John C. Culver

As an undergraduate at Harvard, former Iowa Senator John C. Culver ’54, also a 1962 graduate of the Law School, took the football team by storm. Barrelling through obstacles and games, he eventually earned himself a spot in the Harvard Football Hall of Fame.

But perhaps the most important result of his time on the football team was the development of a deep friendship between Culver—who decided to apply to Harvard after witnessing a Harvard-Yale game—and teammate Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy ’54-’56, a relationship that would forever connect him with Harvard and its Institute of Politics.

In May 2010, Culver was appointed interim director of the IOP, which Kennedy had established as a living memorial to his brother, President John F. Kennedy ’40. Culver joined its senior advisory committee in 1975.

Until his death in August 2009, Kennedy never missed a meeting of the senior advisory committee. But because of his failing health, he was unable to physically attend his last meeting, so the advisory board, still helmed by Kennedy’s old football buddy, called him in.

“He said he wanted to be recorded present at the meeting because he never missed one,” Culver said.

A PATH TO SERVICE

When he arrived in Cambridge in the fall of 1950, Culver became the third generation of his family to attend Harvard. He began playing freshman football, but, missing his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he felt unhappy and almost gave up on the sport in favor of basketball.

“I was kind of homesick,” Culver said, “But by the time I went back there for my sophomore year, I really enjoyed it and was happy at Harvard.”

Culver, who lived in then athlete-oriented Winthrop House, became a star on the football team as a fullback, eventually being inducted to the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1978 along with his team captain and friend, Richard J. Clasby ’54.

When he was not on the field, Culver fed his growing political interest as a government concentrator, eventually joining the United States Marine Corps for 39 months after graduating.

After, he attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1962.

“When I was an undergraduate, I thought about either going into the foreign service state department or elected politics,” he said. “When I was back at law school, gradually my interest turned more to the political side and the opportunity of running for [public office] eventually won out.”

When Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, he appointed Culver as his legislative assistant. However, it was not long before Culver launched his own political career. After a year in Kennedy’s office, he moved back to Iowa and was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives in 1964, only two years after his law school graduation. Culver served in the House from 1965 to 1975 before being elected to the Senate for one term in 1974.

Culver said that he felt fortunate that he was elected in 1964 to the 89th Congress because it had a Democratic supermajority, which allowed Congress to pass landmark legislation including Medicare and Medicaid.

“I think, historically, it’s the most productive two-year period in modern history,” Culver said. “It’s quite a contrast with today where you have a logjam between the two parties.”

‘A STAR IN LIFE’

Today, Culver remains chair emeritus of the IOP’s senior advisory committee.

Former Kentucky Secretary of State C. M. “Trey” Grayson ’94, who was appointed director of the IOP after Culver’s interim service, said that Culver remains a legend within the organization. He said that when, as a student, Grayson gave reports to the senior advisory committee, Culver and Kennedy made him feel like his ideas mattered and would have an impact.

“I remember my first big report, I guess I was probably 19,” Grayson said, “I called home and was like ‘Mom, I just gave this report and all these senators, and governors, and Senator Kennedy and John Kennedy Jr., they all listened to me.’”

Culver, once a Harvard undergraduate himself, loved working with the students at the IOP as interim director.

“I think that they’re the most stimulating group of young people in the country. Their energy, intelligence, enthusiasm, and commitment to the activities they’re involved in, is remarkable,” Culver said. “It was a wonderful six months working with the students and the staff there.”

This affection was mutual. The staff at the IOP loved him as much as the students did, Grayson said. He added that they still talk about him all the time.

“He was a sports star and he was a star in politics and kind of really a star in life. So that’s why he’s kind of a legend around here,” Grayson said. “My only hope is that when I get out of here after a while, people will talk about me the same way they talk about him.”

“I remember him holding court in his office,” said Jeffrey F. Solnet ’12, former president of the student advisory committee at the Institute. “There must have been 20 to 30 students listening to him, in awe, telling his stories of Teddy, when they were students, and this and that.”

“He was an amazing storyteller,” added Solnet.

Sarah E. Esty ’11 served as vice president of the IOP while Culver was interim director.

“He was very supportive of the work we were doing and committed to making sure we expanded new opportunities,” she said. “He really embodied for many of us what it means to dedicate your life to politics and public service.”

So, when Culver was unable to attend the last meeting of the senior advisory committee, the board gave him the same courtesy that he had extended to his old friend Kennedy. At the end of the meeting, Grayson explained, the committee called Culver and checked in on him.

“We told him that for attendance purposes, it counted,” Grayson said.

—Staff writer D. Simone Kovacs can be reached at dkovacs@college.harvard.edu.