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Tag: President George H. W. Bush

One-on-One with Jim Olson: LEAP Students Dive into the World of Counterintelligence

By Quinn Kobrin

In a continuation of the LEAP Center’s Facebook one-on-one series, Professor Yawn interviewed Professor Jim Olson about his life during and after his career as a CIA case officer. This having been my first time hearing Mr. Olson speak, I was astounded at how little I knew about the world of counterintelligence.

Olson began the conversation with a definition of counterintelligence. He explained that its purpose is to protect the United States from other nations who may try to steal our secrets and technology. Much to my surprise, he told us that there are approximately 80 countries spying on us right now.

The conversation then turned to Olson’s 31-year career in the Clandestine Service. He was asked about his cover identity, which he could not share in great detail, but he explained that when he was in another nation, he would often have a cover as a U.S. diplomat, so he would have diplomatic immunity if he got into trouble. Sometimes, however, he was in other countries without working as a diplomat, and therefore would be subject to that country’s justice system if he were caught.

He shared that he and his wife – also a case officer within the CIA – never anticipated to come out from their cover identities, because doing so posed a threat to themselves and to their family. However, he was approached by President George H.W. Bush and George Tenet (former Director Central Intelligence) to work at the Bush School of Public Service. Olson was excited for the opportunity, but there is a CIA policy that does not allow officers to go onto college campuses covertly (which was news to me). So, he was forced to give up his cover.

In a similar vein, he was asked about how he and his wife broke the news to their children that they were officers in the CIA, and how they took it. Apparently, when he was stationed in Vienna, terrorists managed to get ahold of his address and sent him a death threat. They decided to tell their oldest son, who was sixteen at the time, and asked him to look after his siblings. As each of their children learned, he said, they took the information in with a sense of pride. He told us that each of his children has now gone on to pursue a career in the service of others.

Next he discussed CIA recruitment methods. We learned that the CIA seeks out a variety of candidates who may be cut out for a career as a case officer. Mainly, they are looking for character; they want recruits who are reliable and trustworthy.

To prepare for a career in the Clandestine Service (one of the most commonly asked questions of the event) Olson said that a bachelor’s degree usually would not be enough, and that students should aim to get a graduate degree of some kind. He suggested learning new languages, taking on roles of leadership, and working in positions that might allow you to travel abroad.

Aldrich Ames

On the subject of character, he spoke briefly about some former CIA officers who betrayed the United States. He spoke vehemently about his former colleague Aldrich “Rick” Ames, who he considers the worst traitor to the country for turning over to the KGB. He explained that Ames had identified Russians who were working for the CIA to the KGB, which led to their imprisonment or execution.

  • SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, CIA, Jim Olson, TAMU Bush School
  • SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, CIA, Jim Olson, TAMU Bush School
  • SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, CIA, Jim Olson, TAMU Bush School
  • SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, CIA, Jim Olson, TAMU Bush School

To wrap up the session, we asked Olson what he wanted people to know about the CIA. He explained that CIA case officers are public servants. They do not do what they do for money, power, prestige, or status. They do what they do with honorable intentions.

It was a great experience to hear Mr. Olson speak live, and I look forward to reading his book, To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence!

Author mikeyawnPosted on November 4, 2020November 4, 2020Format AsideCategories Civic Engagement, Civil Rights, Jobs, Law, Literature, PoliticsTags Center for Law Engagement And Politics, CIA, Counterintelligence, Facebook, Facebook Live, Jim Olson, LEAP, LEAP at SHSU, LEAP Center, President George H. W. Bush, Sam Houston State University, SHSULeave a comment on One-on-One with Jim Olson: LEAP Students Dive into the World of Counterintelligence

Celebrating Civil Rights: The Americans With Disabilities Act at 30

Thirty years ago, President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.  In the speech announcing the enactment, President Bush noted that “We will not accept…discrimination in America” and his desire to  “take a sledgehammer to another wall,” effectively equating this legislation to the end of Communism as a marker for freedom.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

Surrounded by disabled Americans who had worked on the legislation, President Bush empathized: “prejudices,” he noted, “separated Americans from a freedom they could glimpse but could not grasp.”  He closed by exhorting businesses to help make this a success by complying with the law and its requirements, and encouraged all Americans to help ensure that the “shameful wall of exclusion” will “come tumbling down.”

That was 30 years, but near the anniversary of the signing (which was on July 26, 1990), the Bush School at TAMU brought in PBS News Hour journalist Judy Woodruff to moderate a great panel–all of whom had something to do with the Act’s passage.

Indeed, the Bush School thought this so momentous an occasion that they invited President Obama to introduce the event…

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

…because the first section addressed a new documentary–produced by the Obamas–called “Crip Camp,” about one of the few places in the 1960s-1970s that allowed the disabled freedom to be who they were and participate in what most Americans consider everyday things.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

The co-directors, Jim Lebrecht (who attended the camp) and Nicole Newnham…

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8923484/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

…were on hand to discuss it.  You can learn more about the film here, and you can watch it here.

