MANY EX-FCC COMMISSIONERS STAY IN COMMUNICATIONS, BUT IN PRIVATE SECTOR

When asked about their lower post-FCC profiles, former commissioners we interviewed said Commission work was in the very specific field of communications and knowledge involved there didn’t overlap with many other govt. positions. They also said the FCC appointment was as good as it got from a telecom perspective, so once that was over, there was nowhere higher to go in the public sector.

“The job isn’t very good training for running for political office,” said Blair Levin, chief of staff under former Chmn. Reed Hundt (1993-1997) and now a Legg Mason analyst: “That’s not to say that people won’t do it, but if they do, it’s because of what they brought to the Commissioner job and not because of what they learned from it.”

Levin said the sector-specific nature of Commission work generally explained why commissioners didn’t go further into politics: “In order to go to the FCC, you have to have a certain specific sector understanding, and when you're there you develop sector expertise, which is not necessarily helpful elsewhere.” Ex-Comr. Henry Rivera (1981-1985) agreed: “Being a former commissioner naturally leads you to staying in the [communications] industry. It doesn’t make any sense necessarily for someone who’s manufacturing plastics to hire a former FCC commissioner, but it does if you're in the communications, media or the telephone area, where they know you and you've made an impression… You know the issues and you probably know their business a little bit.”

One exception to the lack of FCC commissioners’ moving elsewhere in govt. was the failed run for the U.S. Senate by Arizona’s Gloria Tristani (1997-2001). She ended up receiving only 36% of the vote in losing to Republican incumbent Pete Domenici’s winning his 6th term. She advocated such changes as less fuel consumption and elimination of tax cuts for the wealthy and opposed the war in Iraq.

Tristani’s campaign marked the first attempt of an FCC comr. to run for Congress since Nicholas Johnson (1966-1973) ran in Iowa in 1974. Since the failed attempt, Johnson has headed the National Citizens Communications Lobby, has taught at the U. of Iowa Law School and is believed to be the only FCC commissioner ever to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

Tristani’s move highlights a unique distinction of an FCC commissioner -- it’s an appointed position, not an elected one. Rivera said: “People who aspire to be FCC commissioners are not real politicians and don’t have that particular thing flowing in their veins, so when their term is over and something more attractive comes along, they move to that.” He also said that during his tenure at the Commission, “I never heard of aspirations to be on elected political offices, at least if [commissioners] had them, they never told me about it.” Levin agreed: “Being a great commissioner doesn’t suggest being a great Secretary of Defense… There are people who are very talented that could do other things, but there isn’t a natural path.” Another exception was Ervin Duggan (1990-1994), who was pres. of the Public Bcstg. Service during the list swapping controversy, and currently is writing reviews for amazon.com.

Former Comr. Abbott Washburn (1974-1982) had substantial public service but most of it before his FCC term. Washburn, former dir., U.S. Information Agency, worked with the likes of then-Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and President Richard Nixon before being appointed to the FCC in 1974. He was a founder of the Crusade for Freedom, an effort with President Harry Truman and Gen. Eisenhower to raise funds for Radio Free Europe. After Washburn left the FCC, President Ronald Reagan gave him the rank of Ambassador to the ITU Region 2 Broadcast-Satellite Conference in Geneva in 1983. He remained in the telecom world to some degree, testifying in hearings on such issues as international broadcasting and Intelsat, and lecturing on the Red Scare.

The desire to stay in the communications industry was another theme among former commissioners interviewed. Former Chmn. Richard Wiley (1972-1977) said: “It’s a very fascinating and exciting field, and speaking for myself, I was developing a practice and I just wanted to continue with that kind of work.” Ex-Comr. Rachelle Chong (1994-1997) said that “once you've been on the Commission and been on one of the most powerful government agencies in one of the most interesting areas, it’s kind of hard to top that.”

The FCC is considered by many to be the top govt. communications slot. Chong said “being on the FCC is the equivalent of being on the Supreme Court for a telecom lawyer. I peaked… I reached the pinnacle and it was a tremendous privilege to be there.” Hundt compared a term at the FCC to “getting the PhD of PhDs in your field, so for people who want to be in this profession, it’s terrific.” Former commissioners interviewed agreed that after they reached the top of the mountain, there wasn’t much choice in the public sector, and the burgeoning opportunities in the private sector seemed like logical choices.

Other ex-commissioners pursue public service in other ways, such as being appointed to various telecom or law boards. While those appointments are far from seats in Congress, some of them can provide the feeling of doing public service, Wiley said: “I was the chairman of the Federal Advisory Committee on Digital Television, and that has really scratched the itch of public service for me. I have continued to work with the FCC, something I really believe in and was committed to.” While Wiley called public service “a calling for me,” he passed up an opportunity for a high-ranking position in the Justice Dept. because he still had the “desire to remain in one capacity or another in the very exciting field” of telecom.

Civil rights activism is another area some commissioners became involved in after leaving the agency. The 2 most prominent examples are Rivera and Tyrone Brown (1977-1981). Rivera, while doing communications law at such firms as Shook Hardy & Bacon and Vincent & Elkins, was supervising commissioner of the FCC Advisory Committee on Alternative Financing for Minorities. He has advocated broadcast and cable equal employment opportunity and co-founded the Minority Media & Telecom Council in 1986. In 1988, he received the Equal Opportunity Award by Black Citizens for a Fair Media, and currently serves on boards for groups such as the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington and the International Diabetes Federation. Brown, now of counsel to Wiley’s Washington law firm, has worked on such issues as minority media ownership and community phone service in Africa. Brown still is active in the communications field as vice chmn. of Iridium Holdings, the parent of Iridium Satellite, and was senior vp-regulatory affairs for ClearComm. -- Andrew Goodman

(Editors Note: This is the first of a 2-part series. Next: Ex-commissioners in the corporate world.)