There are so many ways to go after Trump. But where do you start?
There were so many things that I loved that I left behind without iooking back. OK maybe I glanced. Let’s start with teaching it was great and the learning was even better. But I didn’t want to do a tenure track so after years of loving my classes and wearing my gown to graduation, I moved on. At least on a permanent basis.
And where did I go? Remember (or did I forget to tell you) every four years I worked in Presidential politics, which I always loved. Let’s begin with the McGovern campaign.Gary Hart was the campaign manager. And most of the rest of us were 25. I worked in Massachusetts. If you are old enough to remember, we did win in Mass. and South Dakota.
After he lost and we got over the heartbreak (did we ever get over it?), I had a baby. Moving on. I went back to teaching. First at Waltham High School, then, at Boston University and finally at Emerson where I also got a gradate degree.
We created the chicken statements and the ducks. Oh and then there were the Pinocchio’s, witches and the Harry Truman Truth Squad. How do you go after this moron running for President. And Vance who grew up as a Christian with one name, Married as a Hindu with another name and, I assume changed into a Christian again with who knows what name. Now that’s fodder for any trouble makers who wanted to fod.
But wait. There is breaking news, the Americans held hostage in Russia will be released. Today, tonight, they are on their way home. The blob I was going to write was about choices. Maybe all my choices weren’t the best but what was lacking was follow through. For example, I was in USIA the cultural are of the state department. The officers who were taken by Iranian students were Cultural Affairs officers. It was horrible. We had meetings everyday with the political people at the State Department and the White House. Jimmy Carter was truly an advocate for Human Rights so the negotiations were especially painful for him. We all new that when Carter lost the election the Iranians would wait until the day he left office before the release came. It was so sad. There was no choice for me. I left the Government with the Carters. Soon to return with the Clintons.
There were so many things that I loved that I left behind without iooking back. OK maybe I glanced. Let’s start with teaching it was great and the learning was even better. But I didn’t want to do a tenure track so after years of loving my classes and wearing my gown to graduation, I moved on. At least on a permanent basis.
And where did I go? Remember (or did I forget to tell you) every four years I worked in Presidential politics, which I always loved. Let’s begin with the McGovern campaign.Gary Hart was the campaign manager. And most of the rest of us were 25. I worked in Massachusetts. If you are old enough to remember, we did win in Mass. and South Dakota.
After he lost and we got over the heartbreak (did we ever get over it?), I had a baby. Moving on. I went back to teaching. First at Waltham High School, then, at Boston University and finally at Emerson where I also got a gradate degree.
Then we moved to the middle of nowhere and I met Mo and Ella Udall. He announced his bid for President without telling anyone except Jessica Tuchman and Colin Mathews. Jess who was an old friend asked me to work in central Mass. where, you may remember, I lived in the middle of nowhere. Eventually, I met the candidate and his wife Ella and she asked me to travel with them. It was never my intention to leave my baby. In the meantime, the sperm donor moved his secretary/girlfriend into the house in the middle of nowhere. It was never my intention to leave my son but it got very crowded with the three of us. (This is the part where I whine.).
Nevermind, there is nothing to whine about except losing my son which was certainly not my choice. Mo lost and and Carter was nominated and won, I worked for for Rosalyn, moved to Washington and lived in my car. Yes, I was the original Homeless person. Politics is unkind, and even though I had a letter from Rosalyn asking me to come work for her, there was no job. A few months later my friend Jane, also my lifesaver, found a job for me with International Visitors in the State Department. (Some more whining but just for a minute).
The Department of State was not a nice place to work if you were young and Jewish, I was both, The head of administration in cultural affairs asked me why I wanted to work in the Foreign Service. I was confused and admitted that I didn’t know the Foreign Service from the Foreign Legion but I wanted him to teach me everything I needed to know about personnel. He taught me things like there had to be a slot for every job, Who Knew? It was a fabulous job, I traveled all over the world at State Department expense was detailed to the White House for foreign trip It was terrific but as a political appointment I had to leave when Carter lost the election. Lets talk briefly about reinvention. Quite simply, while challenging in your mid thirties, not so much in your forth quarter. (This means the last quarter of your life.).
Let’s just summarize what has happened at this point in terms of reinvention. Graduate degree, Professorship, teaching all over the place, politics, not necessarily in order, (Coordinator Udall Campaign, McGovern Campaign, Carter Campaign, Director of Security for the Democrat Convention— first and only woman.). Reinvent to High Level Government Position). Candidate defeated, oh my. Another reinvention. Started a boutique Public Relations firm, called Arrive. That’s what the Secret Service says when they get to where they are supposed to be. Signal Arrive! Worked all over the world for Paramount Pictures including the International opening of the film “Gandhi”, in India. Gary Hart runs for President. Gary Hart loses the nomination. Big Blow out with partners at the Democratic Convention in SanFrancisco. Another reinvent?
Of course, this time as business/women’s loan fund creator. You may not know this but there was a time when women were not able to secure their own business loans, or any loans for that matter. We saw a need, raised hunted of thousand of dollars (thank you American Express) and started to disperse small business loans for women with a vision. It was called “Count Me In” and many many women applied for loans to support their own small businesses.
When I discovered that my business partner was firing perfectly competent people and hiring her own family members to administer the loans I left. But I had raised a great deal of money money and made all kinds on national business connections. It was painful but it was also 1988 and there was another Presidential Campaign lurking in my future. Oh, and I got married a guy that was a big deal— he has a sign that says so.
How do I start to talk about the Hart Campaign? After he was successful in New Hampshire and he emerged as likely opposition to Mondale, we all thought that it important to have an office, hire a staff and make it look like a Presidential campaign. Maybe there were five people who were in place and ready to answer phones, remember there no phones, and pretty much no technology. Once we opened the office it needed to be staffed. Paige Reffe was the scheduler. I assisted him for a while and did a little bit of everything that needed to be done including hiring the staff. At some point Eli Segal and I went to California where I scheduled everyone who wasn’t Gary. My accommodations were amazing. The Beverly Wilshire was my home. It was beyond words. Family, Celebs, (Richard Simmons and I met every day in the parking lot to talk about his pillows. You simply wouldn’t believe the celebrities who wanted to act a surrogates for the candidate. We were moving up in the polls and he would have been the nominee until the fundraiser in LA where he said, Lee (his wife) got lucky, she got to be in LA and I got stuck in New Jersey. I’m a Jersey girl and I knew it was over. Gary went to talk to the media, he didn’t have too, so it was very painful for all of us. Reinvention time.
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