I had a cryptic call from Joe Becker in early September 2001. "Are you by chance looking for work?" I had met Becker a couple of months earlier, when I stopped in to Dr. Paul's office just to convey to Joe, as his then-serving foreign affairs aide, how much it meant to me as an American overseas to see Dr. Paul's columns and other statements challenging Clinton's demonic Balkan policies and eventual bombing of Serbia.
I stopped in to say "thank you" for restoring my faith in America as I, then a former long-time expatriate, struggled to explain to Europeans that not all those in charge were bloodthirsty animals. Joe was gracious and a real gentleman. Digesting my praise with a smile.
Imagine my surprise those months later, as I was coincidentally looking for work, to hear from him -- deo gratias -- curious as to whether I might be interested in work. Yes yea yea, I replied, careful not to sound desperate. I sat down with the chief of staff, I sat down with Dr. Paul, I joked around with Becker and Norman and Deist -- all a dauntingly terrific team.
So far so good. I had published on Lewrockwell.com so I was baptized in a way. But the last hurdle to a coveted position on Ron Paul's staff was a dinner engagement with the leadership of the Liberty Committee -- David and Kent.
I arrived spit-shined at the Liberty Committee HQ in Falls Church, determined to be at least interesting, hopefully impressive. In those days, the Liberty Committee was located on the fifth floor of a four story building. It was some sort of former DEA safehouse that you could not reach by elevator. It was like Get Smart, where you had to take elevator to one level and walk down a dark and mysterious corridor to a hidden stairwell and then up to the barebones Liberty Committee hangout. Sweating, I knocked on the door to see a smiling and reassuring Kent and David pleasantly surprised that I had passed the first test of actually finding the Liberty Committee office.
Thankfully, the report back to the boss must have been positive (or was it just passing the test of finding the fifth floor in a four story building?), and so I was invited to begin the greatest job imaginable: Ron Paul's foreign affairs aide.
The Ron Paul agenda was promoted weekly, as we gathered at the headquarters of the Liberty Committee on our own time as volunteers to try and look for ways to make headway among Capitol Hill statist sclerosis. Hours of heavy discussion was followed by South American grilled chicken as Tom and Jeff and Norman and Kent and David and I dedicated ourselves to lighting a freedom fire on the Hill.
It was due mostly to Kent's hard work that Ron Paul's Liberty Committee became such a terrifying force on Capitol Hill. On any given critical vote, Kent's Liberty Army could be counted on to descend by the thousands on their own Representatives, demanding that they "vote with Ron Paul!" Weary staff voices rang our offices, begging that we include their bosses as sponsors of HR 1146 to get out of the UN or other similar signature Ron Paul bill. That was all hard work, which was what Kent Snyder was all about.
Members of Congress -- and candidates -- began to ask to be allowed to be affiliated with the Liberty Caucus because their constituents demanded that they "join Ron Paul."
Our Monday meetings would inevitably start with Kent and a stack of articles and coupons that he would pass out to all of us, carefully according to our interests. "Here is 20 percent off some pizza, here is a free trial of this or that, here is a discount if you want to try this. Have you looked into this latest health program, here is an article about it. Have some magazines. Have you seen this article?" It was Kent's natural way of making all of us feel special. It was his way of saying "I care that you are here helping me and I value your opinions and perspectives."
"Norman, Jeff, Daniel have you seen the trailer to the new movie?" he would ask. He loved new films and he loved to read fiction.
As time passed, things changed, and eventually I found myself working with Kent to organize the legendary "Thursday lunches" with Dr. Paul's Liberty Committee and special speakers. Nothing was right until Kent arrived. As hard as I worked to get the right speaker and as much as I worried that all would not go well, Kent would show up so calm and say "Daniel, you did all you could, don't worry about the rest." Of course he was always right. Even the most sophisticated intellectual guest would be won over by Kent's Midwestern charm and straightforwardness. Others have written about how Kent was the opposite of the Washington mindset, where you promote yourself above all, so I will not dwell on that point.
My children adored Kent. Whenever he came to our house, he would be sure to have a stick of Big Red gum to give to my son. He was infinitely patient as I sought his advice on martial arts training for my son. He attended my son's first Taekwondo belt ceremony as a brilliant martial arts master himself. He always listened patiently as my overly-loquacious boy questioned him endlessly about this or that aspect of martial arts.
He always had a smile. But when I disagreed with him or when I had a conflict with him he would always be there to talk it out. There were never any hard feelings. Kent had a way of making you feel that he was your best friend in the world. Maybe he was mine. Of course he was. I miss him so badly I can hardly stand it. It feels impossible to go on without him.
