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U.S. Representative Jane Lakes Harman,
a leading Congressional expert on terrorism and security issues, was the speaker
at Smith College's 128th commencement ceremony, Sunday, May 21.
Seventeen years ago I watched the Smith commencement
ceremony. Delivering the address that year, in 1989, was a giant of a man: John Kenneth
Galbraith, whose robe looked more like a cape over his 6'8" frame.
Sorry, this year you’ve got me -- and I’m
17 inches shorter! Some of you may know that I gave the commencement address at Smith
12 years ago, soon after I was first elected to Congress. When I asked Carol Christ
why she wanted a “repeater,” she responded “Jane, it’s a
whole new generation of students.”
Eek! Is that possible? Can I be that old? Well, yes.
But you do me a favor. You give me a chance to tell my youngest daughter, Justine,
who graduated Penn on Monday, what is on her ancient mother’s mind.
My message to the Class of '94 was that dreams don’t
just come true, they must be pursued. I talked about arriving at Smith from a Los
Angeles public school and how my mother, the first in her immigrant family to go
to college, had been accepted at Smith but failed to qualify for a scholarship because
she was under 16.
Though I had never seen the college before my first
day as a freshman, I felt I was fulfilling my mother’s dream. But once here,
I soon realized that I had to discover my own dream, and pursue it.
I did, and I have.
I am passionate about public service and I have the
job I dreamed of since, as a high school sophomore, I attended the Democratic Convention
in Los Angeles, met Eleanor Roosevelt, and witnessed the nomination of John F. Kennedy
for President of the United States.
My late mother was proud of me. When she died in 1993,
I had just been elected to Congress -- my first elected office. I was 47, part way
between 40 and 60, the years my mother said would be the best of my life.
But though she was very wise, my mother was wrong to
claim age 60 as an end-point.
I turned 60 last year, ran a marathon, and became a
grandmother for the first time two months ago. Thank you. If I’m counting right,
Lucy, named after my mother, should be the Class of 2027!
My talk today is about how women lead.
My view -- and my advice to you -- is that leading is
tough work. It starts when you are ready, and it ends…when you are ready.
What is leadership? It is barely defined in the New
Oxford American Dictionary (a gift I recently gave my literate husband). First definition
is to “cause a person or animal to go with one by holding them by the hand,
a halter, a rope, etc.” Yikes! Not what I meant.
Leading is a tough thing to describe or quantify. Actually,
if done well, people being led don’t know it is happening. Instead of feeling
pulled or tugged, they feel inclined to follow the right vision or message.
Being a leader requires a number of things:
None of this is easy -- and anyone who tells you
it is, is lying.
So how to get started?
Well, today would be a good time. You are graduating
from a top-tier college and look great in your caps and gowns. Your families have
spent a fortune on you, and are here to cheer you on. Thank you, families.
Perhaps you have a job lined up, or graduate school,
or summer travel. What will any of those opportunities mean to you?
I doubt you completed four years here and have no answer
to my question. I would guess your answer has something to do with what you have
learned, what you will learn, or what you expect to accomplish.
In each case, whether you believe this or not, you
now have the self-confidence to know you are bringing some capabilities with you:
a well developed brain, a work ethic, curiosity, and -- maybe -- a sense
of duty.
All of these attributes contribute to leadership.
So how does one learn to lead?
Well, there are tomes and courses on leadership, but
there’s no rule book. There are great mentors, but I think the best way to
begin is by looking inside. Even if it is not yet obvious to you, you have what it
takes to be a leader.
You have graduated -- or almost graduated -- from
Smith. That is a big ticket.
What did Smith teach me about leadership, and what
have I learned since?
Smith was a nurturing environment in which I took my
first shaky baby steps as a leader. I often say that Congress is my first elected
office since my run for junior high school treasurer, which I lost. But at Smith,
I did run the Young Democrats and organized an event for Hubert Humphrey in 1964
when he was the Democratic candidate for Vice President.
I still have the clip from The Sophian showing me and
fellow Smithie, Trudy Rubin, now an author and ace reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer,
on the front page. We did a pretty good job! And if you don’t believe me go
to the new collection in the library and you’ll see the clip.
Smith also gave me the tools to reach higher. I had
to take the law boards at Amherst because Smith didn’t offer them. But I felt
well prepared for my Harvard Law interview, and was accepted.
At Harvard, I pursued my political interests and marveled
at being one of only 30 women in a class of 550.
Though my life after law school has not always come
up roses, there has been a clear trajectory, and I’ve never stopped reaching.
I love public policy, and suffer withdrawal when I can’t
find a good newspaper, hear an informed panel discussion or find substantive news
program on TV. From time to time, I’m even part of breaking news! Something
I could barely imagine as a dreamer and student here.
A few stories may be instructive.
When I ran for Congress in 1992, few thought I could
win in a so-called “lean-Republican” seat. I won the Democratic primary
easily, but my break came when Maureen Reagan -- daughter of the former President -- lost
the Republican primary.
She was pro-choice, and her moderate Republican supporters
decided to support the pro-choice candidate in the race: me! They formed the nucleus
of Republicans For Harman, a key to my close victories thereafter.
