API students stand outside the Capitol Building on the class’ annual trip to Washington D.C. PHOTO/Octavio Sandoval ’06

For over thirty years American Political Institutions class or its successor, Effecting Political Change, has journeyed to Washington, DC to meet with officials in the White House and Congress as well as figures in the media and representatives of interest groups. “API” consists of fifth and sixth formers and is taught by Mr. Goodyear and Mr. Gallagher. The classes’ agenda for the October 31 to November 1 trip was jam packed with briefings with a variety of people from the White House, the State Department, a major lobbying firm and on Capitol Hill.

After a tour of the East Wing of the White House, the first briefing of the trip took place with Mr. Alex Mistri, Ms. Amy Allman ’92 and Mr. Keith Hennessey, in the East Reception Room of the White House. Mr. Mistri’s job as Special Assistant to the President on Legislative Affairs is to advise the President for legislation that is going through Congress. He is responsible for tracking the viewpoints of ninety members of the the House of Representatives. When asked how he knows the representatives will vote the way they told him, he said, “In this town, your word still means quite a bit.”

When Mr. Mistri was asked about the President’s controversial veto of the S-Chip Bill, he suggested that eventually he hopes that the President and Congress will find a middle ground. In addition, he added, “If you want to argue that the President does not want to help poor children, I would tell you: you are wrong.”

Keith Hennessey, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, discussed his focus on domestic policy and healthcare. He said his challenge daily is to ask, “How can we get Congress to along with the President’s program?” Hennessey also explained that he would help Cabinet officials plan their testimony before Congressional committees considering legislation the administration favors.

Students also heard from Amy Allman ’92, a former member of the Office of Legislative Affairs, who is now Director of the White House Visitors Office. In this role, Ms. Allman oversees the public face of the White House as it presents itself to tourists and visitors for state occasions and major holidays. The executive mansion welcomes over 2,000 visitors a day, Ms. Allman said, and the traditional Easter Egg Roll Has 17,000 invitees on the mansion’s south lawn.

The second briefings of the day were at the State Department and were conducted on “deep background.” A senior adviser in the Bureau of East Asian Pacific Affairs detailed American relations with North Korea and its recent involvement with nuclear weapons. First the adviser drew a parallel between North and South Korea. This adviser pointed out the multiple transformations that South Korea has endured: the economical change of the 1970’s, the growth of the notion of people’s rights in the 1980’s and finally the 2007 elections. The adviser described North Korea as, “A place frozen in time,” a regime that abuses its people and spends the little money that it produces on the development of nuclear weapons. The main focus of the discussion revolved around the administration’s view that “North Korea cannot continue to develop and test nuclear weapons and have a future.” The Joint Statement of Principles, the product of lengthy negotiations, states that if North Korea gives up nuclear development, the United States and the United Nations will provide a path for its future. In July, North Korea shut down its nuclear processing plants and stopped the manufacturing of plutonium. Part of the agreement between that countries was that North Korea “come clean” about it actions. As it stands today, the Untied States has evidence that North Korean has not fully complied with this term. The Bush administration wants to develop friendlier relations with Korean peninsula; the process that this relationship is being built on is similar to that of the relationship that was built with China and Vietnam. The adviser pointed out that American interests will not change with the advent of a new president in 2009.

After the discussion with the political adviser, another senior member of the Bureau discussed the status of U.S. relations with Vietnam, a nation that “is growing fast, has a tremendous business environment and currently has a wonderful relationship with the US.” The aide also moved to an analysis of Singapore whose qualities include efficiency, clean streets and considerable wealth. Last, the Deputy talked about Burma. He stated that this crisis was like “going back to the Vietnam era but without the war.” Currently generals, who do not care about their country, rule. In 1988, 5,000 people were killed in an open massacre. Mrs. Laura Bush has taken a very active role in this crisis. The government tactic is to apply enough pressure on the situation that the generals have no other choice but to open up. The United States government also is helping the United Nations to muster diplomatic support. The Deputy stressed that something must be done because this is a nation that is “exporting drugs, spreading infectious diseases and increasing the number of refugees.”

The next stop on the trip was Washington’s premier lawyer-lobbying firm- Patton Boggs, which specializes in the advocacy of public policy on Capitol Hill and regulatory with agencies throughout Washington. Patton Boggs has also developed a strong international clientele, opening an office in Doha several years ago.

The students met with Ira Fishman, the Chief Operating Officer; Nicholas Allard, Partner and Co-Chair; Ed Newberry, Deputy Managing Partner; Former Senator John Breaux (D-LA), a consultant to the firm; and Stuart Pape, Managing Partner and father of Sam Pape ’08.

