The GSB Goes to Washington as Washington Goes to War
Gene Cook, MBA2
Issue date: 5/5/03 Section: travel
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We had feared that many of our meetings would be cancelled. But the word had gone out in the Administration that things should proceed as business as usual as possible, and the rest of the city seemed to follow this lead.
Fifteen of us passed up any time on a beach in order to develop a better understanding of the intersection between business, politics and public policy. It was a fascinating experience. And-somehow setting the war aside-we had a great time.
Framing the Experience
Monday started the trip with a symmetry that would have been impossible to plan. We began with a meeting with Mitch Daniels, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (the budgetary, agency and regulatory oversight arm of the White House).
Director Daniels and the President were preparing to submit a nearly $75 billion supplemental budget request to Congress the next day to fund the war with Iraq. That afternoon, they were to meet with key Congressional leaders in order to press their case.
Director Daniels acknowledged that there should be debate over the funding but said that he and the President would push for the process to be "fast, flexible and clean" and not become bogged down in legislators' individual priorities. This consistent focus on limiting spending has often shaped his relationships with members of Congress.
More broadly, Daniels spoke of the growing need in government for people with private sector backgrounds. He expects this trend to continue.
Arizona Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe, GSB'68, invited us into his Capitol Hill home for a reception and what would become a four-hour discussion Monday evening. It was the perfect bookend for the day, as Kolbe-the chairman of the House subcommittee that funds most U.S. foreign aid programs-was one of fifteen Congressional leaders invited to the meeting with President Bush and Director Daniels. He had just returned as we arrived, and he shared with us his thoughts on the war and rebuilding to follow.
He also shared a very different perspective on the continuing struggle between the Administration and Congress over appropriate spending, noting that discretionary funds make up only a tiny fraction of the federal budget. The real challenges that the country has not faced directly, he maintained, are enormous federal programs like Social Security, for which the burden will only grow.
All Things Political
The trip featured meetings with a number of politicians and their staff members. David Spencer, MBA2, introduced us to his uncle, Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat representing West Virginia who met with us in his small private office off of the Senate floor. He clearly loves being a senator and the depth and breadth of impact it allows him to have.
Our conversation with Anna Eshoo, the Democratic congresswoman representing Silicon Valley, centered on the issue of expensing stock options. Not surprisingly, she held strongly that this would dampen the spirit of risk-taking that inspires fragile start-ups to grow.
California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein was particularly engaging and forthright. She spoke passionately about the importance for us as future business leaders to maintain high ethical standards. She then proceeded to detail her own, sometimes-improbable rise to power and its personal costs.
Our meeting with Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican former mayor of Indianapolis, was another highlight of the trip. Senator Lugar chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and hosted us in the committee's historic conference room in the Capitol.
It was somewhat surreal to talk with Senator Lugar for nearly an hour and a half-interrupted four times as he raced upstairs to vote and back again-about his business career and political beginnings on a school board, while the fighting raged overseas. It was fascinating to see such different sides of him fully engaged as he stayed on top of events in Iraq.
Congressman Gary Ackerman, a Democrat representing Long Island and part of Queens in New York, stood in stark contrast to politicians who invest heavily in Congressional leadership structures. He is very much his own man, frequently alone on issues and frustrating others within his own party. He cautioned us not to be afraid to speak out. Otherwise, he warned, more intimidating people will simply have their way.
Allen Moore, GSB'71 and Legislative Director for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (a Republican heart surgeon from Tennessee), talked about the Senator's rapid rise to power.
Frist is a famous multi-tasker sought out by his colleagues for medical advice. Moore described the series of Blackberry emails he received from Senator Frist-during the midst of the Senate leadership shakeout-as Frist was assisting with surgery on several animals in the National Zoo. The messages didn't address events unfolding in Senate hallways; they provided updates on the health of his furry patients.