Woodruff then brought in one of the Senate heroes of the bill: Senator Bob Dole, who had just celebrated his 97th birthday.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

Dole is now in a wheelchair, but his disabilities stem back some 80 years, when he was in World War II.  He was shot by a machine gun, which hit his shoulder and right arm. Soldiers who found him expected him to die, but they administered morphine and, using Dole’s blood as ink, wrote “M” on his forehead, so that in the event he was found by medics, they would not administer a second (and potentially fatal) dose of the medicine.

Dole survived, but barely.  He was in a body cast for 9 months, paralyzed from the waist down.  When he got out of his cast, the 6′ 3″ former athlete weighed 110 pounds.  He would recover movement in his lower body, but the right side of his body would be partially immobilized for the rest of his life.

Dole said a few words, and then turned over the discussion to Carolyn Osolinik (former Chief Counsel for Senator Ted Kennedy) and Audrey Coleman (archivist at Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics) who discussed the strategies of getting the bill through the US Senate.  Osolonik called the bill a “sea change,” and emphasized that the bill was about “empowerment.”  It was not a bill to give away things; it was a bill to remove barriers so they could achieve what they were capable of.  Senator Kennedy called it the “emancipation proclamation for people with disabilities.”

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

Kennedy’s Counsel: “sea change” “empowerment.”  Kennedy called it “emancipation proclamation for people with disabilities”

Serving his first time in the US Senate during this time was Tom Harkin, the Chair of the Senate Policy Committee, who ultimately introduced the bill on the Senate floor.  For part of the introduction, he introduced the bill in sign language so that his brother, who is deaf, could follow along.  Harkin joined the panel to discuss his recollections…

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

…noting that the bill had four main goals:

    • Full participation of disabled in US society;
    • Equal opportunity;
    • Independent living;
    • Economic self sufficiency.

Harkin noted that the bill was ambitious: “we wanted these things to be the norm, the baseline, not an aspiration.”  To this end, he noted, “President Bush never wavered.  He stood behind the bill from the very beginning.”

Tony Coehlo, who helped engineer the bill’s passage in the House, was also on hand.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

The bill encountered much more resistance in the House, where it was actually assigned to five different committees (typically a delaying tactic by leadership).  The bill did not lack support from rank-and-file members–it would eventually pass with 252 sponsors, but in the legislature, leadership is crucial, and without that support, passage was delayed.

One way to break through legislative logjams is through White House support, so Woodruff invited C. Boyden Gray (White House Consel), Lex Frieden (a disabled activist), and John Sonunu (White House Chief of Staff) to the show to discuss these efforts.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

Frieden, interestingly, was scheduled to meet with President Ronald Reagan in 1986, to provide a recommendation of a bill such as ADA.  That day, however, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on liftoff, and the meeting was “rerouted” to the Vice President.  While this was no doubt disappointing to Frieden and the other activists on hand, it turned out to be fortuitous.  Vice-President Bush discussed his sympathies with the bill’s sentiment, and he said he thought the bill could become the “voice for 36 million Americans.” When he became President two years later, the passage of the bill became a potential reality.   And a year and a half after he became President, the bill was signed into law.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

This bill was different than other civil rights legislation in that it imposed proactive requirements on businesses, governments, and non-profits.  It was seeking simply to remove impediments; it was requiring bearing actual costs: building ramps, adding elevators, reconfiguring buildings.  In some cases these costs were enormously expensive, and it took much political will to convince people that it was the correct thing to do.

Of course, the bill’s passage has not ended the barriers that the disabled face.  To discuss these challenges, Woodruff invited former Governor Tom Ridge (he also served as Director of Homeland Security) to discuss his role as Chair of the National Organization on Disability.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

He was joined by Carol Glazer (President, National Organization on Disability), who argued that the most progress has been made in physical accessibility, symbolic areas (as more people with disabilities achieve positions of prominence), but, as expected, fighting people’s prejudices is the most difficult aspect of achieving progress.  The work ahead, she noted, will deal with fighting the “stigma” of disabilities, the “locked-in stereotypes,” and the “tyranny of low expectations.”

With Glazer and Ridge were William “Tipper” Thomas, an engineer, and actor Danny Woodburn.  Thomas was “4 or 5” when this passed, but in his senior year in high school, he was the innocent victim of a shooting, one which ended his football career and relegated him to a wheelchair.  He is now the principal engineer for Northrop Gruman Corporation.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

Danny Woodburn is a little person and an actor (IMDB here), with, as he describes it, “strikingly good looks.”  When he was born, his doctor told his parents: “You’re son is a midget, like what you see in a circus.”  Woodburn noted much progress, but also said that there is little engagement with the disabled in civil rights conversations, noting that he’s often told, “We’re going to focus on cultural or racial diversity.”

