The Republican Party just isn't held in high repute in the black community. Under Bill Brock we were reaching out to broaden the base of the party. We have to go back to that.

Political career
In the late 1950s Percy decided to enter politics. About a year after the murder of her twin sister Valerie in 1966 Sharon Percy married John D. Elizabeth Harting was a daughter of Phineas Fredrick Harting and Belle Aschenbach.

In 1966 he was elected to the United States Senate from Illinois as a Republican; he served for almost twenty years until 1985 after he was defeated by Paul Simon. He was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964. During his Senate career he concentrated on business and foreign relations.