William McKeon, who passed away Friday morning, loved politics, not only because he was excellent at it, but because of what you could accomplish when you were in charge. In a time when some political party leaders get iffy about their slate, the former New York State Democratic chairman never publicly showed any reservation for those up and down the Democratic ticket.

He was a Democrat through and through.

In local politics, three individuals are most remembered over the last half-century. The late Mayor Paul W. Lattimore (who, even as a Democrat, was someone McKeon had his battles with) former Supreme Court Judge and Republican County Chair Robert White and, of course, McKeon.

That triumvirate shaped local politics for decades.

Yet McKeon had the longest run of being a player in local politics, spanning more than a half century, from the presidencies of Harry S. Truman to that of George W. Bush, of whom McKeon was a feisty critic.

The house that he built

Good, bad or indifferent, today's local political landscape was influenced heavily by McKeon, not only through his 21 years as chair of the local Democratic Committee, but also by his involvement after, as the party's elder statesman. Last fall, he traveled hundreds of miles in the 123rd Assembly District, campaigning on behalf of former Auburn city councilor Robert K. Bergan.

The Democrats long standing control, with a couple of rare exceptions, of a majority of seats at city hall are, in large part, due to his leadership.

An unparalleled organizer and tactician, he put in place a machine that was able to produce results, allowing his party to not only control city council, but also many of the patronage positions that come with it, from city clerk to a majority on the civil service commission.

Will Rogers quipped that he was not a member of an organized political party, he was a Democrat. The exception to that rule, even with some well-publicized infighting over the years, were local Democrats led by McKeon.

They were more organized than their Republican counterparts when it came to Auburn's elections.

Spoils and losses

McKeon, for decades, was also a key player in statewide Democratic politics. He served as the Democratic state party chairman, no small feat for a guy from an upstate rural county, and served several governors on the state's Board of Elections.

He was a player, in the best sense of the word, in Albany, New York City and Washington.

He was an unofficial advisor to President John F. Kennedy, and was state chairman when Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ran for the Senate from New York in 1964, after his brother's death. The victory for Sen. Kennedy was no small feat at the time, making carpetbagger charges lodged in 2000 against Hillary Rodham Clinton seem insignificant by comparison.

McKeon's leadership was key to many of the successes that the Democrats had in the 1960s at the state level.

But it was not all roses for McKeon.

In 1987, he ran for mayor as the Democratic candidate against incumbent Edward Lauckern, as he sought re-election after defeating four-term Democrat Paul W. Lattimore in 1983.

While both friendly candidates referred to each other as ”Eddie“ and ”Billy,“ the race was out of their control.

After years of Democratic rule (Mayor Lauckern was the sole Republican on city council at the time), there was a heavy undercurrent, largely led by this paper, against the ”old boy network“ of the Democratic Party, that had McKeon marked as the leader of the group, even though he was not an incumbent.

In a three-way race (the late James Patterson had the Conservative Party's endorsement), even with Democratic enrollment in their favor, McKeon and incumbent Democratic councilor Don Poole were defeated.

Only the popular Democratic city councilor Ormie King, who had been at city hall for less than two years, didn't suffer the Democratic slate's fate.

McKeon was also affected by the winds of state politics.

Until the election of Gov. George E. Pataki, McKeon was regularly re-appointed a member of the board of trustees at the Cayuga County Community College, serving in several officer roles over the years.

A consummate pro

On Tuesday, when speaking to a class of high school seniors in a ”Participation In Government“ class, I was asked who the best guest I had ever interviewed was.

McKeon was the immediate answer.

Two years ago, we spent an hour at the college on the air, one on one, marking the 40th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.

A quick wit, Mr. McKeon was able to lace his points on current politics and what occurred in the days when he was advising not only the late president (and invited to state dinners) but also Sen. Kennedy, with pertinent stories and rapid facts.

He wasn't a man who told stories for the sake of telling stories, but to illustrate his points. His knowledge of the minutia of local, state and national politics seemed to be endless.

Fortitude

The last several months were hard on McKeon, his wife Ann, and family.

He was diagnosed with cancer, and it slowed him down somewhat, but he never seemed to lose his focus or interest in politics.

In the few conversations we had, he never dwelled on his treatments, which he faced with amazing fortitude. Instead he focused on what was going on in local, state and national politics.

Treatments or not, he planned to re-appear on Adelphia's ”Beyond the Front Page“ as the last guest of the fall season - it was a show that I was looking forward to.

He still had his hand in local politics, too, advising the leaders of the Democrats' ”Women on the Move“ group.

He also was frequently seen out, talking politics at lunch with his three regular dinning companions, city councilor Thomas McNabb, former city assessor John ”Jocko“ Brennan and former city clerk Art Lee.

Ahhhh.... to have been a fly on the wall to hear their musings.

A legacy

Aside from a family dedicated to public service - his son Michael is Auburn City Court judge; another son, Brian, is a chief counsel to the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a key advisor to U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.; a grandson, Brian, works for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and another granddaughter, Maggie, interned for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton,D-N.Y. - McKeon's greatest legacy may be the nurturing spirit he had with those interested in politics, no matter what their political persuasion.

Tricia Purdy, a woman in her mid-20s who now works in government affairs in the health-care industry in Washington, tells how she had a running correspondence with him in recent years. Former city councilor Chuck Mason, was greatly helped in the local Democratic Party by McKeon's support when he took over as chair of the party in the late 1990s. He was also a great proponent and supporter of current Democratic Chairwoman Laurie Michelman, sitting on her executive committee.

On a regular basis, he was a guest of Auburn High School's teacher extraordinaire, Gerald E. Martin, who brought McKeon in to talk to juniors and seniors about local politics. He was as comfortable talking about current events and trends as the inner workings of politics.

William McKeon was the consummate political insider, operative and tactician. While the public may show a disdain for those who have such talents, they are to be praised, when they work to further democracy and increase public participation.

His legacy covers not only the last half century of local and state politics, but those whom he has advised, encouraged and helped will likely influence the next half-century.

Cosentino is a former mayor of the city of Auburn and can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com