Alums to Lead Homeland Defense

President Bush’s creation on Thursday of the Office of Homeland Defense has made a Harvard College graduate responsible for protecting the United States from future terrorist attacks.

Thomas J. Ridge ’67, the Republican governor of Pennsylvania, will serve as the head of the newly-formed office—a post that Bush said Thursday night will function as a Cabinet-level position and will report directly to the president.

According to Harvard experts on domestic preparation against terrorism, discussions of creating such an office have been underway for several years—though the events of Sept. 11 added momentum to the initiative.

However, since the Office of Homeland Defense is in its infancy, Harvard experts said they are uncertain of how effective it will be.

“It’s a little early to know what it’s going to do,” said Arnold M. Howitt, director of the executive session on domestic preparedness at the Kennedy School of Government.

He noted that it was still unclear if the office would only function as an advisory body to the president—like the National Security Council—or would actually supervise anti-terrorism activities.

Juliette Kayyem ’91, executive director of the executive session on domestic preparedness, noted that unless the office is given direct responsibility for agencies involved in preventing terrorism, the head of the office may only serve as an ineffectual “terrorism czar”—similar to the current “drug czar” position.

The Man In Charge

During his undergraduate years, Ridge was a resident of Quincy House; he graduated from the College cum laude as a government concentrator.

Those that knew Ridge at Harvard describe him as a devoted student.

“He was very studious, quiet—really a very typical guy,” said fellow Quincy House resident Frank A. Orban III ’66 in an interview with The Crimson last year.

Despite widespread political activism at Harvard in the mid-1960s, Ridge usually did not join the fray. Instead he was an active participant in sports—playing baseball, basketball and football as a first-year student—and in several other clubs, including the Crimson Key Society and a philanthropic charity group.

“He was certainly not one of those standing up on tables shouting down the administration,” said Richard C. Haskins ’67 last year.

Ridge did participate in internal campus politics—albeit at a low-key level. He served as a member of the Freshmen Council, the Undergraduate Council and the Quincy House Committee.

After graduation, Ridge was drafted into the Army and served as a staff sergeant for two years in Vietnam. He later went on to practice law and in 1982 was elected to Congress. In 1994 he gave up his Congressional seat in a successful run for governor of Pennsylvania.

Ridge is widely known as a moderate Republican—he supports abortion rights and has in the past supported increases in the minimum wage.

According to Congressional Quarterly, while a member of Congress in the 1980s, Ridge was more likely to oppose President Reagan on key votes than to support him.

Ridge is also a close friend of President Bush—a friendship dating back to their work on George H.W. Bush’s unsuccessful 1980 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

In his speech on Thursday, Bush called Ridge “a trusted friend.”

Because of his views, Ridge’s name was often mentioned during the first half of 2000 as a possible vice-presidential running mate for Bush, as a way to make the ticket more attractive to moderates and Democrats.

However, such rumors died when many conservatives objected to Ridge’s positions on abortion.

The Harvard experts expressed little surprise at Bush’s decision to name Ridge to the Homeland Defense office.

“It’s a choice that was sensible,” Howitt said.

Kayyem said she thought it wise to name someone not previously affiliated with an agency that works to prevent terrorism—such as the military or the FBI—since they might be unable to make unbiased decisions. She also said Bush and Ridge’s friendship will likely give Ridge greater importance in the administration.

—Staff writer Daniel P. Mosteller can be reached at dmostell@fas.harvard.edu.