The Daily Record
Back in the 1970s, Robert Morgan resigned as our state’s attorney general to launch what now looks like a most unusual campaign for U.S. senator.
This was not a campaign driven by focus groups and pollsters, it was a campaign of the people. His supporters weren’t promoting a brand, as is so often the case with today’s big-league politics, they were supporting a friend.
Yes, politics was different then, but that 1974 race may have been North Carolina’s last genuinely grass-roots campaign for that high office.
Of course, in Harnett County, Sen. Morgan was known for much more than the offices he held. He gave his time and energies to more good causes than can be listed here. And he built lasting friendships with so many.
So word of his death Saturday was the saddest of news.
Leaders throughout the state have expressed their appreciation for this great man. Through the Carter Center in Atlanta, former President Jimmy Carter sent The Daily Record the following statement: “Rosalynn and I are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Senator Robert Morgan. … I valued his friendship and our nation benefited from his enlightened leadership.” The former president also spoke of Sen. Morgan’s support of his efforts to return the Panama Canal to its namesake country.
“Although it cost him politically,” President Carter said, “he supported the Panama Canal Treaties because he knew — and time has shown it to be true — that it was the right thing to do to improve relations with our Latin American neighbors.”
But Sen. Morgan was the kind of principled leader who didn’t bend because there might be a political price to pay. Following an adage that all leaders should follow, he compromised on his preferences, but not on his principles.
This Democratic lawmaker worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to achieve legislative goals. And he was both well liked and well respected on Capitol Hill.
After leaving the Senate, he returned to the practice of law. He also became director of the State Bureau of Investigation. Leery of the growing influence of money in politics, he became the founding president of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education. He was also a founder of the Harnett County Community Foundation.
Again, his accomplishments are too many to list here, but back when he served in the state legislature he played a key role in establishing the medical school at East Carolina University.
We suspect Sen. Morgan considered his favorite roles to be those of husband, father and grandfather. Up until just a few years ago, a highlight of the annual Cornelius Harnett Ball was watching Sen. Morgan and his wife, Katie, dancing like teenagers.
Tomorrow, his life will be celebrated at a memorial service on the campus of Campbell University. We’ll likely hear of his unassuming beginnings and of his many accomplishments. We’ll likely also hear about his habit of being kind to people with no expectation of receiving anything in return.
Robert Morgan lived a great life. He was good to people. And his death leaves a void in this community, this state and this nation that will not soon be filled.
Morgan
