Rip Senator Jon Kyl

Senator Jon Kyl died last week at the age of 84. With him passes a breed that was once common in Washington, DC: thoughtful, gentlemanly, philosophically consistent, ruthless when necessary, and, simply, good at his job. He knew Senate procedure; he knew nonproliferation issues and missile defense like the back of his hand; he knew our enemies—China and Russia and Iran – and was tireless in urging America to defend itself against the threats they posed. And though he was a conservative through and through – with a lifetime 96.6 score from the American Conservative Union—he was always bipartisan when possible, nonpartisan when he should have been, and partisan as hell when he couldn’t persuade his Democratic colleagues or a Democratic president to do what was necessary to make this country safer. Kyl was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and to the Senate in 1994. After stepping down from the Senate in 2013, Kyl was briefly appointed to fill the late Sen. John McCain’s seat in 2018. Kyl was a champion for his home state of Arizona and dedicated himself to resolving longstanding water disputes between Native American tribes, municipalities, and commercial stakeholders. But to me, his stalwart defense of American national security interests stands out still today: Without Jon Kyl, Barack Obama would never have agreed to commit $80 billion to upgrade US nuclear arms. Without Jon Kyl’s leadership, the United States would not have begun its campaign to keep Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE out of American and allied infrastructure. Unlike so many in power, Kyl’s decision to step down wasn’t out of pique or a product of waning popularity. He thought he’d spent enough time in politics, and that was that. But he continued to be engaged on the issues that mattered, including during his tenure at the American Enterprise Institute, where he was a visiting scholar. Together with the late Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Kyl chaired a project on American internationalism at AEI, and produced a 2015 report, Why American Leadership Still Matters, that stands the test of time, particularly at a moment when isolationists on the left and right are on the march. Kyl and Lieberman wrote: American leadership is critical to the security, stability, and prosperity of both the world and the American homeland. In recent years, however, US international leadership has increasingly been challenged in both spheres. Abroad, the international order is under attack from multiple sources: from nonstate actors such as al Qaeda, ISIS, Hezbollah, and others, to regional rogue states such as Iran and North Korea, a nationalist Russia challenging the sovereignty of neighboring states, and an increasingly ambitious China. Whether the aims of these countries or nonstate actors are hegemonic, terroristic, or just opportunistic, only vigorous international leadership from the United States and its allies will adequately address the challenges to the international order that each presents. No other country would, or could, fill America’s shoes as the underwriter of international security should the US choose to step back. One of Jon Kyl’s last public roles was as vice chairman of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. From his joint submission with the commission chair in 2023: The United States faces a strategic challenge requiring urgent action. Given current threat trajectories, our nation will soon encounter a fundamentally different global setting than it has ever experienced: we will face a world where two nations possess nuclear arsenals on par with our own. In addition, the risk of conflict with these two nuclear peers is increasing. It is an existential challenge for which the United States is ill-prepared, unless its leaders make decisions now to adjust the U.S. strategic posture. Their counsel rings true to this day. RIP, Senator. May your memory be a blessing and a guide to us all.