Jack Chen (Product Counsel for Google) and Moeena Das (Chie of Staff, National Organization on Disability) also discussed their experiences navigating the still-difficult post-ADA waters.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

Chen, for example, noted that while he works in the field of technology, which can make things better for people, it can also exacerbate inequalities, something most people don’t consider.

To conclude the program, Judy Woodruff invited former President George W. Bush on.  This, too, was fitting, because in the early 2000s, the Supreme Court ruled against some of the requirements of the ADA, and the way to help the law fulfill its original objectives was to amend the legislation in a manner that met Court scrutiny.  President Bush signed those amendments into law, with his dad (far left) looking on…

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

George W. Bush said that he believed the bill was what his father was most proud of accomplishing, and described his father as a “man of enormous compassion, who cared about all people, and the ADA reflected that spirit.”

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

By the end of his life, President George H. W. Bush was also disabled.  Parkinsons disease had attacked his body, and he began using a walker and then a wheelchair.  But that didn’t stop him from parachuting out of a helicopter at the age of 90!

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

 

Also of note, Director of the Bush Foundation, Andy Card…

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

…came on to note that, with the help of Lex Frieden (which he called the “conscious” of the ADA), they would be issuing  a new Bush Medal to “those making a difference to the disability community.”

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

In the midst of coronavirus and civil unrest, which in many ways have hit the disabled community the hardest, this program on the ADA and the progress made was a welcome reflection.

SHSU, LEAP Center, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, Americans with Disabilities Act, President George H. W. Bush, Bush School at TAMU

Many thanks to the Bush School at TAMU for the opportunity to experience these programs.  You can see this event in its entirety here.

 

 

Author mikeyawnPosted on July 30, 2020Format AsideCategories Civic Engagement, Civil Rights, Law, PoliticsTags Americans with Disabilities Act, Bush School at TAMU, Center for Law Engagement And Politics, LEAP Center, President George H. W. Bush, SHSULeave a comment on Celebrating Civil Rights: The Americans With Disabilities Act at 30

More Presidents Day the LEAP Way: Touring President Bush’s Office

This past Wednesday, the LEAP Ambassadors had the opportunity to tour Former President H. W. Bush’s office in Houston. LEAP’s favorite photographer, Mark Burns, collaborated with Bush’s former chief of staff, Jean Becker, to help create this unique opportunity for us. In the early afternoon, we arrived at what seemed like just another office building in Houston.  However, after walking through the doors, a bust of the former president is seen on the wall, sculpted by none other than Huntsville’s own, David Adickes!

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, David Adickes

After stepping out of the elevator and making our way down the hallway, we noticed that Former Ambassador Chase Untermeyer’s Houston office is located just down the hall from Bush’s.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Chase Untermeyer

Ambassador Untermeyer will be coming to the SHSU campus to visit with students on February 27th, and we can’t wait to ask him to share with us his experiences in government and with President Bush.

And then there was the Secret Service office that required check-in before heading to President Bush’s office…

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns, Secret Service

…and then there was President Bush’s office.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

Stories about Bush weren’t in short supply among the people working in his office.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker

He was described as a kind, caring man who loved to skydive and could be quite spontaneous, much to the chagrin of his office staff and secret service agents.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

We were shown around the office where numerous photographs, paintings, and gifts were pointed out to us with a story behind each one.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

A couple of our favorites were the Presidential Seal made out of Waterford Crystal which was a gift from the Irish President…

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

…the many photos of President Bush skydiving, and a solid gold iPad encrusted with diamonds given to him as another gift from a prince of Saudi Arabia.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

We were led into Bush’s personal office which was large, spacious, and bright with windows all around showing views of the distant downtown skyline.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

We had a chance to see something as serious as a map of military installations that he and Gorbachev had discussed near the end of the Cold War…

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

…while also seeing something as down-to-earth as signed guitars he received from Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley

We posed for a picture in the office before moving on.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

Ms. Becker also took us into her office to share stories and show photographs, including some by Mark Burns, who helped us set up this tour.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

Through the stories told and the pictures seen on this tour, George H. W. Bush began to morph from a man we’ve only ever read about into one we felt as though we knew.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

We thanked both Ms. Becker, Mark Burns, and our tour guide, Ms. Sage, for taking the time to show us around.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

It was our fourth event in three days, and three of those events had in one or the other revolved around President Bush and his Presidency, giving us a renewed appreciation for him as a President and as a human.

SHSU, LEAP Center, LEAP Ambassadors, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day,  Jean Becker, Mark Burns

 

Author mikeyawnPosted on February 18, 2019Format AsideCategories Art, Civic Engagement, PoliticsTags Brad Paisley, Chase Untermeyer, Jean Becker, LEAP Ambassadors, LEAP Center, Mark Burns, President George H. W. Bush, Presidents Day, SHSU, Taylor SwiftLeave a comment on More Presidents Day the LEAP Way: Touring President Bush’s Office

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