First Questions1. Please see the link below for a fascinating look at “The White House as a Field Placement”.Field placements are where we see practice meet policy; however, we don’t often think of macro practice when we think of field placements. My micro practice field placements molded me into the social worker I am today, but looking back, I could have benefited from exposure to macro practice. I encourage you to set aside some time to reach out to a social worker who engages in macro practice and talk to them about their social work careers or, perhaps, even seek a macro field placement.I would love to hear your thoughts about white house placements as described in the attached link!Second Questions2. As we wrap up the week, please take a moment to discuss the “muddiest point” for you from this week’s readings.What concept or policy perspective was difficult to comprehend?
THE WHITE HOUSE
AS A FIELD PLACEMENT
Reflections on the Past, and a Future
for Policy and Political Practice
THE WHITE HOUSE AS A FIELD PLACEMENT: REFLECTIONS ON THE PAST AND
A FUTURE FOR POLICY AND POLTICAL PRACTICE
OCTOBER 2021
WRITTEN BY:
John E. Tropman (M.A., Crown School of Social Work, Policy and Practice {formerly the
School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago}, and Ph.D. in Social
Work and Sociology, University of Michigan), Henry J. Meyer Collegiate Professor of
Social Work; Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan School of Social Work;
James A. Blackburn (M.S.S.W. {Social Work, Gerontology} and Ph.D. in Life Span
Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Research Scientist and LEO Adjunct
Professor, University of Michigan School of Social Work;
Justin D. Hodge (M.S.W., University of Michigan), Clinical Assistant Professor, University
of Michigan School of Social Work;
Daniel J. Fischer (M.S.W., University of Michigan), Assistant Dean of Filed Education and
Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Michigan School of Social Work.
FOREWORD BY:
Lynn Videka (A.M. and Ph.D., Crown School of Social Work, Policy and Practice (formerly
the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago)), Dean and Carol T.
Mowbray Collegiate Professor, University of Michigan School of Social Work;
Sarah Christa Butts (M.S.W., University of Maryland, School of Social Work), Director of
Public Policy at the National Association of Social Workers;
Deborah Gorman-Smith (M.S.Ed., Educational Psychology, Northern Illinois University,
M.A. and Ph.D. (Clinical and Developmental Psychology), University of Illinois at
Chicago), Dean and Emily Klein Gidwitz Professor, Crown Family School of Social
Work, Policy, and Practice.
LAYOUT, DESIGN, AND EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE BY:
Martha Rothblum (B.A., West Virginia Wesleyan College, Graphic Design), Creative Arts
Manager, National Association of Social Workers;
Daniel Madaj (B.A. University of Michigan Residential College, Creative Writing and
Literature), editor, Residential College Alumni Journal, and freelance writer and editor.
The nation’s estimated 700,000 professional
social workers are essential providers of
behavioral and social care services. Social
work professionals are fundamental in
crafting and implementing relevant social
policies at all levels. Macro field placements
and fellowship opportunities enrich the
pipeline for social workers as they will enter
the workforce equipped with hands on
learning experiences to serve as policy
experts and leaders in a broad range of
public and private domains.”
Mildred C. Joyner, DPS, MSW, LCSW
NASW President
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
WHITE HOUSE FELLOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
ABOUT HAROLD RICHMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
THE WHITE HOUSE AS A FIELD PLACEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
COMMENTARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
REFLECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
FIELD PLACEMENT & INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
WHITE HOUSE FELLOWS PROGRAM
The White House Fellows program was founded in
1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and continues
to this day. It allows exceptional young men and
women first-hand experience in leadership and
public service, working at the highest levels of the
federal government.
Over all the years of the White House Fellows program,
Richman remains the only social worker in the program,
although there have been others who have gone on to
serve in the public sector. What if such “policy and
political social work” could be encouraged?
The first group began in 1965, and included Harold
Richman, who became the Dean of the School of
Social Service Administration (SSA) at the University
of Chicago and the founder of Chapin Hall.
This began the idea to reprint Richman’s speech,
with analysis and also commentary by Tropman and
other University of Michigan School of Social Work
professors: James Blackburn, Daniel Fischer, and
Justin Hodge.
At the conclusion of Richman’s fellowship, he spoke
about his experiences. University of Michigan
professor John Tropman, a student colleague of
Richman’s at SSA, asked Richman in 2002 or 2003 for
permission to use the speech in a doctoral policy
course Tropman was teaching.
