Helen Chenoweth-Hage was a giant for individual ideals

In the wake of news that Helen Chenoweth-Hage was killed last Monday in Nevada, those who knew the former Idaho Congresswoman talked about her strength, her penetrating knowledge of history, and her staunch defense of conservative principles. Some credited her as the primary force behind the resurgence of the Republican Party in Idaho, where she took the party's helm in the '70s as its executive director and became U.S. Rep. Steven Symms' chief of staff. And some privately reviled her as paranoid, personally backward and even prejudiced.

Helen Chenoweth-Hage had opinions, and she never was reluctant to share them.

She questioned whether salmon was really an endangered species when it was available on store shelves. She said white males are more endangered than salmon, complained about government "black helicopters" harassing ranchers, said minorities don't like North Idaho because it's too cold, and called for disarming federal resource enforcement agents.

But here's the thing: Love or hate Helen Chenoweth-Hage's politics, you had to respect the fact that she said what was on her mind. Unlike many politicians — and assorted other human beings, too — you always, always knew where Helen stood on an issue.

What we appreciated was her staunch defense of individual rights and her insistence upon limited government. And that she kept her word. Seeking the District 1 seat in 1994, Helen said that, if elected, she would serve no more than three terms. In 2000 she stepped down, just as she had promised.

Virtually everyone who knew her said that Chenoweth-Hage loved Idaho and served it to the very best of her ability. U.S. Rep. Butch Otter summarized his predecessor this way:

"Helen was a person, whether in her private life or in her public service, who was dedicated to principles of limited government. In every sense of her being, she fought for the maximum individual liberty and the minimum in government."

We can think of no more noble political pursuits and feel certain Helen would like to be remembered that way.