comes to my mind. In troubled places you've brought calm resolve, like one of the many great fighting ships you've done so much to obtain for the Navy; serene, self possessed but like a great ship of the line, possessed of a high sense of purpose."

The high sense of purpose that President Reagan spoke of was one of the many laudable descriptions of character earned by Senator STENNIS. The word "statesman" is the term that most associate with this great American, who began his career as a farmer in the gentle hills of Kemper County, Mississippi. From his roots there, he adopted a simple motto early in his political career that became his creed and the foundation for his steadfast devotion to honesty and hard work in every task he undertook: "I will plow a straight furrow right down to the end of the row."

The Presidents he served with, from Truman to Reagan, recognized his honesty and integrity and all turned to him for help and counsel during difficult times. Every President knew of Senator STENNIS' high standing with his colleagues, and recognized the influence he carried within the Senate. He always kept his relationships with the Presidents in what he believed to be their proper perspective. When asked how many Presidents he served "under," STENNIS replied, "I did not serve under any President. I served with eight Presidents.”

As Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (1969-1980), Senator STENNIS stood firm for U.S. military superiority. He fought and won many battles on the floor of the Senate on behalf of the American military men and women. A strong Navy, second to none in the world, was always at the top of JOHN STENNIS' agenda.

"The Senator recognized that America is an 'island nation' and had to have a Navy that was always capable of defending its shores and carrying the message of peace through strength throughout the world," said Rex Buffington, executive director at the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service. "Senator STENNIS felt the very presence of the carriers presented a formidable force to reckon with and were a stabilizing influence anywhere they sailed," Buffington recalls.

Senator STENNIS' philosophy as relating to the Navy was a theme at the keel laying ceremony for the nuclear-powered cruiser USS Mississippi, at Newport News Shipbuilding, in February 1975. His speech recounted the Navy's strength:

"From my vantage point for getting the full facts and knowing the needs, I know that a strong and powerful Navy-a Navy second to none-is vital and essential to the Nation's security.

"Such a Navy is needed to go into battle if war should be forced upon us. Of equal importance, such a Navy is needed in time of peace to provide the evident muscle and sinew to enforce our foreign policy and, if necessary, to call the bluff of a would-be-aggressor."

Frank Sullivan, former staff director for the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the very ship that is christened in STENNIS' name would not have become a reality without the Senator's arduous support. "In fact," Sullivan said, "Senator STENNIS was a leader in obtaining the last four carriers for the Navy."

In 1979, Senator STENNIS, in a statement of his staunch support of the nuclear carrier, said, "It carries everything and goes full strength and is ready to fight or go into action within minutes after it arrives at its destination. As I say, they get there ready to go.

"There is nothing that compares with it when it comes to deterrence, nothing this side of all-out nuclear war."

Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, present Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said of Senator STENNIS, “His career in the Senate and particularly his leadership of the Armed Services Committee were an inspiration to me when I decided to run for the United States Senate. As chairman, he set a standard that all of his successors strive to meet. For me, no higher honor has come my way than serving in the United States Senate with this soaring eagle."

President Reagan, who depended on Senator STENNIS to be his "stalwart" for establishing a strong national defense in the waning years of the Cold War, said, “Senator STENNIS led some of the most crucial legislative battles in history on behalf of our national defense."

Another President, Richard Nixon, said, “I recall vividly a telephone conversation I had as President with JOHN STENNIS. I thanked him for the indispensable role he had played in helping us to get a defense appropriation bill through the Senate. And he replied, "Thank you, Mr. President, but to be frank, I didn't do it for you. I did it for my country."

On Armed Services, STENNIS always tried to give Presidents the benefit of the doubt. On balance, he was a friend of the Pentagon over the years, one inclined to trust its leadership when the value of a particular weapons system was questioned. But he was never willing to sign a blank check for defense spending requests, and he demanded careful and detailed scrutiny of every proposed outlay. "I was raised to believe that waste was a sin," he said. "To support military readiness, a Senator does not have to be a wastrel," he observed on another occasion.

Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana said that "only a handful" in the history of the country have contributed as much to the national defense as Senator STENNIS.

His influence and power spanned the 41 years he served in the Senate. The Washington Star wrote in 1975, "STENNIS is 'Mr. Integrity,' the embodiment of honor and fairness."

In 1982, the Washington Post wrote, "No one in the Senate questions STENNIS' integrity or contribution to that body. The possessor of a tremendous booming voice, a Phi Beta Kappa key, and a universal reputation for fair-mindedness which has long been one of his dominating features, he is a Senator's Senator, an advisor to Presidents, a man of enormous power and influence."

Three years later, the New York Times said, "He is the undisputed patriarch of the Senate, a teacher to younger Members, and conscience for the entire institution. He seldom makes national headlines but he wields considerable influence in the Senate itself and that influence came from the quality of his personal judgment."

George Will, in a syndicated column in 1986, compared the Senator's long and steady career to the "Big River" that runs along the border of his home state of Mississippi. Will wrote, "Early in many a morning, when JOHN STENNIS arrives at work, the United States Capitol is as quiet as vespers. The only voices heard have the soft sound of ashes falling upon ashes. Soon the place is noisy. He never has been, never will be. He is a Senator of the old school, the last of that school of no-waste motion and few public flourishes.

"His talk is lightly laced with regional and archaic phrases as when, speaking of a friend from distant youth, he says, 'He lived over near the Big River.' There is a faint, sweet echo of vanished America in that almost reverent reference to a dominating geographic fact.

"All flesh is as grass, but some flesh, like some grass, is especially durable. Few people have ever endured in Washington longer than the Senator from Mississippi. May his career flow on, like the Big River."

Senator George Mitchell of Maine, Senate Majority Leader, said: "Some men spend a lifetime striving to achieve and maintain respect. Senator STENNIS has lived such a life and set an example for all of us to follow." STENNIS' manners are as polished as his ethics. He once interrupted an important Senate hearing in order to guide a late-arriving woman spectator to a seat. And a dirt-farmer constituent who visited his Senate office received as much courtesy as a Secretary of Defense.

Politically and publicly, Senator STENNIS projected a character with pride, self-respect, extreme honesty, unquestionable integrity and sincerity. Privately, STENNIS is the same man. He claims his "image" is due entirely to his strict following of what he calls his personal code developed during his upbringing and formative years in Kemper County, Mississippi.

JOHN STENNIS was born August 3, 1901, in the Kipling community, about eight miles south of DeKalb. His parents were Hampton Howell and Cornelia (Adams) Stennis. He came from a long line of country doctors, though his father was a farmer and merchant in DeKalb. His father taught him responsibility and hard work at an early age, tenets he would incorporate into his personal code and practice in every aspect of his life. He had three older sisters who practiced their "school teaching" on him, giving young JOHN a head start with special tutoring in manners as well as the books. His mother carefully trained him to always "do his best and look his best."

It was this type of family background and preparation that helped mold the 18-year-old farm boy who stepped off the train at Mississippi A&M (later to become Mississippi State University) in the fall of 1919. He quickly began to form friendships and earn confidence that would give him opportunities for service unsurpassed by anyone in Mississippi history. By the time he was graduated in 1923, he was showing signs of the leadership that would become legend.

Senator STENNIS put great stock in education or "training." But he also knew that education was not the only preparation one needed. He once told an interviewer that his mother and father missed a college education because of "the war," meaning the Civil War. "Down there for the last hundred years," STENNIS said, "people lacked for money and lacked for worldly things. But they got plenty of things money can't buy-like good neighbors, good friends, and the community spirit of sharing with the other fellow."

After graduation from Mississippi State University, STENNIS went on to the University of Virginia in 1924 and convinced the dean of the law school to accept him without ever filing an application. His education there was interrupted, however, when his father died and he returned to the family farm.