Lynn Videka, dean of University of Michigan, School
of Social Work, Sarah Butts, director of public policy
with the National Association of Social Workers, and
Deborah Gorman-Smith, dean of the Crown Family
School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice,
contribute a preface.
Richman’s sons, Andrew and Robert, add a reflection.
An appendix provides a link to fellowship resources.
2
PREFACE
PREFACE
Lynn Videka
TOWARD A PROGRESSIVE AND EQUITABLE SOCIETY
Lynn Videka has been the dean of the University of
Michigan School of Social Work since August 2016.
She earned the B.S.N. degree with honors from the
University of Illinois in 1972. She earned an A.M degree
in 1976 and a Ph.D. degree in 1981 from the School of
Social Service Administration at the University of
Chicago. Dean Videka’s research and teaching focus on
families served by the child welfare system and persons
with serious mental health disabilities.
It is my pleasure to write this preface to “The White
House as a Field Placement.” Harold Richman was
dean during my MSW and PhD studies at “SSA” (now
the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and
Practice). Although I did not know Harold Richman
personally, his passion for leadership in federal
social policy, his network and the benefits that it
brought to “SSA,” and the stature and respect he
held in our profession was well known to all students.
Richman’s speech constitutes an oral history of his
experiences as the first social work White House
fellow. So much of what—he has to say is relevant
for today—the importance of social work
engagement at the highest level of politics and policy
in order to achieve our profession’s vision of a
progressive and equitable society, the interpersonal
dimensions of even the highest policy negotiations,
and the career-long impact of early experiences.
The Crown Family School and the Michigan Social
Work have long shared a fruitful and generative
exchange of students, faculty, and scholarly exchange.
We also share something else. As the new name
implies, The Crown Family School will rededicate
itself to the importance of policy practice in social
work. As for the University of Michigan School of
Social Work, we are celebrating our 100th anniversary,
and as part of that process are re-emphasizing and
strengthening political and policy social work as a
vital part of the curriculum in our new pathway,
Policy Practice. I hope this speech will inspire future
White House Fellows from both Schools.
3
PREFACE
am often the only social worker in the room in policy
settings and know that there are incalculable
benefits to our profession’s participation.
Sarah Christa Butts
FOSTERING THE PROFESSION’S
PARTICIPATION AND IMPACT IN POLICY
Sarah Christa Butts, is the Director of Public Policy at the
National Association of Social Workers, headquarters
o?ce in Washington, D.C.
As a Macro social work practitioner, I am passionate
about increasing the social work professions’
involvement, influence, and impact in public policy.
This includes accelerating the translation of social work
research to policy and practice as well as preparing
and supporting skilled social work policy practitioners
throughout their careers. There are hundreds of social
workers in state houses, there are five social workers
currently in Congress, and many more are in policy
positions within and outside the government. Still,
more Macro social workers are needed to help shape
the social policy of tomorrow. As the pandemic has
illustrated, there is a tremendous need for solutions
to vexing problems such as housing, food insecurity,
and lack of access to mental health services.
4
In my current role, I routinely work with congressional
o?ces, federal agencies, and administration o?cials.
This spring, I participated in a White House meeting
on student loan debt cancellation, and with the
Department of Education on the Public Service Loan
Forgiveness program. I have represented NASW on
congressional roundtables and have reviewed and
provided input on numerous congressional bills. I
As a values-based profession, we have much to o?er
in policy formulation and discourse. Guided by the
NASW Code of Ethics, we center social justice, equity,
health, well-being and opportunity for our clients and
society. We seek to alleviate human su?ering and
meet basic human needs. Our distinctive skillset and
training di?erentiate us from many other disciplines
that represent workers in policy settings, such as law,
public administration, and business. This means that
the policy leadership and sta?ng environment is
highly competitive, with many skilled workers. The
implication is that Macro social workers have to learn
many skills in the field and compete for positions in
policy—there are few entry level jobs that are
guaranteed with minimal experience. Thus, social
workers benefit tremendously from Macro field
experiences, on the job training and associated
policy networks.
I can attest to the career value of high-quality field
placements in policy settings. I serve as a faculty field
instructor and supervise Macro MSW students in policy
focused field practicums. Several former students
have secured post graduate fellowships on Capitol
Hill and/or positions in federal agencies. My MSW
concentration was Macro/Clinical, having previously
majored in political science and social work in
undergraduate school and completing a Macro
policy field placement.
