Page 42 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

A FOUNDATION FOR FELLOWSHIP

Commission on White House Fellows. President Johnson secretly recorded
that call, as he did many of his telephone conversations. During the four-
minute call, Rockefeller told the president, “I want to just tell you a cou-
ple of things that we did and make sure that they were in keeping with
your ideas on the subject.” The commission had decided to extend the
application deadline by one month, to January 15, with the hopes that it
would give university presidents more time to rally quality applicants.
Rockefeller also told the president that the commission had decided to set
the program for one year rather than fifteen months, since most people
operate on an annual basis. Therefore, the first class of White House Fel-
lows would commence on September 1. “Does it disturb you to see that?”
Rockefeller asked the president, who replied that it did not trouble him at
all; he trusted Rockefeller and the commission to do the right thing for the
program. The president approved all of Rockefeller’s suggestions. Johnson
stayed involved in the program’s formulation from the very beginning.
Carr and his bare-bones staff managed to answer each of the thou-
sands of letters and telegrams within a matter of weeks, and by the time
the Rockefeller Commission came together two months after the event
with student leaders, Carr had developed plans for everything from the
program’s rigorous selection procedure to job assignments and a continu-
ing education component. The commission adopted all of Carr’s plans
without revision. They also hired him on the spot to become founding
director of the White House Fellows Program, a post he manned with dis-
tinction for the next five years.
A few states and some countries have implemented many of Carr’s
selection methods for their own versions of the White House Fellows pro-
gram. In 2004, former Governor Jeb Bush, who was a yearly guest at the
Fellows off-the-record lunches, decided to replicate the program at the state
level by establishing the Gubernatorial Fellows program in Florida. Each
year, the Florida program provides hands-on public service experience to
as many as twelve exceptional graduate and undergraduate students who
are selected to perform high-level work in the governor’s administration.
The Fellows move to the state capital for their term, earn a small salary for
their work, and have their tuition waived in exchange for their year of serv-
ice. Gubernatorial Fellows also meet weekly as a group to participate in a
lecture series as well as additional government activities, such as press con-
ferences and budget and policy briefings. “I modeled the White House

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