Q&A: Wisdom from Washington
When it comes to Lee Hamilton, JD'56, political wisdom is no oxymoron. High-profile,
nonpartisan roles in issues ranging from the 9-11 Commission to the Iraq Study Group,
34 years in Congress, and a deep commitment to public service, render his insights on
education, politicians, and ordinary citizens awfully extraordinary. An Alumni News exclusive.
Q. What are your views on the importance of higher education, law school in particular?
I had an undergraduate experience at DePauw University (BA'52) that certainly opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities. My law school education was also very helpful to me. Students coming out of Indiana Law have achieved a lot on their own. They've attended an excellent law school and completed a very rigorous process of learning.
I believe that lawyers have a very special role in the new world coming. Lawyers are the chief negotiators and mediators—often peacemakers. I think they possess special skills that are very much needed in the kind of a world we live in today and certainly for the future. I don't think there's ever been a better time for a young American with a newly-minted law degree to make a contribution to his community and to the country.
Q. What advice do you have for young alumni aspiring to politics?
All of us would agree that there are a lot of problems out there to work on. Every one of these problems needs talented people addressing them. I think most everybody wants his life to make a difference, to count for something; to do that you've got to get off the sidelines and get into the fray.
Q. Many say you are one in a dying breed of true statesmen. What does our nation need in a politician today?
The great skill that is needed among politicians today (not just elected officials, but anybody who sees himself playing a political role in any kind of an organization whether it's a political party or a church) is the ability to build consensus. It's not difficult to walk into a room and exacerbate differences. What's really hard is to come into a room where you have a variety of opinions and bring people together. That takes real, genuine political skill; it's one I think we're short of today—in the political realm anyway, if not in other realms.
We are a very large country. It's a very diverse country, and there are deep differences among us. It isn't a given that we will always be the preeminent power that we are today. It's going to take a lot of skillful people in the years ahead to keep the country unified and able to solve the very formidable challenges that we have in front of us.
Q. Are there moments for you when building consensus was particularly critical?
On the 9/11 commission we had 10 commissioners: five republicans, five democrats. We had a similar lineup in the Iraq Study Group, with people of conservative and liberal views. You have to be patient, of course, and focus on what the facts are and not what you think they are. You have to talk out differences. There may be a way to reach consensus without extended dialogue and talking, but I haven't found it. If there is a shortcut I'd certainly like to know about it.
I know that many people believe that this country functions best when all of us assert our particular private or special interests. I have always appreciated the point of view that you need people to focus on the question of the common good in a particular situation and drive toward that.
Q. Your Center on Congress work often addresses civic engagement. How do "ordinary" people affect change in this country?
I'm impressed by the burden that a representative democracy places on an individual citizen. This burden requires us to vote, as everybody mentions, but it also requires us to make individual, informed decisions and to participate in resolving problems wherever we can. We cannot all work on issues of war and peace or how to solve the health care problems of the country or what to do about the future of social security, but we can be involved in our neighborhoods. And I have found that people who are involved are not cynical.
Now that's not an easy thing. Earning a living today, taking care of your family, and all of the issues attendant in modern living can consume an awful lot of your time, maybe most of your time. I believe our country makes a wager on each one of us, and it says, "in return for giving me freedom and opportunity, it is my obligation to respond with a life that is well and constructively lived." Most of the time I think our country wins.
I love what you say about cynicism. It seems so omnipresent in our culture today.
We all succumb to cynicism from time to time. It's a temptation for any of us, but to the extent you do give in to it, the possibility of resolving the problem is diminished.
Q. On the subject of consensus: at this stage of the game, it's clear that the Bush administration is committed to stepping up the American military presence in Iraq. That plan certainly rejects much, if not all, of the Iraq Study Group Report. What does this mean, and how will it affect this country?
Well, I think the game is still afoot. A number of the recommendations have been rejected. Some have been adopted. Some have been adopted in part and rejected in part. I think on some of the major recommendations eventually the country will have to come back to them.
For example, we recommended that a way to responsibly exit Iraq would be to accelerate training of Iraqi forces, making that the primary mission of American forces. I think at some point we will simply have to come back to that. That's the only way to responsibly exit Iraq.
Q. Is there an issue facing our nation today that is greater than Iraq?
The answer is no. Iraq is the overwhelming issue in the country today, certainly not the only issue. The policymakers are very heavily focused on it, and it is not going to be easy to solve or approach many other problems until we get it out of the way. Now that doesn't mean we don't work on other problems at this point. It's just the very large, looming public policy issue before the American people.
Q. Is it hard to stay motivated when you're dealing with these "large and looming" issues?
I knew the country expected us to try to come up with the best answers we could. I felt that pressure very acutely. In the 9/11 case, there was the additional pressure or interest from the families of victims, who had suffered very greatly and took a huge interest in our work. In the Iraq Study Group the whole country was focused on what we were doing, it's not difficult to stay motivated in that kind of circumstance.
The real question is whether you can meet the expectations. We of course did not meet the expectations [in the 9/11 case]; I don't think anybody could have. People were looking for kind of a silver bullet. We knew there was no silver bullet but we did the best we could.
Q. What issue will you tackle next?
The immediate issue is on another commission (the National Commission on the War Powers of the President and Congress) to work on the relationship between the congress and the executive branch on War Powers. You have constitutional provision that "congress shall have the power to declare war," but that's really not followed. It's more or less a nullity, actually. So we will talk about the role of these powers when making the gravest decision that a government makes, and that is whether or not to send young men and women into battle.
Q. When you aren't Lee Hamilton, politician, what is most important to you?
I've been greatly blessed to have very strong support from my family in my various public endeavors, and that has been crucial. You cannot devote the kind of time I have to my jobs—plural—over a period of time without support from home. If a person is thinking of entering politics today, I always ask them how their spouse or partner feels about it. I owe [my family] a lot. When you have these never-ending, all-consuming tasks, your family is penalized some degree but my family has accepted that with grace. — Interview by Sarah Preuschl
Read more about Hamilton's work with the Iraq Study Group or his role in the Center on Congress at IU.