Page 253 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

BECOMING A WHITE HOUSE FELLOW

States Senate, until she was recently defeated in the November 2008 elec-
tions. The next year Jane Cahill Pfeiffer (WHF 66–67) was selected as
the first woman in the program, and in 1978 when NBC picked her as its
chair of the board, the Los Angeles Times called her “perhaps the most
powerful woman in America.”
One person who did make it into the inaugural class was Ronald Lee
(WHF 65–66), who was not only the first African-American Fellow but
also the program’s first military officer. Lee was from Springfield, Massa-
chusetts, and had been nominated by Congressman Foster Furcolo for an
appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. He graduated from West Point
in 1954, the first African-American graduate from any of the New England
states and only the twenty-fifth African-American graduate in the 152-year
history of West Point. He earned a master’s degree in business, spoke Viet-
namese and French, and was an airborne ranger who served in combat as
an operations advisor to the 9th Vietnamese Division.
His initial preference was to work as a special assistant to Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara, which he thought would be a boost to his mil-
itary career. However, Lee recalled that “McNamara during our interview
said, ‘How would you react if I asked you to call in a three- or four-star
general and chew him out?’ and I said, ‘I’d love it, but they wouldn’t,’ and
McNamara said, ‘The more important question is how far would your
career advance after that occurred?’ Well, obviously that would be the end
of my military career. ‘Exactly, and that is why the Defense Department
is not the right place for you.’”
Tom Carr remembers that “Ron Lee was an incredibly promising
young man, and when the Defense Department fell through, I sent him
over to see President Johnson’s chief of staff Jack Valenti to see what he
could do.” Ron Lee went to see Valenti, and after a few brief moments he
told Lee to follow him right into the Oval Office. “President Johnson was
very gracious and asked me who in his administration I’d like to work for,
and I said Larry O’Brien,” Lee recalled. “He asked me why I chose
O’Brien, and I said it was because I felt that the Great Society legislation—
the things that were going to make people in the United States more equal
and bring the country together—was the most important thing that was
going on.” And then President Johnson said, ‘That’s exactly right, young
fella; that’s what I consider to be my legacy to the United States—the entire
body of legislation that we’re passing.’”

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