Thank you. Oh, that’s great. Well, before Nels and Rex Wackerle and Linda Dooley and Sue Schwab and the Board of the Harlow Foundation take away this magnificent award, I want to whole heartedly and enthusiastically accept it. Thank you.
I am thrilled, thrilled to be here with my extended family – All of you-colleagues, clients, board companions, special mentors like Bob Michel, the distinguished former Republican leader. Members of the Harlow family, fellow advocates, fellow former award winners, and even those who have gone over to the other side. We know who you are! And you are ALL friends– And not in the Washington meaning of the word. I am honored, and believe me humbled, to receive this extraordinary salute from Sue Schwab, somebody who, as she said, I have known for more years than she and I care to remember, who I think is one of the finest public servants I have ever come across and has served not just with Jack Danforth and in the Commerce Department, but also an outstanding USTR. Sue, we love you.
And to receive the salute of my brother and my best friend, Colin Powell and Jim McNerney, the chairman of Boeing, who I think simply is the best CEO in America and to receive the salute from the board of directors of this important organization. And I love, love sharing this evening with Steny Hoyer. He is also a great majority leader, a great friend. And I only wish I lived in his district because he represents the finest in representation in the United States Congress. Steny, thank you. But unfortunately, I live in the District of Columbia…
Twenty-eight years ago, this is going to date me now, I attended the very first of these dinners. It was not as large as tonight, to salute Bryce Harlow. I am proud to have witnessed from a true master the art of trust, respect and your word is your bond. Bryce was all about integrity, of doing the right thing, old time courtesy, professionalism, bringing people together, bipartisanship, the other guy, getting things done the right way, the quiet counseling, the passion for anonymity. At a time when the revolving door was allowed to swing freely, Bryce served Proctor & Gamble and then the White House. And then Proctor & Gamble and then the White House. And then Proctor & Gamble again, with dedication, with credibility and not even a scent of wrongdoing. That would be unthinkable about such a gentle giant, short in height, but huge in stature.
At that dinner twenty-eight years ago, Bryce told us these words. “I delight in the underlying purpose of this event which is to salute your own quality and your own professionalism. I know this nation has to have you providing the balance and expertise around this town – I know the federal system can’t fairly operate in the public interest without you – I know you are a resourceful and vital part of the unending struggle to preserve for us and our kids what really counts, liberty with justice and the pursuit of happiness.”
As you all know, Bryce created the office of Legislative Affairs in the White House under President Eisenhower and then worked for President Nixon. In 1981, I began my White House service by heading the House side of the White House Legislative Affairs. And thus became a descendent of the Harlow legacy. I used to be 6’4″, but quickly became Bryce’s height.
For me, Bryce was a counselor, a mentor, a special friend, a calm, seasoned wise old owl in the turmoil of everyday life in Washington. I often turned to him for quiet advice as I worked the vote on the Hill or tried to understand the forces surrounding a particular event. He explained the today, dissected the yesterday, and had an uncommon sense of tomorrow.
Bryce often picked up the phone and gave me advice as we were assembling the Reagan governing coalition. Had I thought about this or about that or how something may play out to the President’s detriment? He worried that we could not win because there were only 191 lonely Republicans and the odds were firmly against us in the house that Tip O’Neil owned. He counseled bipartisanship if you really wanted to get things done. He recommended bringing folks together to reason. He suggested conciliation and compromise, not confrontation or accommodation.
We took many of Bryce’s suggestions and we found bipartisan, but not with the liberal leadership of the House, but with the rank and file, the so-called “Boll Weevils” and so many others. We fundamentally took charge of the House. As President Reagan was winning battle after battle on the Hill with the help of Bob Michel and Trent Lott and Henry Gandy and so many other foot soldiers of the Reagan Revolution who are here tonight, Bryce cautioned me. He said, Ken, you fellows may be winning too much. Remember the other guy. His turn will come. Think about the public policy consequences, the political ramifications of this string of victories. There’s a price that will be paid Ken, he said. And then with a chuckle he added, “but it’s always nice to beat Tip O’Neil and Jim Wright.”
