Mighty Steve Young

Out of the ashes of Ohio's Democratic Party last week arose a peculiar phoenix: U.S. Senator Stephen Young, 73, who announced that he was going to take control of the state party and did not care what other Democrats might think about it. "If they don't believe me," cried Young, "just let them call the White House and ask."

Young did indeed have the support of Kennedy strategists for his plan--which just goes to show what shape the Ohio party is in after a series of disastrous losses. There simply seemed to be no one else around. Outgoing Governor Mike DiSalle and State Chairman William Coleman were discredited by defeat this year;

Senator Frank Lausche is an independent who gets as many Republican as Democratic votes and could not care less about controlling his party. That leaves Steve Young, a happy specialist in lost causes and a certified political eccentric.

After a speckled political career that included four terms in the House. Young was all but ignored by the party when he ran against supposedly unbeatable John Bricker in 1958--and beat him by 155,000 votes. Announcing that he would break tradition by not walking down the aisle for oath taking with his state's senior Senator, Young explained: ''If Senator Lausche supported me for election, it was a well-guarded secret."

Wild Ungulata. A soapbox liberal on most issues, Young is also a blunt opponent of Government bureaucracy. Investigating expenditures of the Health, Education and Welfare Department, he once hooted at HEW grants for research projects on the social role of wild ungulata ($8,205), Indian caste cohesiveness and personality development ($7,820), the ontogeny of English phrase structure ($2,100), and blood groups genetics of Southampton Island Eskimos ($11,500).

Young's happiest scrap was with some Ohio American Legion posts that adopted a resolution censuring him for agreeing to speak before the leftist Emergency Civil Liberties Committee. Calling the Legionnaires "puffed-up patriots" and "publicity-seeking professional veterans," Young answered one "Americanism chairman" directly: "I repudiate your resolution, Buster, and your pompous, self-righteous, holier-than-thou title of 'Americanism chairman.' " When Ohio Republican Congressman Gordon Sherer joined forces with the Legion, Young devastated him in one grandly irrelevant blast: "While I was on the Anzio beachhead* he was Safety Director of Cincinnati, Ohio."

Crackpots & Liars. Young has been less of a tiger in proposing legislation, though he did introduce a resolution to grant Winston Churchill honorary American citizenship. A great believer in the man looking the role, Young opposed Kennedy at the 1960 convention. His reason: he had seen Kennedy stripped down in the Senate gymnasium--and thought the young Senator was too skinny for the presidency.

Still, Young has been a dependable Administration supporter and. despite his oddities, one of the most conscientious Senators in Washington. He even answers all his own mail--a task made easier by his habit of replying to most letters in one sentence, often nasty and always to the point. His reply to a dinner invitation is often a simple "Yes," or--particularly if his presence might irritate an Americanism chairman--"I'll be there." Answering critical mail, he writes: "Some crackpot has written to me and signed your name to the letter. I thought you ought to know about this before it gets any further." To one disenchanted supporter he said frankly: "You are entirely misinformed and your letter is silly, but thank you for voting for me." But the classic Young reply remains: "Sir: You are a liar. Sincerely, Stephen M. Young, United States Senator."

Young has not been quite so candid about how he would improve the Democratic Party in Ohio--but he is certain it needs "revitalization." Reminded of that fact last November, Ohio Democrats have no illusions that happy days are suddenly about to begin. But with Steve Young in the picture, the dull days may be gone for a while.

* Legionnaire Young served in both World Wars, won the Bronze Star and four battle stars for 37 months of World War II combat in North Africa and Europe.

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