Page 71 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

THE LESSONS

like it. And of course that means I should be working right here in your
office.”
“Fair enough,” Udall replied. “I need a third assistant, and you’re it.
You’ll work out of my office and lend a hand wherever we both agree it
will be useful. I have several things that need doing, and one of them is to
figure out how we can create a national park for the performing arts at Wolf
Trap Farm. I don’t understand why we can’t get that done, and I’d like you
to take a crack at it. My assistant Orren Beaty will be glad to answer any
questions you have about how we go about things around here. Come and
see me when you run out of things to do or need my help. Have a great
weekend.”
And with that Udall headed for the door, where he paused, turned,
and with a big grin said, “Oh, by the way, we work Saturdays here.”
Beaty explained to Veblen that Wolf Trap was just outside Washington,
between downtown and the newly completed Dulles International Airport.
The lovely property was owned by Catherine Filene Shouse, a wealthy
widow who in the early 1960s declared her wish to create a national cen-
ter for the performing arts on the property and to have it administered by
the National Parks Service. Udall was in favor of that—it fit his depart-
ment’s mission to bring parks to where the people are—and encouraged
the Parks Service to pursue the opportunity and develop a plan for making
it happen. However, the ensuing negotiations came to a screeching halt
when Mrs. Shouse said she would donate the farm to the government only
if she could maintain full control over the new park’s policies and opera-
tion. The Park Service offered to give Mrs. Shouse an advisory role and
nothing more, and so she withdrew her offer.
Mrs. Shouse proceeded to bring whatever political pressure she could
muster to bear on the Park Service. It didn’t work. In fact, her attempt
to pressure the Park Service backfired. George Hartzog, the Park Service’s
director, called Udall to ask him to tell Mrs. Shouse that his people no
longer would accept her, or for that matter her attorney’s or her archi-
tect’s, phone calls. Hartzog said, “Not on your life.” Mrs. Shouse then
called to ask Stewart to intervene. He demurred, telling her that the prob-
lem was Congress and that there was, in his opinion, no chance of passing
the legislation required for the government to accept her donation. An
impasse was declared, and the Wolf Trap Farm Performing Arts Park was
deep-sixed.

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