Birch Bayh to Speak at IU

Say what you will about Evan Bayh, but his father Birch surely goes down as one of the great Hoosier politicians of all time. The details:

Former Indiana Senator Birch Bayh, father of current Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, will be speaking in Bloomington Thursday afternoon.

Indiana University says the elder Bayh, an alum of the IU School of Law, will be speaking about the separation of church and state at the IU Law School Moot Court Room Thursday at 3:30.

Bayh is known for being a long-time senator from 1962 to 1980, and helped author the 25th and 26th Amendments which dealt with presidential succession and lowering the voting age to 18 respectively.

Its easy to forget considering all of Bayh's legislative accomplishments, but perhaps his most lasting act while in office was nearly a tragedy. His ability to pull the badly injured Senator Ted Kennedy out of the wreckage of a plane that had crashed while both were aboard, not only proved Bayh was a force to be reckoned with, but because of his actions, provided all Democrats a chance to marvel a liberal lion in the Senate for the last 46 years. If there was ever a politician worth voting for, Birch Bayh takes the cake.