I started my career working in state and local
government in public child welfare. In my MSW field
practicum, I was an intern in the Social Services
Administration at the Maryland Department of Human
Services. I was hired as a Policy Analyst upon
graduation, gaining valuable experience working for
political appointees and state o?cials. The career
path for Macro practitioners is not necessarily linear,
and we may gain experience in any number of types
of organizations. Practitioners have to chart an
intentional career path in which early experiences and
opportunities in policy practice are critical.
The White House, congressional o?ces, state legislative
o?ces, federal and state agencies, non-profit
organizations, trade associations, professional societies,
policy think tanks and foundations are excellent
settings for Macro field placements and fellowships.
As a profession, we must cultivate these learning
opportunities throughout the career continuum.
They represent the pipeline to our participation and
leadership in policy practice.
PREFACE
Deborah Gorman-Smith
A SOCIAL WORK PERSPECTIVE IN
DETERMINING AND IMPLEMENTING
POLICIES
Deborah Gorman-Smith is Professor and Dean of the
Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.
She is also the Principal Investigator and director of the
Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention.
Her research is focused on advancing knowledge
about development, risk, and prevention of
aggression and violence, with specific focus on
minority youth living in high burden urban
communities. She has published extensively in
areas related to youth violence, including the
relationship between community characteristics,
family functioning and aggression and violence,
including partner violence and the impact of familyfocused preventive interventions. Gorman-Smith
received her PhD in Clinical-Developmental
Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy,
and Practice (aka the School of Social Service
Administration) at the University of Chicago was
built by visionary leaders who imagined a better
world and reimagined a profession. From its start,
the School’s founders believed social work education
should be connected to and reflect the major social
issues of the time, and they emphasized the need
for science and research as foundational elements in
social change. They also believed that first-rate
research on such social challenges as poverty,
working conditions, education, and immigration,
should guide policy and practice.
As an alumnus, teacher, and dean, Harold Richman
lived out–to the fullest–the guiding themes of the
School. He kept the vision of the School’s founders
squarely in his sightlines, recognizing the importance
of research in creating policy, and understanding that–
to make lasting impact–social policy must respect and
reflect the real world experiences of the communities
a?ected. While balancing the tensions of social policy,
politics, and practice, Richman always maintained a
social worker’s spirit and heart, advocating for the
most marginalized. He gave shape and leadership to
new social policy research e?orts, including the Center
for the Study of Social Policy, the Committee on Public
Policy Studies (which later became the Harris School of
Public Policy), and Chapin Hall, redefining its mission
to merge research with child welfare policy and
service. As an innovator, big thinker, and distinguished
social policy scholar, Richman’s accomplishments cast
a long shadow at the School and the University of
Chicago, inspiring colleagues, students, and friends
who seek to advance justice and equity. Earlier this
year, in January 2021, the School was renamed the
Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and
Practice. The new name makes clear this is a school of
social work, and places a deliberate emphasis on the
profession’s innate connection to social policy and
practice across a wide range of domains and
organizational and community contexts. In many ways,
the new name also embodies Harold Richman’s finest
attributes and aspirations– underlining the necessity
of a social work perspective in determining and
implementing policies, and leading social justice
e?orts that will create lasting change among
individuals, families, and communities.
5
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
John Tropman
John Tropman is Professor Emeritus of Social Work at
the University of Michigan School of Social Work.
Tropman received an MA in Social Work and Social
Service Administration from the University of Chicago,
and a PhD in Social Work from the University of Michigan.
As a fellow graduate of the University of Chicago
School of Social Service Administration (SSA), I met
Harold Richman at conferences in Ann Arbor and
other national settings. It was a result of this friendship
that I heard about the White House speech and asked
Richman for a copy. Richman also sent along a note
of conveyance.
The document is interesting in its own right, and captures
the pace and flavor of a high level internship. Apart
from its historical interest and “story corps” quality, the
speech touches many timeless issue in political and
policy work in the context of a firsthand account. We
will analyze some of these connections later.
6
The speech does not explicitly argue for policy
practice. This omission is a bit odd, as the School of
Social Service Administration has a long history of
political/policy involvement. Indeed, Richman’s interest
in and successful application for the White House
Fellowship is itself such an argument, and his detailed
discussion of policy practice supports this conclusion.
