Historical romance led to modern policy practice in a presentation by presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Tuesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Dodd spoke about his father, Thomas Dodd, and his involvement in the 1945 Nuremberg War Trials and the personal letters he wrote to his wife during the period.

Dodd published his father’s 18-month private correspondence in a book called “Letters From Nuremberg: My Father’s Narrative of a Quest for Justice” in October 2007.

“I feel like I’m almost eavesdropping on a private intimate conversation between my parents,” Dodd said of reading his father’s letters.

Dodd said that when his father, who was known in 1944 as a “pretty good prosecutor,” became involved in the beginning stages of the trials, the idea that 21 war criminals be tried lawfully was a highly debated subject, as there was opposition in both the Supreme Court and the White House to the very notion of upholding the “rule of law.”

“[Winston] Churchill wanted to shoot them all, and [Joseph] Stalin wanted to have a week-long show trial and then shoot them all,” Dodd said. Dodd also said that, when the trials got underway, the city of Nuremberg itself, still reeling from the war, had “20 to 30 thousand bodies still laying in the rubble,” and was one of the only places in Europe that had a standing courthouse and a jail that could hold the criminals.

Dodd said that his father’s experience in prosecuting the Nazis showed him, at a young age, what Robert H. Jackson’s concept of the “rule of law” was really about, as “the four great powers” – the United Sates, Britain, France and Russia – came together and used their power to uphold civil rights, even when given the opportunity to infringe upon them.

Dodd also drew conclusions from the trial and applied them to the United States’ current political woes, ranging from Iraq to immigration.

“If we engage in this behavior here, then how would we be different from them in any other way?” Dodd said. “I am disgusted that people would walk away from principles that they fought for in the war.”

Dodd also took the opportunity to showcase his stances on current issues, especially about reinstating habeas corpus and closing down Guantanamo Bay. He said that he drew a lot of his conclusions from his father’s principles.

When asked about the illegal immigration situation, Dodd said the question had multiple components and not all illegal immigrants are from Mexico. He said that deporting all immigrants is not the solution, and a program which creates a pathway for illegal immigrants to achieve citizenship through paying taxes and learning English would be the best possibility.

“We’ve been a welcoming society,” Dodd said. “I hope we never arrive at a point where we shut the door on people who can benefit our country.