By Chris Reid
Last Friday, I attended a dinner celebrating Senator Shelby’s 83rd birthday and his thirty years of service in the Senate. Most political dinners can be a little heavy on policy and the politics of the day. However, the reason I enjoyed this one so much was because it was not about Senator Shelby’s politics but about his legacy.
Steve Flowers, a longtime friend of Shelby, said that if you were an aspiring politician, you couldn’t have scripted a better plan than the life Shelby has lived. At the age of 36, Richard Shelby was elected to the Alabama State Senate, where he immediately rose to the highest levels of influence due his brilliant and charismatic leadership. At 43, Shelby served as Congressman for the 7th District, and in 1986, he won a close race to serve in the Senate and has been there ever since.
Many articles I’ve read about him speak to his substantial power and influence. Steve Flowers wrote that he is easily one of the top five most powerful Senators in Washington and that he is one of the few who is widely respected by those in the Democratic Party.
However, Shelby’s rise to power is not what interested me most in his speech that night. It was the story of his wife, Annette, and how blessed Senator Shelby was to have married her. On other occasions, when Senator Shelby spoke of her, it was clear that he believed she was not only the most beautiful woman in the world, but also the smartest. Annette Shelby earned her Ph.D in speech around the time her husband was a state senator. When they moved to Washington in 1979, she began teaching at Georgetown University and became the first tenured female professor at their business school. She distinguished herself in several disciplines, reaching the top of her field in business, communication, and economics. While inspiring young business minds at Georgetown, she was also involved in many philanthropies, benefiting so many in Alabama to this day. She did all this while raising two boys and having to attend countless political events with her husband.
Perhaps even more impressive than their life stories is the love they demonstrated for each other and this state. About a year ago, I was privileged to sit next to Senator Shelby at a luncheon in Birmingham, and I was impressed not merely with his strong grasp of policy, but by the fact that even though he was the most important person at the table, he didn’t spend much time talking about himself. He asked questions of everyone there and enjoyed hearing different points of view. He also seemed to be happy and content. He spoke not only with those at the table but also with those who were serving the meal and treated everyone with respect; his care and concern for everyone around him was evident.
Washington D.C. can be a very corrosive place for families, and sadly it is a rare thing to see a senator stay faithfully married for 57 years. At the age of 83, he gave an excellent speech, discussing the concerns he had for our country but never wavering in his optimism about our future. In the past few years as his wife has struggled with health issues, Senator Shelby has proved to be a loving husband who puts his family’s needs ahead of his own. Many politically ambitious people would love to reach the heights of power that Senator Shelby has obtained, but I hope they realize that his true ongoing legacy is as a husband, father, and friend. Thankfully, Senator Shelby is not going away anytime soon, as he plans to finish his term, which ends in 2022.
Mr. Reid is general practice attorney in Birmingham Alabama. He has worked for Republican leadership in the United State House of Representatives in Washington, DC, and was a health policy advisor to the Governor of Alabama. You can contact him by email at [email protected] or by phone at 205-913-7406. For more details on Mr. Reid and his practice, visit his website at reidlawalabama.com.
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