Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican who rose from the ranks of the state legislature to become a U.S. senator, died Sunday. He died at the age of 76.
John Isakson told The Associated Press that his father died in his sleep before dawn. John Isakson said that his father had Parkinson's disease, but the cause of death was not immediately apparent.
John Isakson said that he will miss him.
Johnny Isakson spent more than four decades in Georgia political life. He was the architect of a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers that he said would help revive the struggling housing market. He was the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
"There are two types of people in this world: friends and future friends," Isakson's motto was. He was popular among his colleagues.
McConnell said that Johnny was one of his best friends in the Senate. The amazing thing about him was that at any given time, almost 100 other Senators felt the same way. Johnny was one of the most admired and beloved people in the Capitol because of his warmth, charisma, generosity, and integrity.
Isakson disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease while he was preparing to run for a third term in the Senate. He had a surgery on his back after winning reelection. He used a cane or wheelchair in later years.
Isakson broke four ribs in a fall at his Washington apartment and decided to retire at the end of the year.
At a time of bitter divisions between Republicans and Democrats, he pleaded for bipartisanship in his farewell speech. He cited his friendship with John Lewis, a civil rights hero, as an example of two men willing to put party aside to work on common problems.
Isakson said to solve the problem and then see what happens. People who don't have a solution are the ones who call people names and point fingers.
"We always found a way to get along and do the work the people deserve," Lewis said on the House floor.
Lewis hugged Isakson and said, "I will come over to meet you, brother."
Isakson failed in his first bid for elected office, when he was a member of the Cobb County Commission. He became the only Republican to beat a Democratic incumbent in Georgia in the year Jimmy Carter was elected president. Isakson was in the state House and Senate for 17 years. He was always in the minority in Georgia's General Assembly, but he helped propel the GOP ascendancy of the 2000s. Some of the same suburbs that Isakson worked in swung back toward the Democrats by the end of his career.
Johnny paved the way for the modern Republican Party in Georgia, but he never let partisan politics get in the way of doing what was right, according to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Isakson had setbacks before he was elected to the Senate. He lost the race for governor in 1990. Guy Millner defeated him in a Republican primary for Senate in 1996.
Isakson wasn't tough enough on abortion. In the primary race, Isakson ran a television advertisement in which he said that he would not vote to amend the Constitution to make criminals of women and their doctors.
He said that he trusts his wife, daughter and the women of Georgia to make the right choice.
He changed his mind on the issue.
Isakson joined Congress in 1998 when Gingrich decided not to seek reelection. Isakson was elected to fill the seat in 1999.
He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 after defeating Democrat Denise Majette. He served with Sen. Chambliss, a friend from the University of Georgia.
Isakson was seen as the early favorite to succeed Sonny Perdue in the governor's mansion. He decided to seek a second term in the Senate. He developed a reputation as a moderate, although he rarely split with his party on key votes.
He was a leader in the negotiation of immigration legislation that was abandoned after it met strong resistance from the right. At the Georgia Republican Party convention, Chambliss and Isakson were booed over their immigration stance.
The No Child Left Behind Act was a major part of Bush's education plan. He pushed an unsuccessful compromise bill on the politically charged issue of stem cell research that would have expanded research funding while also ensuring that human embryos weren't harmed.
The deal-making approach has lost favor with many voters, but Isakson's family still has a presence in Georgia politics. Chris Carr was the former senator's chief of staff. Carr said that when he was a young man, he wanted to be like Johnny Isakson.
"All of Georgia grieves the death of Isakson," said the senator. Isakson attended an annual service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. at a church in Atlanta where he was a member. King's pulpit was the church's. Isakson's tradition of an annual barbecue lunch for all senators has continued.
"Isakson's model of public service is an example to future generations of leaders on how to stand on principle and make progress while also governing with compassion and a heart for compromise."
Isakson joined his family-owned company, Northside Real Estate, a year after graduating from the University of Georgia. It grew to be one of the largest independent residential real estate brokerage companies in the country. Isakson was in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972.
He is survived by his wife, Diane, who he married in 1968.