Our meeting with retired four-star Admiral Charles Larson, an uncle of Scott Mackenzie, MBA1, focused somewhat surprisingly on politics. Admiral Larson, the former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, has been a best friend of Senator John McCain since their days at the Naval Academy, and it was reported that he would have held Condoleezza Rice's position in a McCain administration. The Admiral later became a Democrat and was Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's running mate in her unsuccessful race for Massachusetts governor. He talked us through the basics of a campaign in some detail.
Our meeting with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a Stanford law alumnus and father of a recent GSB graduate, was remarkable. He spoke candidly about the experience of deliberating Bush v. Gore and repeated his published position that the court should not have heard the case.
Business and Government
In Washington, it is often impossible to tell exactly where politics end and business begins. Nowhere was this more apparent than in our discussion with David Rubinstein, founder of the Carlyle Group, in a meeting facilitated by Professor Bob Grady. Carlyle works primarily with industries and companies directly impacted by government regulation and action, and its top roster reads like a Who's Who of business and government. Rubinstein made it clear that these heavy hitters were invaluable keys to the firm's success, international perspective and access.
One of our best meetings of the week was at the firm of Kissinger McLarty and Associates. Anders Fisher, MBA1, has special pull there, as his father is a principal. Kissinger is THAT Kissinger, Mack McLarty was President Clinton's first Chief of Staff and childhood friend and Richard Fisher, GSB'75, was Deputy U.S. Trade Representative in the Clinton administration and essentially the COO for NAFTA. The firm advises multinational corporations on business strategy and recently started a venture capital arm. Ambassador Fisher and Mr. McLarty shared insight into Washington (a "tough, brutal place" and "Hollywood for ugly people") and the divergence between politics and policy.
They also talked about what it takes to succeed in business and government-peripheral vision, honesty, integrity, principle, focused effort and a strong sense of self. Ambassador Fisher cautioned us that government service requires emotional stability, suggesting that people have their family lives in place and material needs satisfied before diving into public service.
We joined the Sloans, who were on their annual East Coast trip, for a meeting with the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, William Donaldson. Among other things, he spoke of the need to find a way to account for stock options more openly in financial statements, while he acknowledged there might be several ways to accomplish that.
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao summed up her keys to management success simply: the ability to grow as an individual, strengths in identifying and attracting outstanding people and the power to motivate and influence them. In Washington, political fortunes change constantly. Most who succeed, she noted, only do so after several defeats. They never give up.
We went to the headquarters of the AFL/CIO, which directly overlook the White House, for a very different perspective on labor issues and one of the most eye opening meetings of the trip. We spoke with Richard Trumka, the organization's Treasurer and an impassioned advocate of the need for management to approach labor relations differently. Too often, he declared, CEOs come to unions with firmly entrenched positions. Instead, he suggested, they should come with needs and work with organized labor to address them. It was a very interesting 45 minutes. We've invited him to speak at the GSB, so get ready to rumble.
International Perspectives
This was a particularly interesting time to visit embassies. Tommy Goji, MBA2, arranged a meeting with the Japanese ambassador-an engaging man who served in San Francisco for many years and loves baseball. He stressed that the strength of the U.S.-Japan relationship stems as much from our shared values as our shared interests.
Within the Israeli embassy, we were struck by the confidence senior officials projected in the potential for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement within a foreseeable horizon. Most Israelis accept that meaningful concessions will have to be made in order to secure the peace, they maintained, and the country is looking for a Palestinian partner with whom they can work. Given we were in the midst of a war, it was striking to hear them speak as though long-term peace was the only logical conclusion to be reached, eventually.
The German ambassador frankly acknowledged the current challenges in the relationship between Germany and the U.S., exacerbated by the coldness between the nations' top political leaders. He asserted that the countless other relationships between the countries would help them remain close allies over the long haul, stressing that German and American interests are completely intertwined.
The Chief of the Cuban Interest Section proclaimed that Cubans are true believers in "social justice-call it whatever you want-socialism, communism or social democracy." He declared that Cuba is not about fixed ideology, saying that the country is willing to learn and to change.
