Historian Douglas Brinkley is professor of history at Rice University and author of “Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War.’’ Brinkley has penned an op-ed piece for today’s Boston Globe giving his view that the appointment of Senator John Kerry to the so-called “super committee” on deficit reduction offers the best chance for a much-need historic, bi-partisan compromise. Brinkley recounts in particular the important role Kerry played in the Vietnam POW/MIA Committee’s investigation back in the 1990s – a committee he chaired along with staunch NH Republican Senator Bob Smith. He also notes the Senator’s recent but quiet diplomatic successes in Pakistan, Sudan and even in Afghanistan regarding elections. Brinkley concludes his article:

Kerry is a resilient and tenacious survivor. Sheer force of will has, time and again, brought him back stronger from failure. He lost a bitter race for Congress in Lowell in 1972, for example, rebuilt himself, and came back to win statewide ten years later. After losing the presidency by the slimmest of margins in 2004, he remade himself in the Senate, becoming a major party leader and senior statesman. Now, as a member of the super committee, in his golden years of public service, Kerry will be striving for a legacy accomplishment that will cement his role in US history as one of our nation’s master negotiators. Reid made the right choice.

read the full article here at boston.com.

Of local interest, Doug Brinkley is a knowledgeable scholar of the writings of Lowell’s Jack Kerouac and edited “Jack Kerouac: Road Novels 1957-1960” and he has lectured on “Jack Kerouac’s America.” BTW – Brinkley has been to Lowell.