I asked Nick why it (the award) was so much smaller than Tommy Boggs’ — thank you. Thank you to John and thank you to Nick. Nick Calio, congratulations for chairing a very successful dinner. It is great to see a lot of friends here tonight, former colleagues; former staff; former bosses. Congratulations to the Foundation — what a great program you have and I am really glad that so many of the fellows are here tonight.
To my friend Jim McCrery, thank you for your very kind words — way too kind, and your willingness to come here tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim McCrery is a class act. He’s a steady voice of wisdom and experience and reason — not that that is needed in the U.S. Congress. Many of us predicted when he took on this manifold leadership of the Ways and Means Committee that we would see great things, and we’ve seen that. He has done a terrific job as was noted earlier, reaching across the aisle, focusing not on partisan results, but on results that help people.
His relationship with Chairman Rangel is already bearing fruit and I’m just delighted that Jim was willing to come tonight and I am very proud to call him my friend. I really hate to break up this all Louisiana night that they talked about — Linda Dooley informed me that this would have been a Mardi Gras theme if I had not been here. So I apologize to those of you who wanted to wear beads and eat etouffee, but you will be glad to know that John Breaux is hosting a Louisiana after-party — check in to Acadiana’s at about 11 pm and he will be there.
To Tom Boggs, I join John Breaux and others here tonight in congratulating you on a remarkable career. You know, I knew Tom Boggs back when, 23 years ago, I thought he was a pretty big deal. That’s when he made the decision to take a chance on a young lawyer and my first job out of law school was working at the Boggs firm. At that time, Tom Boggs was at the top of his game and it’s amazing, 23 years later, he is still at the top of his game. It is remarkable. As I said, he took a chance on me. Sadly, it didn’t work out too well for Patton Boggs.
After two years of great training in international trade law and probably very minimal productivity on my part, I fell in love with a young staffer on Capitol Hill and chose to move back to my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio and get married, raise a family and that was Jane Dudley Wharton. As we did when I served in Congress, we have decided to keep our home in Cincinnati, so Jane came in tonight to see all of you and it’s been kind of fun.
We’ve been talking about how this is a little like a reunion because there are people here from my Congressional office, former members and friends from the greater Cincinnati area, friends from Patton Boggs; friends from so many of my former jobs, including Nick Calio, who worked with me in the first Bush White House. So it’s just really, really fun to have Jane here and to be with you all. The members of my family are the ones who deserve the award. Jane and our three kids – Jed, Will and Sally – have allowed me to serve and in fact they have even encouraged me to serve, believe it or not, to pursue the passion that I’ve got for public service. And that is in spite of the very real sacrifice that it involves.
And again, I see a number of my former colleagues here and you know exactly what I am talking about. So although I am so honored to get this award, the award is really more fitting to my family who have allowed me to do this. It’s also really neat for me to be associated with an award that bears the name of Bryce Harlow. I did have the privilege, as Jim said, to get to know Bryce Harlow. Right after college, I was one of those many young people who he befriended and he gave me his advice willingly. He took time out to advise me on my future. By that time, he was already an elder statesman and I knew him by reputation.
The Proctor and Gamble Company which is, again, represented here tonight, had the privilege of having him represent them here in Washington for many years. Since Proctor was from my hometown, when I came to Washington they said that I had to meet this guy. So a mutual friend said that I ought to look him up, so I did and Bryce Harlow invited me to lunch at the Metropolitan Club. Now remember, I am first year out of college now. I got a haircut, I borrowed a tie from my roommate and I went to the very intimidating Metropolitan Club to meet with Bryce Harlow.
Of course, I was real excited about meeting him because I knew of his reputation. I remember he first introduced me around the room and Hugh Scott was there, a former minority leader and that really dates me. We sat down to talk and I said, “Mr. Harlow, tell me what it was like, your career on the Hill, your career in the White House, particularly the post-Watergate White House.” Bob Bennett was a friend of his back in those days, by the way, and has some great Bryce Harlow stories about those times. But he would have none of that. He did not want to talk about himself; he wanted to talk about me. Again, here I was, somebody trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and found this guy who was a great listener, an engaged listener; a very rare trait for those of us in the political world, yet one that we should all emulate. He was focused on helping me and over the next several months, he did. At that point in my life, I couldn’t decide whether I should stay in Washington and work in government or go to law school, so I was struggling with that decision.
