A Republican's Lament
A Republican's Lament
Mississippi Needs Good Government Conservatives
Bill Crawford thought his modern-day Republican Party would lift Mississippi off the bottom, a notion born of Gil Carmichael’s vision for good government conservatism. A Republican’s Lament tells of Crawford’s dedicated efforts to implement Carmichael’s vision, his keen observations of Mississippi’s struggles, and his critical commentaries over the past half century.
For more than fifty years, few people have had a better view or a wider variety of roles in the ups and downs of Mississippi and its communities than Crawford. The Canton native has been a daily newspaper reporter, a crusading small-town weekly editor, a Republican Party leader, a reform-minded Republican state representative, an influential Institutions of Higher Learning board trustee, a successful banker, a community college administrator, a state economic development official, a community development leader and nonprofit founder, a mentor of developing community leaders, and a syndicated political columnist.
From Gil Carmichael’s vision for good government and Haley Barbour’s pragmatic conservatism to starve the beast and truth management politics, poverty and the Cycle of Prosperity, Faulkner’s curse and other behavioral shadows, the Ayers case, and more, Crawford weaves a unique and eventful story about his home state’s enduring dilemmas and a clarion call for its better possibilities.
If you are interested in the history of our complex state, you should read Bill Crawford’s A Republican’s Lament. Crawford—a fine writer, experienced political leader, and dedicated education proponent—walks the reader through victories, and disappointments, of our much-loved, and often-maligned, state of Mississippi. Crawford’s evocative approach, combined with a journalist’s eye, crystalizes a lengthy reluctance to change through courageous leadership.
Bill Crawford has preserved a pivotal era in Mississippi political history, and we are in his debt for it. Bill and I viewed the body politic from similar perspectives and often drew differing opinions and took opposing views. But his voice has always been courageous and clarion, and reading his book was a pleasure.
Crawford’s book is a must-read, encapsulating largely ignored conservative principles of governance and documenting the emergence and impact of early Republican candidates in Mississippi.
Bill Crawford’s A Republican’s Lament shines a light on the shadowy political realm where ‘Mississippi’s schizophrenia’ thrives. As Crawford gently affirms, our state—and, frankly, our world—needs more kindness, more wisdom, more transparency, more grace. And I would add another: more books like this one.
An intellectually curious thinker unafraid of change and discomforting truth, Bill Crawford is a solution-oriented doer. These authentic attributes along with his breadth of real-world exposure to community and state leadership are revealed in A Republican’s Lament. My friend since our Millsaps College days, Bill has also earned my admiration as a good man and as a leader.
Readers will be treated to Bill’s detailed and thoughtful descriptions of a period when Mississippi emerged from the vestiges of an openly segregated society.
This is a wonderful book. Crawford’s personal experience and command of the ‘data’ are things no journalist who attempted something like this would have.
A unique perspective. There do not seem to be many ‘Gil Carmichael and Thad Cochran’ conservatives remaining in this modern-day GOP.
Bill Crawford’s ‘Lament’ is a cautionary tale of the failure of Republican leaders to get Mississippi off the bottom of every national metric in education, healthcare, and other essential services needed by all people in our state. It is also a clarion call for all Mississippians to heed his cry for responsible leadership, Republican and Democrat. A must-read for leaders in government and business and for all of us who want Mississippi to succeed.
Bill Crawford retired in 2020 after working for decades in a variety of roles in both the public and private sectors. Since 2009, he has written a statewide syndicated column. He and his wife Lynn live in Jackson, Mississippi. Lloyd Gray is a former journalist and current executive director of the Phil Hardin Foundation. C. D. Smith is retired military, a former member of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning board, and currently a regional director for AT&T. Gray and Smith cowrote the foreword for this book.
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter One. Good Government
Chapter Two. Splotchy Patterns of Shadow and Light
Chapter Three. Higher Education
Chapter Four. Other Impacts from Behavioral Shadows and Political Insanity
Chapter Five. How to Solve Mississippi’s Complex Dilemmas
Chapter Six. A Lingering Hope and a Prayer
Acknowledgments
Source Notes
Index
