When Missouri Republicans won the state Senate for the first time in 53 years back in 2001, Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau became the new Senate president pro tem. He soon received a congratulatory call from Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, R-Mo.
“I asked him will it be like herding cats,” recalled Kinder, now the state Republican chair, “And he replied: ‘No. More like loading frogs into a wheelbarrow!'”
When the news came on May 13 that Bond — former state auditor, two term governor, and senator for 24 years — died at age 86, Kinder, and what seemed to be an entire generation of Show-Me State Republicans, vividly recalled anecdotes and warm remembrances of the man from Moscow, Missouri, whose adult life encompassed the change of his state from reliably Democrat turf to one that was rock-ribbed Republican and conservative.
At first glance, Bond did not appear to be a “good fit” for a near-Southern state like Missouri. His father, A.P. Green, founded the eponymous fireclay company that was a major employer in his hometown of Moscow. Bond himself was a graduate of Deerfield Academy, Princeton University, and the University of Virginia School of Law. Following a clerkship with U.S. Appellate Judge Elbert Tuttle in Atlanta, the young Bond returned to his hometown with the intention of going into politics.
In 1968, at age 29, Bond challenged Democrat Rep. William Hungate in the northeast Missouri-based and largely rural 9th District. The young Republican’s good nature and vigorous door-to-door campaigning won over many voters but in a district that was still historically Democrat, “still not removed far enough from the Civil War,” as one Missouri Republican recalled, Hungate barely won with 52%.
That same year, young (31) John Danforth was elected state attorney general and thus gave Republicans the patronage of statewide office they had not tasted in decades. Danforth named Bond an assistant attorney general — a position later held by governor and Sen.-to-be John Ashcroft and future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
From the attorney general’s office, Bond was able to resurrect his career and in 1970, at age 31, he unseated 17-year Democrat State Auditor Haskell Holman. Two years later, following a grueling primary and spirited fall campaign against former U.S. Attorney Edward L. Dowd, Bond was elected governor — Missouri’s first Republican governor in 28 years and the youngest governor in the nation at age 33.
Bond was considered a moderate Republican and upset conservatives with such actions as support for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and supporting President Gerald Ford — who reportedly considered Bond as a vice presidential running mate — over conservative favorite Ronald Reagan in 1976.
In what became known as the “Springfield Massacre,” Republicans met at their state convention in Springfield and, disregarding Bond’s admonitions for Ford, elected a national convention delegation fully committed to Reagan, who went on to narrowly lose nomination to Ford.
In the fall campaign, many conservatives remembered Bond’s opposition to Reagan and as one of them put it, “we did not exactly break our hearts for Kit’s re-election.” In addition, the governor was blamed for an increase in utility rates and slammed hard in TV commercials by Democrat opponent and Jackson County Prosecutor Joseph Teasdale. As friend and fellow Republican John Danforth was winning a Senate seat, Bond was narrowly upset by Teasdale in one of the biggest upsets of the year.
Like fellow governors who tasted defeat such as Democrats Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts and Bill Clinton of Arkansas, Bond would spend his years out of office patching up old differences and preparing for a comeback. That came in 1980, when — with Ronald Reagan leading the ticket — Bond unseated Teasdale and again became governor.
In his second stint in the governor’s office in Jefferson City, Bond was clearly more conservative. Told “there’s no money” in the state coffers during the transition period, Bond gradually oversaw his state’s return to operating in the black and he left office in 1984 as a popular chief executive.
Two years later, with Democrat Sen. Tom Eagleton retiring, Bond was the natural GOP candidate for his seat. He faced Lt. Gov. Harriett Woods, a decidedly liberal Democrat. Bond reminded voters she had benefited from a Hollywood fundraising event that featured Jane Fonda and veterans came forward to tie Woods to the actress’ fierce opposition to the U.S. presence in Vietnam in the 1960’s. Bond won with 53%.
In three more trips to the polls, Sen. Bond would always face spirited Democrat opposition and never won with more than 56%. He served on the Senate Appropriations, Small Business, and Intelligence Committees. As the Senate grew increasingly partisan, the cigar-chewing Missourian with an ever-replenished repertoire of jokes was liked on both sides of the aisle.
“No one has served Missouri with more energy, honor, and distinction than Kit Bond,” Peter Kinder told Newsmax. “Kit Bond delivered for Missouri time and time again as governor, and as U.S. Senator. Along with Thomas Hart Benton and Harry Truman, he stands with the great figures of Missouri history.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
