By Zachary Gorchow
Executive Editor and Publisher
Posted: June 30, 2020 12:59 PM

One of my U.S. history books, I think in high school, when discussing the 1848 presidential election referred to the Democratic candidate, Lewis Cass, as "a man of considerable unattractiveness."

Jeez, I thought at that time, what a low blow by the author, and what a nasty thing to say about a Michigander, one of only two residents of our state to receive a major party nomination for president and the territorial governor of Michigan for 18 years.

The author was deriding Mr. Cass' physical appearance, but now in the year 2020, amid a new civil rights movement, Mr. Cass' record is getting another look, and some aspects of it are considerably unattractive.

A slaveholder. A supporter of the popular sovereignty movement to let each state decide whether to allow or abolish slavery. President Andrew Jackson's secretary of war who carried out violent and calamitous policies against American Indians.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer today renamed the state office building named in 1952 for Mr. Cass after the sponsors of the state's civil rights act, former state Reps. Daisy Elliott and Mel Larsen.

Mr. Cass' name is all over the state, from Cass County to Cass Tech High School in Detroit to street names and more. But the most visible and highest honor to Mr. Cass is that he is one of Michigan's two statues in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol (not all the statues are in the hall, others are in other locations at the Capitol). He is the statue representing the Democratic Party. President Gerald Ford is the statue for the Republican Party.

Typically, a state legislature initiates the change through the adoption of a resolution.

If Mr. Cass were to be replaced, and there is clearly momentum for the change, there are a bevy of possibilities. It would be someone from the Democratic firmament, or at least someone revered by the Democratic firmament.

But who?

Names that immediately come to mind, in alphabetical order:

• Former U.S. Rep. John Dingell Jr., the longest-serving member of Congress is U.S. history and a legislative powerhouse involved with most of the most significant legislation of the second half of the 20th century.
• This is out of the box, but fun to think about: Former First Lady Betty Ford, a champion of women's rights who broke ground by publicly discussing her battle with breast cancer and addiction. It would be something to have her statue near Mr. Ford's. Again, this seems unlikely, but for the purposes of this discussion is fun to consider.
• Former U.S. Rep. Martha Griffiths, the first Michigan woman elected to Congress, in 1954, and a champion of women's rights who would later become the first woman elected Michigan lieutenant governor.
• Former federal Judge Damon Keith, the longest-serving Black judge in the nation, the grandson of slaves who authored several landmark rulings and earlier in his career was one of the two first co-chairs of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.
• Former Governor, Detroit Mayor, U.S. Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, a champion of the poor and organized labor movements.
• Civil rights hero Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her seat to a white person and move to the back of the bus took place in Alabama but spent the final half of her life in Michigan and as a person of great influence and respect (Update: Astute readers note Ms. Parks already is enshrined with a statue at the U.S. Capitol, not that it would remove her from consideration for this honor, but that would surely be part of the discussion).
• Walter Reuther, the legendary UAW president who virtually built the union.
• Sojourner Truth, the abolitionist and women's rights activist who is on Smithsonian magazine's "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time" and spent the final 26 years of her life living in Battle Creek (there is a bust honoring her in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center).
• Former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young. The first Black mayor of Detroit, a champion of the civil rights and labor movements.

I'm sure I left out some good choices, but these were the ones that first sprang to mind and after a minimal amount of research.

When Mr. Ford replaced Zachariah Chandler, there was some angst because Mr. Chandler was a leading abolitionist, and he was getting the hook instead of Mr. Cass. But Mr. Cass' time might be nearing an end.