I knew that I wanted to work in public service, but frankly, I just didn’t like the idea of three more years of school and the expense and so on. So letters and visits, including one to his beloved cottage at Harper’s Ferry, where some of you visited him, I got the chance to know him and he helped steer me. His most convincing argument about law school was a story that he told about himself in typical Harlow-esque modesty.
I remember to this day, it was a story about the Armed Service Committee, where he served as staff director. He said that one day at a hearing, an issue came up about a legislative matter and the chairman of the committee, Chairman Carl Vincent, turned to Bryce Harlow as the staff director and said, “Please give us your opinion about this legislative matter.” And he did; thought it was fine, and then suddenly he said he was cross-examined heavily by a member of the committee that disagreed with him and that disagreed with the chairman.
I don’t know this for a fact, but I believe that member of Congress was his nemesis at the time; a young Congressman from Texas named Lyndon Johnson. He said that things were going all right, but he was under pressure and then finally this member questioned him about his legal analysis of this legislative matter. And the member inquired, knowing full well what the answer was, “Mr. Harlow, are you a lawyer?” He wasn’t. He said that he never felt smaller and that he joked that that was saying a lot, given his small stature. Again, classic Harlow humor and humility.
Anyway, here was this icon in Washington public policy circles lamenting that he didn’t have a J.D. and therefore his credibility was not as great as it could have been. I listened to him and I applied to law school and I went that next fall. So for good or for bad, Tommy, I ended up at law school in part because of the man we are here to honor tonight. It’s a good thing that I got that law degree because now I spend a lot of my time at the Office of Management and Budget trying to convince members of Congress that in fact we are properly executing the laws that they passed.
Bryce Harlow would be disappointed at the number of times that I lose that argument, but it has come in handy now and again. Bryce Harlow was a humble man and his humility was one thing that we should honor. Another thing about Bryce Harlow that I loved is that he didn’t take himself too seriously. One of my favorite quotes from Bryce Harlow is, “Never confuse yourself with your job. It may be important, you are not.” Something for all of us in this town to be reminded of now and again.
Joel Jankowski wrote an essay about Bryce Harlow and he cites four other characteristics that he calls the Harlow tradition — exceptional work ethic, deep understanding of the processes of good government, the ability to adapt to change and finally above all, integrity. Now Harlow’s quote on integrity was, “Integrity is power; they are one in the same.” That Harlow tradition has a lot to teach all of us about how to carry out the solemn responsibilities that we have and everyone in this room has them. Whether we are elected officials or appointed or whether we are in the public sector or the private sector, we are all involved in making decisions that affect people’s lives, and people’s lives in the world’s greatest democracy. In my time in Congress, at USTR, at OMB — I can’t keep a job, as you can tell — I’ve had the good fortune of working with colleagues and dedicated staff who do understand that responsibility, the responsibility that comes with the privilege of representing fellow Americans. Again, a lot of those people are here tonight.
I still believe that public service is a noble calling. I am encouraged by what I see on the Hill and at the White House today among that next generation of public servants or potential public servants. Some are Bryce Harlow Fellows who were introduced earlier tonight and I congratulate you. I hope that your experience as fellows will instill in you an even greater enthusiasm for work in government, and a strong appreciation for the integrity that it demands.
I am grateful that Bryce Harlow took time to give me some guidance along the way and inspire me by his example nearly three decades ago. I am also very grateful for two other distinguished leaders who have given me some incredible opportunities to serve. Jim mentioned that it was my privilege to serve President Bush 41 and now to serve his son, President George W. Bush. I am proud to be part of this president’s team during what is, admittedly, a very challenging period in our nation’s history. So again, I thank you for the honor of this award carrying Bryce Harlow’s name. It inspires me to continue to try to be worthy of the great legacy that he leaves. Thank you all very much and Godspeed.