Years later in 1987, after I had left the White House the first time, I paid one last visit to Bryce in the hospital. It was a difficult time for Bryce and a wrenching period for President Reagan and the country in the depths of the so-called Iran/Contra scandal. President Reagan was at 37 percent in the polls. Not only a lame duck, but to many a dead duck. Bryce viewed the crisis in the White House with much concern and the stakes for America with much alarm. As I prepared to leave, Bryce said with halting breath and that twinkle in his eye, “you know, you’re having fun doing important work and making a good livelihood with your buddies Timmons and Korologos, but if the President calls, you’ll have to return to work at the White House. You owe it to the President, the presidency and the country.”
Just a few weeks later, shortly after Bryce’s death, I received that phone call telling me that the President wanted to see me. Leaving the Oval Office a few hours later, after agreeing to join Howard Baker leading the White House staff, I recall looking up to the heavens in front of the West Wing and saying, “thanks for the heads up, Bryce.”
Whether it’s the White House, in our businesses, in public service or in our public sector advocacy, we have all in this room gotten lots of “heads ups” from Bryce.
Integrity. Trust. Getting the facts in the argument right. Understanding the process, being straight with each other, our corporate and coalition leaders and with members of Congress, the Senate, staff and administration officials we’re working with, living to fight another day, another issue, good public policy comes first. We only have one president at a time and we need in all of our daily tasks to do and remember what is right for the country.
Now, I don’t mean to sound Pollyannaish or naïve, but these basic Bryce Harlow virtues could help everyone these days and especially our country and the tone in Washington. We are all in this together, regardless of whether we have a D on our forehead, an R on our forehead or a Scarlett L for lobbyist on our back. Give me a break!
What we all do being sherpas, being guides, being practitioners in the art of persuasion, representing our clients, knocking on doors, delivering a message, is essential to making sound public policy. An informed electorate, informed government officials – elected and appointed – are our best hope for sound public policy.
It’s said that the financial capital of the world has moved from Wall Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. D.C. has now replaced Detroit as Motor City. The decisions reached in our fair city determine so much of what happens in every corporation, every union, yes, every interest group, every family and at every kitchen table now more than ever.
We inhabit the vital intersection of government and business. We are the crosswalks. We keep the traffic flowing and occasionally we stop it. Some of us provide advice in board rooms on the growing public policy overlay to business decisions. Some of us provide the shoe leather. Some of us provide grassroots and grasstops, but never Astroturf! Some of us provide the research to make the arguments, to win the votes, to decide an issue. We are all Americans doing what Americans do best – – speaking our minds and getting others to speak forcefully as well, especially the folks back home.
So I say thank you for allowing me to represent all of you tonight in this noblest of professions. Don’t keep your head down. Keep your chin up, keep smiling, and keep trucking!
To the Harlow fellows, welcome to a career that can truly make a difference.
To the board of the Harlow Foundation, thank you for honoring me in this way. To my wife Jackie, the love of my life, thanks for sharing this journey with me and for making life so much happier, robust and richer.
To my son Andy, representing my four kids here tonight, God bless you as you begin a career in public service on the Hill and for twenty-one years being one of my shining stars. For my business partners, all of them, and especially Mike Berman, we are a team. I am grateful every day to learn something from each of you. You are simply the finest, the best. And I appreciate your letting me have my name on the door. So let me close with one more Bryce Harlow story. Late one evening in 1981, as the legislative staff and I were dissecting an upcoming vote, Bryce called and solemnly suggested to me that as long as I was on the White House staff, I should not have an alcoholic beverage. You never know, Bryce said, when the President would call. You need a clear head to give him your best judgment. So, I gave up drinking for the remainder of my White House years. Yes, the President did call and more than occasionally. Yes, in the Reagan last two years, I was the recipient of most of those 3:00 a.m. phone calls. Yes, I had a clear, if occasional, sleepy head.
But since none of us here tonight any longer are on the White House staff nor anyone here eligible to join the White House staff anytime soon, I know Bryce wouldn’t object if we raised a glass to Bryce Harlow and to all of us who have followed in his path. Thank you. And thank you very, very much. Thank you.