During this interruption of his studies at Virginia, STENNIS' friends and neighbors urged him to seek an open seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives. He was elected and took the oath of office in January 1928, beginning a career in public service that would span more than 60 years without a break. Political historians believe that to be a record for this country.

State Representative STENNIS went back to the University of Virginia in the fall of 1928 to finish law school. He continued to excel, actually memorizing the entire United States Constitution while compiling an academic record which earned him the Phi Beta Kappa key.

On Christmas Eve of the following year he married Coy Hines, a native of New Albany, Mississippi, who was serving at the time as the Kemper County home demonstration agent. They built and moved into a white frame house just south of DeKalb, which STENNIS still calls home.

In 1932, JOHN STENNIS was elected district prosecuting attorney. People throughout the district came to know STENNIS as a hard-working prosecutor who stood for what was right and unyielding in the face of adversity. It was during these years in DeKalb that the Stennis children were born: John Hampton, March 2, 1935; and Margaret Jane, November 20, 1937.

STENNIS was appointed to fill the seat of a circuit judge when a vacancy occurred due to a death in 1937. For the next 10 years, Judge STENNIS gained the respect of all and his reputation spread far beyond his district. When U.S. Senator Theodore G. Bilbo died in office in 1947, Judge STENNIS entered the race for his seat. It was a grass roots campaign in which STENNIS promised to "plow a straight furrow right down to the end of my row." He was elected against formidable opposition and began to build on a national reputation as the junior Senator from Mississippi. His reputation for integrity spread quickly among his colleagues, who learned that they could depend on what JOHN STENNIS said.

He demonstrated courage along with his convictions. As he earned the respect of the giants of the Senate, he gained key committee assignments which gave him the opportunity to be a major participant in decisions of vital importance to the Nation as well as his home state of Mississippi.

Time and again during his 41 years of service, the Senate turned to Senator STENNIS for guidance when its Members or its customs were under suspicion, and when an impartial and fair assessment seemed vital. From the McCarthy era to Watergate, STENNIS applied judicial skills and temperament he acquired during his 10 years on the bench in Mississippi.

Senator STENNIS' unselfish achievements during his long years of hard work did not come without great adversity. In 1973 he was shot twice during a holdup attempt in his front yard in northwest Washington. Although doctors didn't at first give much hope of Senator STENNIS living, then later of ever walking again, he surprised practically everyone and recovered almost completely. He said his chief thought during those doubtful days was, "Would I be useful?" Senator STENNIS' dedication and commitment to duty would not allow him to stop or slow down.

In 1983, his wife, affectionately known as "Miss Coy," died and he underwent surgery for repair of a weakened wall of the aorta. On December 1, 1984, his left leg was amputated to remove a cancerous tumor. Again STENNIS came back and continued to serve his country, setting a pace for Senators many years younger to follow.

JOHN STENNIS retired from the Senate in 1988 and returned home to teach at Mississippi State University. He now resides in Madison, Mississippi.

In Washington, Senator STENNIS had a sign on his desk that represented a part of his philosophy. It simply read: “Look Ahead.” His own words and deeds articulated this personal conviction as it applied to the United States Navy:

"Our Navy has an unchanging mission. Many of our resources, our allies and our enemies as well, lie overseas. In most of our wars in the last 175 years, including the Revolutionary War, this country would not have been victorious without superior Navy power being on its side.

"This mission to maintain decisive naval power for our global interests will remain as imperative for the future as the past. Our global interests and overseas dependence grows, not lessens, with each passing year.

"We must always remember that when the chips are down and shots are fired, it will be the modern-day naval patriots who will risk their lives, man the ships and fire the guns."

JOHN STENNIS' contributions to our Navy will last for decades to come. And as this great ship plies the oceans of the world to ensure the pace, it will be carrying the name of a man who did, indeed, "Look Ahead" for the future's sake of his country as he plows a straight furrow right down to the end of his row.