he didn't miss a step. He said he first wanted to thank all those courageous men who made the event possible. Those brave soldiers who had fought in World War II, those Americans and British and Canadians who had stormed Normandy, fought their way up Italy and died in bombing raids over Germany herself.
He spoke of Harry Truman, who had held the line against communist expansion in Europe, and of Dwight Eisenhower, who not only led the fight against Nazi Germany but secured the peace in the decade afterward. He said it was a final tribute to the brave American and Allied soldiers who fought to bring down Hitler. Finally, he said, the liberation of Europe, for which they fought and so many died, had been won.
This morning at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and battler for human rights, died, the last scene in one of the great second acts in American history. Watch video.
