...is that it really helps you appreciate all the behind-the-scenes people. All the folks you saw on television or read about in the newspapers but never really thought much about them. (ie Clapper and various bureaucrats and government ethics nerds, etc etc) At the time you might have overlooked them as just background noise to the real show, the politicians. Bob Mueller was certainly in that category for me. I knew of him vaguely, knew he was important, but all I wanted him to do was catch terrorists & leave me alone.
Well he’s a pretty decent guy by all accounts. Here’s Bob Mueller giving a graduation speech (his granddaughter calls him “Bubba”) at Tandor College a while ago:
Obviously things are real FUBAR in our country right now, but goddamnit we also have some decent people in this country too.
Many of you may have a career path in mind, many of you have no idea where you will end up, a few of you maybe be surprised by where life takes you— I certainly was— and in the end it is not only what we do but how we do it.
Whatever we do we must act with honesty and with integrity. And regardless of your chosen career, you’re only as good as your word. You can be smart, aggressive, articulate, and indeed persuasive, but if you are not honest your reputation will suffer and once lost, a good reputation can never, ever be regained. As the saying goes, “if you have integrity, nothing else matters. But if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters.”
And for those of us who aren’t inherently patient— including myself, it is an acquired skill. Believe me, it is hard-earned. And people will say I am still learning. Patience includes at its essence the ability to listen, really listen to others— and especially listen to those close to you. This is not always easy, particularly for someone such as myself.
In one of my first positions at the Department of Justice many years ago, I came to the realization early on that lawyers would come to my office for one of two reasons. Either to be seen or seen on the one hand or to obtain a decision on some of aspect of work on the other hand. I quickly fell into the habit of having one question whenever anyone came to the door and that question was: ‘what is the issue?’ And if there was an issue we handled it and made a decision, if not we moved on.
A word of caution: This question, ‘what is the issue, is not necceassily conducive to your married life. One evening I came home to my wife Anne who had a very long day teaching and then spending time with our two young daughters. And she began to describe her day to me. After just a few moments, I interrupted and rather authoritatively asked, ‘Darling, what is the issue?’ And she claims I did not say ‘darling.’ But her response is as I should have anticipated was immediate. She was incensed. ‘I am your wife’, she said. I am not one of your attorneys. Do not ever ask me ‘what is the issue?’ You will sit there and you will listen until I am finished.