Montanans will get a chance to say goodbye to former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns on Friday, May 6, at a memorial service in Billings. The former Yellowstone County Commissioner, auctioneer, and farm broadcaster died in his home last Thursday.
One of the last people to see Burns was long time friend Dwight MacKay. They had coffee together that morning.
They knew each other before either was elected to the Yellowstone County Commission. Burns had just been elected to the commission when the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee approached him about running for the U.S. Senate because of his name recognition as an ag broadcaster.
”So a lot of people didn’t know about him or what he thought of, but they sure knew the name," says MacKay. "In politics name recognition is about 80 percent. People go into the ballot box and say, 'Gee whiz. I know that name.' And boom.”
Burns, the political newcomer, defeated an incumbent U.S. Senator. MacKay remembers that election night in 1988 when his friend unseated John Melcher, DMT.
“Senator (Alan) Simpson called him," MacKay says. "And called him, ‘ You old, red-headed, fat guy, you’re a United States Senator,’” MacKay recalls.
That night, Burns was not going to do anything until the stations in Montana called the race and made it official, MacKay says, because Burns didn’t believe any of that. MacKay said when the stations declared Burns the winner.
“He turned to a bunch of us. Phyllis was sitting there, and he said, 'Now what do I do?'“
The two talked almost every day after that. Burns described the early days in the Senate as "like drinking from a fire hose." Burns soon found his place in the Senate. Montana benefited from his positions on the Senate Commerce and Appropriations committees.
Throughout his three terms in the Senate, Burns retained his reputation as a colorful character. MacKay says the senator admitted he could "self-destruct in one sentence."
MacKay says Burns did many times.
MacKay, who was the senator’s state director, remembers the phone calls from their press office checking to see what the senator really did say.
"I said, 'Yeah, he did,'" says MacKay. "He really did. And the cat’s out of the bag and there are really a lot of cats in this van right now.”
Burns enjoyed his time in the Senate. MacKay says he was successful and attributes it to his being a "people person."
He says Burns had a pretty simple philosophy, “His theory about working and life was if you can’t have fun don’t do it.”
The public is invited to attend the memorial service May 6, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at MetraPark in Billings.
