FIRST PERSON

Ken Duberstein On His First Convention

As Told To Ron Brownstein By The Reagan White House Chief Of Staff

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008


First PersonA national political convention is many things--a tightly scripted television reality show, a massive camp reunion for the political class, and a rite of passage for aspiring young politicos. Almost all of those who eventually ascend into the control rooms of either party first encounter the conventions from below decks, in supporting roles far from the bright lights. National Journal asked some leading figures in the GOP what they recall about their first Republican National Convention.
• Karl Rove
• Ken Duberstein
• Edwin Feulner
• Tom Davis

At the 1984 convention in Dallas, I was in charge of the podium. And my job was to make sure the speakers stayed on time, so I was up on the podium with whoever was speaking. George Herbert Walker Bush had delivered his acceptance speech as vice president, and he was up on the stage with Mrs. Bush, waving to the crowd. And there was a live television hookup in the convention hall from the Anatole Hotel where President and Mrs. Reagan were staying, because they were going to show the motorcade of the president of the United States driving to the convention and then they would appear before the convention. The photo that was planned was for the four of them.

Well, the motorcade was delayed by a few minutes. You don't want dead time, so my job was to convince Bush to keep waving. So I was waving my arms, saying, "Keep waving." And I was also motioning with my fingers to stretch it out. Bush stepped back a few steps to me and said, "My arms are getting tired." And I said, "Keep waving." As the Reagans approached, I could not get Bush's attention, because the crowd was so loud, to tell him one more minute. So I crawled out onto the podium, behind the speaker's rostrum, to grab his pant leg and say, "Keep waving--one more minute." And a few years later, I was chief of staff to the president of the United States.

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