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The White House Fellowships celebrated its 30th anniversary
with the class of 1994-95. On the following pages, the program looks
back at three decades of shaping tomorrow's leaders--and where
some of them are today.
1960s
President Johnson announces the creation of the White House Fellows
program, October 3, 1964.
"A genuinely free society cannot be a spectator society. Freedom, in its
deepest sense, requires participation--full, zestful, knowledgeable
participation. Toward that end, I have today established a new
program entitled the White House Fellows." --President Johnson
The First class of White House Fellows, 1964-65.
The first class tours NASA's Saturn project during an educational
trip.
President Johnson welcomes a new White House Fellow to
Washington.
CNN President Tom Johnson ('64-'65).
"The White House Fellows experience opened splendid new horizons
for me. My personal and professional world was broadened more by this
fellowship year than by any other educational experience
in my life." --Tom Johnson ('64-'65), President, CNN
1970s
"I went from a bunker under fire in the DMZ to writing a memo to the President on school
desegregation in a period of three weeks. A White House Fellow has an incomparable opportunity
to learn government quickly by being a part of it. The work, the education and the association
with one's class make the Fellows program a truly complete and unique experience." --Dana Mead ('70-'71), President, Tenneco, Inc.
President Carter and Program Founder John Gardner greet a new class of
White House Fellows in the Rose Garden.
Julia Taft ('70-'71), with CBS reporter Mike Wallace at a Fellows
educational luncheon.
Susan Stautberg ('74-'75), with Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.
Class of 1971-72 meets with Pope Paul VI.
Lynn Schenk ('76-'77), Bill Drummond ('76-''77) and David Cleary
('76-'77) on a Fellows trip to the Arctic.
"The White House Fellows program was a key point in my life. The
year gave me the opportunity to understand the impact of good public
policy--and bad. It also gave me invaluable insight and experience which
I put into use every day as a Member of Congress."
--Lynn Schenk ('76-'77), U.S. Congress, 49th Distrct of California
Keith Crisco ('70-'71), with President Nixon in the Roosevelt Room.
1980s
Anne Cohn Donnelly ('79-'80).
"Through the work experience I learned firsthand the complex
challenges our national leaders face as well as how decisions are made
and carried out at the highest levels of government. The educational
program allowed me to meet and begin to understand leaders from all sectors of
society. And the camaraderie of the fellowship itself gave me a chance to
get to know some very outstanding people from quite diverse backgrounds.
Not only have my classmates remained close friends and mentors, but the
program has had a tremendous impact on my career."
--Anne Cohn Donnelly ('79-'80), Executive Director, National Committee
for the Prevention of Child Abuse.
President Reagan greets the 1985-86 class of White House Fellows and
their families in the Cabinet Room.
John Weiland ('87-'88) and Alan Kopit ('87-'88), with William Webster
following an educational luncheon.
"I have found that the White House Fellows program attracts people
who are enthusiastic, committed, and dedicated to making things work.
The contributions that the Fellows have made at the FBI and CIA have been
significant and of real value to the nation. I am a believer in this
important program.
--Judge William Webster, former Director, CIA and FBI.
Congressman Joe Barton ('81-'82).
"Every day in the Congress, I put to practical use the knowledge I
gained from my year as a White House Fellow. The White House Fellowship
program is absolutely an outstanding program about
the Federal Government."
--Joe Barton ('81-'82), Member of Congress, 6th District of Texas
Jeri Eckhart ('85-'86), with Labor Secretary Ann McLaughlin and Vice
President Bush.
1990s
"Only through the White House Fellowship could a civilian
from the business world spend one year working at the top level of the
defense and national security establishment. Experiences I will
never forget include leading humanitarian assistance missions into the former Soviet Union, and
traveling with Defense Secretary Cheney to NATO headquarters in Brussels for meetings with
European defense ministers. It will take a lifetime of public service to repay the country for this
opportunity."
--Thomas Nelson ('92-'93) venture capitalist
President Clinton greets the 1993-94 class in the Blue Room. From
left, Les Ramirez, Martha Stark, Reginald Robinson and Gaynor McCown.
"I grew up in the projects of Brownsville, Brooklyn, a precinct
which boasts the highest murder rate in New York. Nevertheless, I earned
three degrees, became an attorney at a prestigious law firm,
and served in the administration of New York's first African-American mayor.
I thought I had accomplished everything that was possible for a ghetto
kid. I was wrong. The Fellowship program has taken me from City Hall to
the State Department, where I'm working on the U.N. Convention
on the Rights of the Child, and trying to make foreign policy and the money
we spend relevant to other ghetto kids. When I return to Brooklyn, I'll
take back a better sense of what our government can accomplish and an
eagerness to help it do more."
--Martha E. Stark ('93-'94)
Suzy Becker ('93-'94) and Program Director Brooke Shearer meet with
leaders of Brooklyn's Hasidic community.
Michael Levy ('93-'94) briefs HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros ('71-'72).
"Whether attending daily morning meetings with the Secretary or
working on special assignments--like traveling to Vidor, Texas, to
assure the peaceful desegregation of an all-white public housing
development in the shadow of the Ku Klux Klan--the Fellowship has provided
me the opportunity not merely to observe but to participate actively in
the inner workings of the federal government."
--Michael Levy ('93-'94)
Robert Grusky ('90-'91), with Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.
For more information:
Phone: 202-395-4522
Fax: 202-395-6179
EMail: almanac@ace.esusda.gov (type send brochure or send application in subject and body of message )
On-Line: White House
Fellowship Application
On-Line questions or comments: White House Fellows Feedback
Mail: The President's Commission on White House Fellowships, 712 Jackson Place, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20503.