Domestic and International Policy
Jeremy Sokulsky, MBA1, arranged a group of meetings offering the unique opportunity to triangulate a specific public policy issue-forest management-through the eyes of an industry group (The American Forest and Paper Association), environmental advocates (The Wilderness Society) and the federal government (the Department of the Interior). It was fascinating to hear people discuss often-diverging views using similar language and to recognize the growing influence of private sector methods and mindsets in shaping public policy.
We also met with senior officials at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the International Finance Corporation. A managing director of the World Bank emphasized the organization's growing efforts to work as a partner with countries in trouble, as opposed to simply dictating solutions.
Fun
Oh, we had fun-most of which stays in Washington-largely due to our outstanding social chairs, Ossa Fredricsson, MBA1, and Scott Plumridge, MBA1. We sampled Congress's "Freedom Fries," which bore a striking resemblance to reheated frozen French fries. Anders' parents graciously opened their home to area alumni and us for a Wednesday evening reception. We also had a great time Friday night recalling the events of the week over dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill, a Washington landmark.
Leaving on a High Note
For our last meeting of the trip, we found ourselves sitting late Friday afternoon in the Roosevelt Room of the White House's West Wing. We spent an hour and a half with Josh Bolten, the President's Deputy Chief of Staff, discussing the implications of the wars on terrorism and in Iraq on the nation's foreign policy and the President's domestic agenda. He spoke at length about President Bush's management style, lauding his ability to determine immediately just what is and what is not a "Presidential decision."
Mr. Bolten showed us the collection of pictures on his wall that White House photographers have taken of the President's hands since he came into office. There was a story for each photo- showing the President signing his first bill, holding a badge from a police officer who died at the World Trade Center, gesturing emphatically during his first press conference after 9/11 and preparing to throw out the first pitch for a World Series game in a shaken but resolute New York City.
The Big Picture
We all walked away from the trip with a number of key insights. First, these people in extremely high and celebrated positions of influence are simply that-very real people-sometimes extremely intelligent, talented and persistent individuals-but mere mortals nevertheless. Several of us commented about how much more tangible the possibility of having an impact in the nexus of business, politics and government seemed. It was inspiring to broaden our aspirations a little.
That said, when we pressed people for advice on building such a career, almost every one pointed to luck and having taken advantage of opportunities as they arose. Still, it was clear that many of them had spent lifetimes positioning themselves to be "lucky."
Other keys to leadership repeated often were communications skills and "doing what you say you'll do." Clearly, the value placed in Washington on managers who have proven themselves in business settings is growing quickly. Washington remains a town dominated by lawyers, but increasingly its inhabitants value the perspective, language and experience we're gaining in business school.
When it came to the war, I was struck by the extent to which even those who had helped establish the policy that led to the military action were left, like us, watching their television screens as events unfolded.
Someone Friday evening commented that fifteen lives were changed as a result of the trip. I think that's true, and we hope that the experience will become an annual GSB tradition. It fills an absolutely critical need for the school, strengthening ties with those in government, examining leadership and establishing a beachhead on the east coast.
Dave Kaval, MBA2, and I would like to thank everyone who went on the trip and made it such a rich and rewarding experience to organize. We are deeply grateful for the support of so many at the GSB, within the administration and especially from the superstars within the Student Life Office. We're ready to go again.
I believe you said you have room for two photos...
** 1. Please definitely include this as the lead, larger photo:
The group poses in the West Wing with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Bolten after a great final meeting on Friday afternoon.
*Here are two options for the second one (unless you have room for all 3):
2. (Bush hands photos-to be placed toward the end)
These photographs allow President Bush's hands to tell the stories of some of his greatest challenges and triumphs while in office.
-OR-
3. (White House Photo-the only reason to include this, since it's only a partial group shot, is if you want to have a recognizable D.C. landmark)
It was an interesting time to be in Washington, as war raged overseas and a bank of White House reporters tried to figure out what business we had at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.