APRIL 1 • 2021 | 13

Carl Levin’s new memoir 
chronicles his 36-year 
Senate career.

JACK LESSENBERRY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Q & A 

with Sen. Levin

JACK LESSENBERRY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I talked with Sen. Levin at length 
when his book was published. Here 
are highlights of our conversation.

Did being Jewish influence how 
you saw your role?
It surely did. I think the values in 
Judaism are important — the values 
of being charitable, of thinking of 
others, the important Jewish values 
which I learned early in life: To take 
care of the poor, of each other — to 
watch out for each other and treat 
others the way we want to be treat-
ed. And thinking about the legacy 
of generations of antisemitism has 
made me very sensitive to others 
who are victims of prejudice and 
discrimination. 

There’s long been a belief that 
Congress is broken, but peo-
ple now appear to believe that 
more than ever.
I agree. There is increased divisive-
ness — it has gotten worse over 
the last decade. There are some 
points where it is totally dysfunc-
tional. This started, I think, with 
the Tea Party and their leader [for-
mer Speaker of the House] Newt 
Gingrich, and their idea that you 
should not compromise. We have to 
understand that unless you are will-
ing to compromise, you aren’t going 
to reach your goals.
When I was on the City Council, 
I learned to listen to the other guy, 
and that he has a point of view. 
You don’t have to agree with it, but 
you darned well better understand 
it. That’s how you find a way to 
achieve the common good.
Now it is true that if one party 
has a majority in both houses and 
holds the presidency, you can get 
away with a lot of ideological rigidi-

President 
Obama and 
Sen. Levin 
at the White 
House, Oct. 28, 
2009.

COURTESY OF WSU PRESS

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