I got over 50 percent of the vote -- for the first
time -- in 1996, and was beginning to relax about my vulnerability when, at
the last minute, Senator Dianne Feinstein dropped out of the 1998 race for Governor
of California.
She and I are great friends and our voting records
are similar: progressive on social issues, moderate on economic and security issues.
A large group supporting her turned to me. Would I run?
Only someone like me, they argued, could defeat the
very conservative Republican candidate, then California Attorney General and former
Congressman Dan Lungren.
It was pretty heady stuff. I learned then that political
advisors and pollsters will always tell you that you can win … especially
if they will get hired.
I decided to do it, and had to give up my House seat
to do so. (In California and most states, a candidate cannot run for two offices
simultaneously.)
What followed was an out-of-body experience. I had to
win in a three-way primary in 12 weeks, but I was virtually unknown statewide. So
my team cut a few introductory biographical TV spots, and I vaulted quickly into
first place.
Then, one of my primary opponents unleashed a relentless
$42 million attack campaign against me. Every vote I had made in Congress was dissected
and twisted. I was called an agent of communist China -- notwithstanding the
fact that the Cold War had ended nine years earlier and our country had recognized
the People’s Republic of China for a quarter century!
I was able to put up a modestly funded rebuttal. “Leadership
is about attacking problems, not each other,” my face-to-camera spot said.
In the end, it was called a “murder-suicide.” I
was murdered, and his negative campaign killed him. The third candidate in the primary,
named Gray Davis, won, and he did go on to beat Dan Lungren -- only to be recalled
a few years ago.
But here’s the irony. By being out of Congress,
I had the chance to become Regents Professor at UCLA and to refine my views on public
policy. I was appointed to the National Commission on Terrorism, a position I used
to gain expertise on the security challenges we face -- and faced -- prior
to 9/11. Our Commission predicted a major attack on U.S. soil.
But also, when the Democratic Leadership persuaded me
to run against the moderate Republican who had been elected to my vacated seat, I
was promised that my seniority would be restored -- which is why I am now the
senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.
In that post I have traveled to the four corners of
the world: Libya (twice), Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan (twice), Iraq (three
times), and North Korea, to name a few. And I was a principal author of the major
intelligence reform bill that became law in 1994.
Earlier this month, I was the principal co-author of
another bill, the SAFE Port Act, a massive maritime security reform bill that passed
the House by a slim margin -- 421 to 2 -- a legislative miracle in a sea
of toxic partisanship.
But here’s the fun part. My co-author was … Dan
Lungren! Yup, the very fellow I was recruited to beat in the California Governor’s
race.
Dan returned to Congress in 2004. I strongly disagree
with his views on social issues, but we serve together and work together on the Homeland
Security Committee and our ports bill reflects that collaboration. By the way, a
similar bill is moving through the Senate, and I predict our effort will become law.
So, what are the lessons?
One: As mentioned, leadership is inside out. It starts
with your own head and heart. If it doesn’t, people will know it and won’t
believe in you.
Two: Leadership takes work. You have to trust your own
instincts and marshal your arguments.
Three: Failure is your friend, and learning from tough
experiences will set you up for even greater success.
Let me leave you with a few more lessons about leadership,
which I’m still learning, too.
Four: Leaders never give up. Think Nelson Mandela, Vaclav
Havel, or my dear friend Geraldine Ferraro. Gerry has survived political losses for
Vice President, Senator and serious cancer. She is currently the inspiration for
the Win with Women campaign, which is teaching women around the world advocacy skills
and how to run for office.
I recently taught a campaign seminar in Kuwait and was
blown away by the enormous talent in the room. Gerry is just as excited as they are!
Five: Leadership is lonely -- especially for women.
You have to assume you won’t please everyone and will make enemies. Sadly,
I have learned that women don’t always support each other.
Six: The mountain is steepest at the top. The higher
you rise, the less oxygen there is. It takes enormous fortitude to keep climbing.
Seven: When you succeed as a leader, your most important
obligation is to mentor and help the women who come after you. I hope I’m doing
some of this today.
And eight: Never forget that leaders are also family
members. Some of you will marry and start your own families. But all of you have
families. They need you too.
John Kenneth Galbraith died recently at 97. An author,
beloved professor, diplomat, counselor to Presidents -- his life spanned the
20th century.
He never stopped questioning the status quo, and had
some rather pithy things to say about leadership as well. Said Galbraith:
“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic
in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of
their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”
He
also said:
“There are times in politics when you must be
on the right side and lose.”
He also said:
“If all else fails, immortality can always be
assured by spectacular error.”
Pretty fabulous!
Of course you know that his witty and wonderful wife,
Catherine, was a Smithie!
So to fabulous women surrounded here by family and loved
ones, and to the hardy Smithies who preceded you, I say:
Look inside yourselves and find your passion.
Go for it.
Don’t quit if it doesn’t come easily.
If time permits, clue in your parents. They will be
more supportive than you think.
Know that you make those who came before you -- especially
Smithies -- very, very proud!
Congratulations. Best wishes. You made it!
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