After a week of federal government shutdown talk and political posturing, this columnist thought it might be refreshing to remember and reflect on a member of Congress who knew how to reach across the aisle – and as a result, reach thousands across the globe.What would Mount Summit’s Ralph Harvey think if he were here today, seeing Democrats and Republicans in such a polarizing and paralyzing environment that has created the shutdown which continues this weekend?

Local resident Mike Burch – who worked on Harvey’s farm as a youth – has a pretty good idea.

“He would negotiate and compromise when he had to,” Burch said. “He was a statesman. It didn’t make any difference whether you were a Democrat or a Republican. He was there to help everyone.”

It is indeed interesting to look back at the career of this man who came from small community roots in Mount Summit and went on to do big things in Washington, D.C.

Harvey’s work in Congress from 1947-1966 can still be seen today.

Summit Lake is here largely because of Harvey’s work on the Small Watershed Act that created the Big Blue River Conservancy District.

Hundreds of thousands in less fortunate countries around the world were fed, thanks to Harvey’s passion to develop a foreign food program. From a program to improve sewer systems in small communities like Mount Summit and Sulphur Springs to creation of the Peace Corps., Harvey had a productive career in matter both here at home and abroad.

And it all started at Mount Summit High School, where Harvey taught agriculture and science.

Once a member of the Henry County Council, Harvey became a state representative and rose in the ranks to chairman of the powerful state budget committee.

It was in this role that Harvey did something no one seems to be able to do in Washington, D.C. at the moment: reach out to a member of the other party.

Longtime Courier-Times staff writer Betty O’Neal Giboney once wrote Harvey got some of his best advice outside the Statehouse – from a Democrat. Walter Chambers Sr., founder of The Courier-Times, had previously been a member of the state budget committee when he served in the legislature.

Harvey went from the Statehouse to the Capitol in 1947 to represent the old 10th District in Congress following the death of Raymond Springer. He was chosen by House Speaker Sam Rayburn to be part of a delegation to Europe and observe operation of the historic Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World Warr II. He was a freshman legislator at the time.

“I don’t know why the Speaker chose me as a freshman,” Harvey said in an interview with Giboney.

But the appointment changed his life – and in the process, improved the lives of many, many others.

While in Southern Italy, Harvey asked an official if the United States could send a shipload of wheat to help feed an almost destitute population. His idea had a two-fold purpose: help farmers here in the states while, at the same time, feeding the hungry.

The official’s response to Harvey’s request was not what he expected. He told Harvey one shipment would not be enough and asked for a long-term commitment.

And the United States’ foreign aid food program was born.

Giboney – the beloved 50-year journalism veteran at the Courier who died earlier this year – called Harvey’s tenure “a golden age in which a neighbor was looking after community interests in the nation’s capital.”

Though times were different then, a Ralph Harvey quote might be worth sharing with members of Congress today. In an interview with Giboney, he said “I think our country will survive not because we are so smart. We have committed many mistakes and survived for two reasons: We are very strong and also willing to admit a mistake and try to rectify it.”

Here’s opening that piece of history repeats itself – and soon.

(Darrel Radford is a staff writer and board member for The Henry County Historical Society. The museum is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 1 to 4:30 p.m. or by appointment at 529-4028.)