Page 198 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

LEADERS KNOW WHEN TO COMPROMISE

fallen soldiers’ families had been given erroneous information about their
loved ones’ cause of death and had faced problems with bureaucratic
red tape.
In spite of those accomplishments, Harvey was forced to step down
from his post in spring 2007. He was pressured by newly appointed Sec-
retary of Defense Robert Gates to resign after allegations of substandard
conditions and poor management at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in Washington, D.C., were made public. However, neither Schoomaker
nor Harvey was aware of the problems at Walter Reed. “You can’t solve a
problem you know nothing about. During my tenure I made dozens of visits
to Walter Reed and met with hundreds of wounded warriors and hospital
staff. No one—and I mean no one—ever mentioned the temporary out-
patient building,” Harvey remarked; he said he first learned of the hospital’s
troubles when he read about them in the newspaper.
As soon as Harvey learned about the issue, the Army staff put together
a thirty-four-page action plan to fix the problems, and he directed that the
soldiers in the temporary facility be moved into up-to-date facilities at the
hospital. “I was asked to resign over the Walter Reed Hospital issue, but
the real reason was the budget. It really doesn’t bother me if people think
otherwise, because the people that count know what the true story is, and
the people that count are the Army people,” said Harvey. “The bottom line
is that the budget went from $98 billion in 2005 to $141 billion for 2009.
And today I’m very, very proud of the fact that because General
Schoomaker and I stood our ground and refused to compromise, the Army
is finally getting the resources it needs to be completely ready for the full
spectrum of conflict.”
Schoomaker, who retired from the Army a month after Harvey was
forced to resign, expressed his deep admiration for Harvey’s bold, uncom-
promising leadership. “He came into a bad situation and ended up making
a huge difference. Being a political appointee, they expected him to com-
promise and take the easy way out, and he didn’t. I think he was one of the
most effective secretaries we’ve ever had. We were able to bring the Army
through some of the most difficult periods it has ever had to face. Even at
the time that we were doing this, we had already been at war longer than
we were in World War II. It was very necessary for us to hang for the right
reasons for the Army during that period, and we did. And I think that will
be Fran’s legacy.”

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