Hey look him over, he's my kind of guy.
March 14, 2019 7:45 AM   Subscribe

Former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh dead at 91. In his three terms in office, the Indiana Democrat crafted the 25th Amendment to the Constitution (updating the rules for presidential succession) and the 26th Amendment (lowering the national voting age from 21 to 18). He also was the lead sponsor for Title IX of the Higher Education Act, which prohibited gender discrimination in colleges and universities, and co-authored the (never ratified) Equal Rights Amendment.

Post title comes from an early campaign song: "Hey look him over, he's my kind of guy. His first name is Birch, his last name is Bayh."
posted by Cash4Lead (25 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
That's a pretty good legacy to leave, I have to admit.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:57 AM on March 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


He also sponsored the Bayh-Dole Act.
posted by exogenous at 7:59 AM on March 14, 2019


Bayh did not always grab the same kind of national attention as Hubert Humphrey or Ted Kennedy, but he was certainly in their league.
posted by briank at 8:19 AM on March 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


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posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:25 AM on March 14, 2019


The last reminder that Indiana actually used to be a promising semi-progressive place.
Don't get me started on his kid, though...

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posted by Thorzdad at 8:25 AM on March 14, 2019 [9 favorites]


Wow, and these days Indiana's favorite son appears to be Pence. How fallen are the mighty!

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posted by ubiquity at 8:40 AM on March 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


It's a shame that Evan pissed away any decency attached to that name.
posted by zerolives at 8:41 AM on March 14, 2019 [5 favorites]


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posted by Foosnark at 8:50 AM on March 14, 2019


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posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:12 AM on March 14, 2019


Bayh did not always grab the same kind of national attention as Hubert Humphrey or Ted Kennedy, but he was certainly in their league.

Speaking of Kennedy, Bayh pulled him out of the wreckage when a plane they were both riding in crashed in 1964 and Kennedy broke his back. Two others died in the crash.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 9:16 AM on March 14, 2019 [6 favorites]


shame about the son.
posted by Blienmeis at 9:23 AM on March 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


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posted by leotrotsky at 9:25 AM on March 14, 2019


Wow, and these days Indiana's favorite son appears to be Pence. How fallen are the mighty!

As a Hoosier, that's nonsense. The reason Pence jumped at the VP spot is he knew he was likely to lose re-election as Governor.

You need to be a real fuck-up to lose as an incumbent Republican Governor in Indiana.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:28 AM on March 14, 2019 [15 favorites]


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posted by SisterHavana at 10:56 AM on March 14, 2019


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posted by LilithSilver at 11:02 AM on March 14, 2019


The last reminder that Indiana actually used to be a promising semi-progressive place.

It still has a pretty strong inclination for unions, I think?

Vote ERA.
posted by Bee'sWing at 12:15 PM on March 14, 2019


The last reminder that Indiana actually used to be a promising semi-progressive place.

It still has a pretty strong inclination for unions, I think?


Indiana went right-to-work in 2012.
posted by Etrigan at 12:33 PM on March 14, 2019 [4 favorites]


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posted by mordax at 12:48 PM on March 14, 2019


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posted by pjsky at 2:33 PM on March 14, 2019


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I benefited greatly from my membership in the Musicians' Union in Indiana in the 1970s, but even then, it was not Michigan, Wisconsin, or even Illinois. The KKK and even the Nazis had significant enclaves in the state for much of the 20th century. But Birch Bayh belonged to an era where belonging to one party or the other did not define you as it does today.
posted by kozad at 7:35 PM on March 14, 2019 [3 favorites]


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posted by one teak forest at 11:11 PM on March 14, 2019


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posted by heatvision at 4:15 AM on March 15, 2019


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posted by Gelatin at 6:29 AM on March 15, 2019


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posted by LeftMyHeartInSanFrancisco at 4:01 AM on March 16, 2019


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posted by Kattullus at 1:49 PM on March 16, 2019


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