That said, SSA was at the time heavily clinical, and the
profession as a whole seen as therapeutically oriented,
with “macro” practice taking a second position in many
schools and essentially no position in many others.
This paper argues for robust support of policy and
political social work. Each of the authors shares his
professional perspective and hopes for improvement
in this area. I build o? my book, Policy Management in
the Human Services (Columbia University Press, 1984).
James Blackburn draws on his many years of
experience as a dean, and argues for the importance
of executive leadership in national social work
organizations and within schools. Dan Fischer, Head of
Field Instruction at the University of Michigan School of
INTRODUCTION
Social Work, addresses the issues around finding and
supporting appropriate placements. And Justin Hodge
focuses on the importance of successfully running for
elective o?ce.
Our goal is to reinforce the importance of political and
policy placements as an integral part of social work
opportunities in schools of social work. Always
important but frequently under-supported, such
initiatives are of vital importance now. Elected o?ce is,
of course, one where policy contributions can happen.
Placements in governmental bureaus is another
exciting option, at all levels of government. And their
individual and collective impact could potentially be a
huge force for social good. Robert Wood, in his 1961
touchstone volume, 1400 Governments (Harvard
University Press) enumerated the 1,467 local and
regional public authorities in the New York City
metropolitan region (surely there are more than that
today). Consider all the policy internships that could be
available in state, local and municipal bodies, as well as
water systems, sewer authorities, and so on.
The public/governmental sphere is not the only “policy
pasture.” The corporate world is available as well.
There are national organizations representing just
about every aspect of American “interests.” Much of
their behavior involves lobbying the political sector but
also setting standards for their sector as well. There
are also huge national organizations (e.g., Amazon)
with international reach (add Google here) whose
operational policies impact not only their employees
but also the communities in which they reside (or
choose not to reside). And there are constellations of
executives who constitute what C. Wright Mills, in 1956,
called The Power Elite (Oxford). President Eisenhower
reminded us of their potential power in one areas
Tropman’s comments
build o? his book, Policy
Management in the Human
Services.
when he referred to the “military-industrial complex” in
his farewell address to the nation in 1961. The
organizational policy arena has been overlooked by
social work and should be considered as a place for
influence and impact, encouraging social good and
“right-doing.”
As important, perhaps, is encouraging the avoidance of
wrongdoing and the importance of rectification when
wrongdoing occurs. The social justice voice
represented by social work seems missing in many
organizations. There are individual perpetrators doing
wrong, facilitators who shield and cover up the
wrongdoing, cultures of wrongdoing and stonewalling
when wrongdoing has occurred. (Organizational
wrongdoing has been detailed in Donald Palmer’s
Normal Organizational Wrongdoing: A Critical Analysis
of Theories of Misconduct in and by Organizations
(Columbia University Press, 2013)).
7
WHITE HOUSE
FELLOWS
WHITE HOUSE FELLOWS
The 1965-66 Fellows top, Richman–is front right, with dark-framed
glasses), and the 2016-17 Fellows (with President Obama, center).
Founded in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the
White House Fellows program is one of America’s most
prestigious programs for leadership and public service,
and continues to this day. White House Fellowships o?er
exceptional young men and women first-hand experience
working at the highest levels of the federal government.
The first group began in 1965. Harold Richman was in
that group, and later became the Dean of the School
of Social Service Administration at the University of
Chicago and the founder of Chapin Hall. He is the only
social worker to have been a White House fellow
(though there have been others from the nonprofit
sector generally).
The Fellows website (www.whitehouse.gov/getinvolved/fellows/) lists former Fellows, including Sanjay
Gupta (CNN Chief Medical Reporter), Doris Kearns
Godwin (Pulitzer Prize winning historian), Wes Clark
(former U.S. Supreme Allied Commander, Europe) ,
Henry Cisneros (former U.S. Secretary of H.U.D.), and
Collin Powell (former U.S. Secretary of State).
8
The website notes that “the purpose of the White House
Fellows program is to provide gifted and highly motivated
emerging leaders with some first-hand experience in
the process of governing the Nation and a sense of
personal involvement in the leadership of society.”
Noting that “a genuinely free society cannot be a
spectator society,” President Johnson said that one of
the missions of the Fellows was to “increase their
sense of participation in national a?airs.” Johnson
expected the Fellows to “repay that privilege” by
“continuing to work as private citizens on their public
agendas.” He hoped that the Fellows would contribute
to the nation as future leaders.
