Sen. Charles Sumner on three things to look for in a politician

Sen. Charles Sumner, one of the most prominent abolitionists in the U.S., annoyed South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks in an anti-slavery speech.  1856 Brooks attacked Sumner on the Senate floor, beating him with a metal-tipped cane.  Blood was everywhere, and Sumner barely survived.  The response of the South was to send Brooks more canes.

Sumner recovered and, as a U.S. Senator during the Civil War, pushed Lincoln to make emancipation the goal of the war.

Early in his political career he told an audience there were three things to look for in a politician.  “The first is backbone, the second is backbone and the third is backbone.”

Given the current state of Congress, those are words to remember.