A common theme throughout the meeting—and throughout the trip, in fact—was the increase in partisan polarity and its hindrance to the effectiveness of government. Senator Breaux remarked that, “Today, if you were to put Congress on a football field and ask the members to stand wherever they felt their ideologies lay, you would have a whole lot of people on opposing goal lines.” The Senator discussed how this partisanship has made it “difficult to run the country,” because “people don’t talk to each other.” This, however, has created a gap for the bipartisan Patton Boggs. As Mr. Pape said, in order to get a majority Congress must “start in the center and work its way out to the edges.” Their ability to remain a bipartisan firm has enabled them to succeed with that tactic, Mr. Pape said, and also be able to represent a broader range of clients. And it’s not as if they disregard their own political beliefs; from just observing the dynamic of the meeting there seemed to be two Democrats and two Republicans, in addition to Senator Breaux who is a conservative Democrat. This provided an environment very open to a broad range of opinions.

Several student questions triggered a discussion about the lobbyist industry and the reasoning behind the new ethics and lobbying rules set forth this past summer by Congress. Mr. Allard said, “Of the 37,000 registered lobbyists very few would ever break the rules.” He also went on to note that those very few are the ones that led to the lobbying restrictions and subsequently the ones that the public is most exposed to. And even though there is unethical lobbying present, the lobbying done at places like Patton Boggs is an “integral part of our government system,” and does not comprise of golfing and duck hunting, “but most of the time its tedious leg work” and cannot be solved with a “quick fix.” All of the speakers also significantly stressed that “government cannot be bought,” and that “honest lobbying still works.”

The end of the first day culminated with a dinner at the home of Mr. Marc Tereir and Mr. Pete Meachum ’91 the Chief of Staff to Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL). Mr. Meachum talked with us about his memories of Choate and how Choate prepared him for college and beyond. Mr. Evan Thomas, Mr. Goodyear’s first cousin and the Editor-at-Large of Newsweek also at the dinner and shared with us his opinions of current political issues and more specifically the “character discussion” of the 2008 presidential election. Students asked about candidates ranging from Congressman Ron Paul to Former Senator Mike Gravel to Senators Obama and Clinton he speculated that if Senator Clinton were elected the Clinton marriage might once again turn into a national obsession.

Mr. Thomas said he worried about the consistent decrease in youth voting throughout presidential elections and strongly encouraged students to vote ourselves and to try to spread voter awareness to friends. Mr. Thomas also mentioned the social networking site Facebook, and asked students about its political components and what effect it could have on the 2008 elections. The group expressed little faith in the site’s ability to transfer its popularity into a higher voter turnout.

The next morning, students met with Representative Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut. Chris Murphy is a newly elected congressman who beat out Representative Nancy Johnson, a nine-term incumbent in a district in the western portion of the state. Prior to his congressional appointment, Murphy worked in the state legislature for eight years. He stated that working in legislature at a state level helped familiarize him with the procedures. “When someone comes to D.C. though,” Murphy said, “he needs to learn everything over again. The two systems are completely different.” Murphy also discussed his reasons why he left state and became involved with federal legislature. He began his state political career by focusing on healthcare, which he described in understated fashion as “a little complex.” However, he said, “State legislature only has a handful of tools, in D.C. we have all the tools.” One point that Murphy stressed is that young people are often underestimated. He stated, “What makes this government work is the infusion of young blood and ideas.” When asked about his fears over being one of the youngest members of the House at 34, he simply replied the he has never felt singled out because of his age and that in a way it gives him an advantage that he does not hesitate to use. He closed with, “As a new member, this is an exhilarating place to be, but one wise person told me that the day that I lose the passion and enthusiasm for this job, is the same say that I hand in my resignation letter.” With that, he headed off to the House Gallery to try to catch the final seconds of a vote on the Mine Rock Bill.

For lunch, students attended a meal in the Mansfield Room on the Senate side of the Capitol Building. Here students met Mr. Alex Perkins (CRH class of 1989) Trade Counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee. They also heard from Ms. Lori McGrogan, Chief of staff for Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat of Connecticut. Ms. McGrogan described what a usual day looked like for the Senator. She described him as, “incredible busy, to the point that trick-or-treating with his children has to be scheduled into his planner.” She also expressed his value on family and how important his two young daughters are to him.

Students interviewed about the trip had many positive things to say. Brian McDermott ’08 said, “It was fascinating to meet with the people that our running our government. We got to see what we read about in our textbooks, in real life.” Blake Gruber ’08 stated, “The API trip was a really unique opportunity. I’m really glad I got to be a part of it.” Eloise True ’08 also commented, “It was a once in a lifetime experience that allowed us to get a realistic view into the incredible inner-workings of Washington, including all of its idiosyncrasies.”