Selected individuals typically spend a year working as a
full-time, paid Fellow to senior White House Sta?,
Cabinet Secretaries, and other top-ranking
government o?cials. Fellows also participate in an
education program consisting of roundtable
discussions with leaders from the private and public
sectors, and trips to study U.S. policy in action.
ABOUT
HAROLD
RICHMAN
John Tropman wrote
to Harold Richman in
2002 or 2003, asking
for permission to use
Richman’s speech in a
doctoral policy course
he was teaching.
Tropman and Richman
knew each other from
their graduate school
days in the School of
Social Service
Administration.
ABOUT HAROLD RICHMAN
Harold and Marlene Richman
Harold Richman (1937-2009) was the founding director
of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, helping
transform the former Chapin Hall for Children in 1985.
Richman earned an AB in American History and Literature
from Harvard in 1959, and an MA (Social Welfare Policy,
1961) and PhD (1969) from the University of Chicago.
He was a White House Fellow and special assistant to
the Secretary of Labor from 1965 to 1967. He was dean
of the School of Social Service Administration at the
University of Chicago from 1969-2978.
After stepping down as director of Chapin Hall in 2001
he continued to advise research centers in South Africa,
Ireland, Jordan, Israel, and other countries. Richman
wrote or co-wrote nearly 20 published nearly 20 articles.
The University of Chicago’s Social Service Administration’s
centennial website (ssacentennial.chicago.edu) notes
that Richman planned to be a history professor, but
after reading Oscar Handlin’s The Uprooted for an
undergraduate literary class, “I became acutely conscious
of the economic, social, and political injustices in our
country. I was unaware of these injustices growing up
in Cleveland.”
He volunteered at a settlement house in Boston, taught
a literature course in a maximum-security prison, and
worked one summer for the Cleveland Department of
Public Assistance. After these experiences, he “wanted
a place where I could combine social reform and social
research,” so he enrolled in the School of Social Service
Administration at the University of Chicago. SSA faculty
members suggested he apply to the White House
Fellows Program.
After his fellowship ended in 1967, Richman taught
policy courses at SSA and finished his dissertation. In
1969 he was o?ered a position with David Rockefeller
in New York, but was persuaded to remain at SSA,
where he became dean.
Richman was married for 44 years to Marlene, a career
counselor for 36 years at the University of Chicago. She
died in 2014. They had two sons, Andrew and Robert.
9
FIELD
PLACEMENT
THE WHITE HOUSE AS A
FIELD PLACEMENT
Alton Linford was Dean of
the University of Chicago
School of Social Service
Administration from
1956-69. “Miss Walker”
was an Assistant/Associate
Dean there, and Professors
Schwartz and Frank Bruel
were on the faculty.
Norval Morris joined the
University of Chicago
Law School, and served
as its Dean from 1975-78.
George Rohrlich, professor
of economics and social
policy at Temple University,
was visiting professor at
Chicago in 1964, It’s
uncertain who “Mrs.
Callaway” is.
SPEECH BY HAROLD RICHMAN (CIRCA 1966)
Mrs. Calloway, Miss Walker, Dean Linford, Professor
Breul, Professor Schwartz, My Mother, and My
Mother-in-law:
I hope you will excuse that rather lengthy salutation,
but after a year near the President, you learn never
to pass up a political opportunity; and I know you
will understand the importance of the political
opportunity which I have dust taken when I explain
that Dean Linford and Professor Breul are on my
Dissertation Committee, Professor Schwartz gave
me a hard time at my dissertation hearing and I am
hoping he won’t do it again, my mother came 350
miles to be here tonight, and I recognize my
mother-in-law for obvious reasons.
I feel a little presumptuous being the speaker
tonight, particularly when I realize that I am following
in the very large footsteps of’ such distinguished
10
men as Professor Rohrlich and Professor Norval
Morris. I want to assure you, though, that I have
done everything possible to be certain that my
remarks will be properly erudite.
First, I am wearing a vest. I never owned a vest until I
got to Washington, where I quickly learned that
whenever serious business is at hand, a vest is
always worn.
Second, I had during the cocktail hour, 1 bourbon
and branch water, the favorite drink of the
President, 1 bourbon and water, the favorite drink of
Mrs. Johnson; 1 scotch and water, the favorite drink
of Secretary Rusk; and 1 dry martini, the favorite
drink of Vice-President Humphrey. I trust I am now
assured, among other things, of the volubility of the
Vice-President, the poise of the First Lady, the sober
clarity of the Secretary of State, and the homey
philosophical bent of the President.
W. Willard Wirtz, U.S. Secretary of Labor, with
Harold Richman.
Richman (left) with President Lyndon Johnson.
Third, I have given my speech a subtitle, to grace it,
hopefully, with a more professional air. I am sorry
there was not room for it on the invitation, but I
hasten to present it to you now as evidence of my
scholarly credentials. I am going to speak, with the
traditional conciseness and clarity of the doctoral
student, on “Reflections on a significant,
stress-laden, maturational, growth-producing
experience in an interdisciplinary, secondary setting”
or “The White House as a Field Placement.”
The White House Fellows were 15 very lucky young
men. For the last year we had the freedom, really the
mandate, to move about the at-the-top level of
government—The White House and the Cabinet—
doing work, asking questions, searching out, horning
in, being irreverent, and learning.
A year ago last Spring, after an exhaustive
nationwide screening process conducted by a
Presidential Commission headed by David
Rockefeller, President Johnson named the first White
House Fellows—15 men between the ages of 23 and
55, coming from all over the country and from the
fields of law, political science, business, education,
journalism, engineering, and social work.
The social worker must here pay tribute to Dean
Linford, Professors Breul, and Rachael Marks, who,
always ready to turn government policy to their own
purposes saw the great possibilities of using the
White House Fellowship as a field placement (under
good supervision, of course) for a Doctoral student
badly in need of a work experience.
We began our year last fall when we were each
assigned to serve as a special assistant to either a
cabinet o?cer or a White House sta? member. One
Fellow was with each cabinet member, one with the
Vice-President, and in the White House; one with Bill
11
FIELD
PLACEMENT
Moyers, one with Budget Director Charles Schultz,
one with Jack Valenti (later Robert Kintner), and one
with McGeorge Bundy (later Walt Rostow). I worked
with Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz.
Our work experiences ranged from special assignments
to attendance at cabinet meetings and meetings
with the President, to several particularly lucky fellows
who found themselves on trips around the world.
My own work for Secretary Wirtz consisted mainly of
a series of assignments from him designed both to
lighten some of his burdens and to give me experience
in the di?erent kinds of problems that a Cabinet
Secretary faces. Over the year I became well versed in,
among other things, the problems of farm labor, labor
economics research, the federal budget process,
manpower policy, executive reorganization, labor
standards, the construction industry, labormanagement arbitration, and the now-infamous
wage-price guideposts.
My fieldwork consultants back at SSA might have
shuddered had they seen me laboring over
problems involving the commercial acceptability of a
mechanically harvestable tomato which turned out
to be oblong in shape, or the feasibility of developing
a plastic or a concrete additive to permit road
building in the winter, thus reducing seasonal
unemployment problems in the construction
industry, or helping turn an inflationary settlement in
a construction strike into a guaranteed income
scheme with a clause assuring the accomplishment
of some socially useful projects along the way, but
that is just what I was doing. It was work which was
always fascinating because it was always immediate
and always for some reason or other important to
the President or Secretary Wirtz.
12
Benjamin Aaron was Chairman of the Secretary of
Labor’s California Farm Labor Panel.
on the elimination of the Bracero problem. Amid
protestations of total ignorance of the farmer, the
laborer, and California, I embarked for Los Angeles.
Upon arrival in Los Angeles, I had a conference with
Professor Aaron about the problems of California
agriculture and the work of the California Panel.
This conference took place in the American Airlines
Admirals Club in the Los Angeles airport late at night
and over several drinks. At that point, my task
seemed simple and California’s hospitality impressive.
It is hard to describe a moving target, and that is
really what I was last year. I think I can best convey
something of the spirit of the moment and the
substance of my work by quoting at some length
from sections of monthly reports which we each
submitted to the White House. I quote first from
the report written at the end of my first month.
The next morning was a di?erent story. I was given
Professor Aaron’s o?ce, 2 secretaries, and an open
line to San Francisco, Sacramento, and Washington.
In the o?ce were five file drawers of scattered
material on California agriculture and numerous
piles of newspaper clippings, statistics, memos, and
reports which had come to the Panel. I had no
choice but to get to work.
The day I arrived for work at the Labor Department I
was informed that I was to leave that afternoon for
an assignment in Los Angeles. I was to report to
Benjamin Aaron who was Chairman of the
Secretary’s California