2000.06.19: June 19, 2000: Headlines: Figures: Directors - Coverdelll: Directors: New York Times: Paul Coverdell Is a Longtime Friend of the Family
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2000.06.19: June 19, 2000: Headlines: Figures: Directors - Coverdelll: Directors: New York Times: Paul Coverdell Is a Longtime Friend of the Family
Paul Coverdell Is a Longtime Friend of the Family
Ask just about anyone in the United States Senate and they will say this about Mr. Coverdell, the Republican senator from Georgia: If you want something done, and done well, and you do not want the person hogging all the glory, call Senator Coverdell. It is one reason he ascended into the Senate Republican leadership so quickly, as a mere freshman. ''A Coverdell martini is two olives, hold the gin,'' joked his former press secretary, Jonathan Baron, who now works for the decidedly more aggressive Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, the majority whip. Considering all of this, Mr. Coverdell seems a natural choice for the potentially treacherous job of liaison between Governor Bush's campaign and the Senate, famous for its zeppelin-size ego. He took on the job early last year, after a breakfast meeting with Mr. Bush, before the Bush exploratory committee was formed. Paul Coverdell was the 11th Director of the Peace Corps.
Paul Coverdell Is a Longtime Friend of the Family
PUBLIC LIVES; Bush's Senate Liaison Is a Longtime Friend of the Family
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: June 19, 2000
THIS reporter begged Senator Paul Coverdell for details, just a few colorful anecdotes to illustrate his longtime relationship with the Bushes.
Senator Coverdell, who is Gov. George W. Bush's point man in the Senate, made a vague reference to ''socializing over dinner'' with former President Bush. ''I'm not a golfer. And I tangled up his fishing reel, I remember that.''
It turns out, a few inquiring phone calls later, that Mr. Coverdell had attended Barbara Bush's 75th birthday party at Kennebunkport, Me., on June 10, an affair that fell between intimate and gala. But cocktail chatter is simply not the senator's style. Neither is name-dropping. And really it was nobody's business but the Bushes'.
Ask just about anyone in the United States Senate and they will say this about Mr. Coverdell, the Republican senator from Georgia: If you want something done, and done well, and you do not want the person hogging all the glory, call Senator Coverdell. It is one reason he ascended into the Senate Republican leadership so quickly, as a mere freshman.
''A Coverdell martini is two olives, hold the gin,'' joked his former press secretary, Jonathan Baron, who now works for the decidedly more aggressive Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, the majority whip.
Considering all of this, Mr. Coverdell seems a natural choice for the potentially treacherous job of liaison between Governor Bush's campaign and the Senate, famous for its zeppelin-size ego. He took on the job early last year, after a breakfast meeting with Mr. Bush, before the Bush exploratory committee was formed.
Mr. Coverdell, 61, goes back two decades with the Bush family. He met Governor Bush's father at a small gathering in Atlanta in the 1970's, when the elder Mr. Bush was ambassador to the United Nations and he was a state senator. Mr. Coverdell made an impression on Mr. Bush, who invited him to Houston to chat about ideas, and then to Kennebunkport. A friendship ensued, and Mr. Coverdell became a regular guest at the Kennebunkport compound.
When Mr. Bush ran for president in 1980, Mr. Coverdell was his finance chairman in Georgia. He never lost touch with Mr. Bush, and was justly rewarded. In 1988, he became Southern steering committee chairman for the Bush campaign.
Then, after Mr. Bush won the election, Mr. Coverdell sent a polite letter. ''If I can help, I'd like to help,'' the senator said he wrote.
The next year, Mr. Coverdell found himself at the helm of the Peace Corps, and his rise to the United States Senate was set in motion. He was elected in 1992. Now he hopes to help Bush fils rocket to the White House, a job he calls an honor, and the word is he would be justly rewarded again if Governor Bush were to land the presidency.
Politically, Governor Bush and Senator Coverdell diverge; Mr. Bush is reaching out to the political center while Mr. Coverdell has grown increasingly conservative. No matter. His loyalty is what is important to Mr. Bush.
SENATOR COVERDELL'S frame is so slight it seems to vanish in his nicely tailored suits. An insurance man by trade (his family business prospered with his help), he speaks in quiet, measured cadences, with the kind of mellow voice that evokes lazy Sunday afternoons on a porch swing. Today, his socks keep falling down, and he tugs at them while he talks.
He was born in Iowa, lived there for a short time, then wound up in Georgia, which he embraced as his true home. (He is vague about why.) After graduating from the University of Missouri with a journalism degree in 1960, he joined the Army in 1962, was sent to Okinawa and decided there, at a juncture when many in America were opting out of the system, that it made more sense to opt in. He also married Nancy Nally, a flight attendant.
His role as liaison has morphed into different things at different moments. ''I'm a facilitator,'' he said.
Early on, the job was all about getting Republican senators to endorse Governor Bush instead of Senator John McCain. He did so, lining up almost every Senate Republican. After Mr. Bush's defeat in the New Hampshire primary, Mr. Coverdell bucked up supporters, although he said most senators were not too nervous about the stumble.
Every other day or so, he touches base with Bush campaign aides to trade information and alert them to any political land mines. Early on, it was Karl Rove, Governor Bush's chief campaign strategist. Now it is Joe Allbaugh, the campaign manager.
They do not usually coordinate ''message,'' mostly because coordinating anything in the Senate is a challenge. ''It's a sausage mill here,'' Mr. Coverdell said. ''We have a lot of difficulty clearing the airwaves for a message.''
There have been disagreements, most recently over Kosovo. The Senate wanted to place a deadline on the troops there. Mr. Bush preferred preserving flexibility on the issue. But that is natural, Mr. Coverdell said.
And last year, Senator Coverdell alerted the Bush people that a number of Republican senators opposed the nuclear test ban treaty. It was helpful information, and in the end, Mr. Bush opposed the treaty.
Now, Mr. Coverdell often deals with requests from senators who want to talk to Governor Bush about his Social Security plan, for example, or who, just as important, want to air their views. ''We don't want black holes,'' he said. ''We want people feeling they are part of the effort. We want to create good will.''
What about all that distance Mr. Bush keeps putting between himself and Congress? It is all media hype, Mr. Coverdell says. ''I think the relationship with Congress has actually been quite comfortable,'' he said. ''By and large, the goals are very symbiotic.''
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Peace Corps Annual Report: 2000; Paul Coverdell; Figures; Paul Coverdell (Director 1989 - 1991); Peace Corps Directors; Georgia
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Story Source: New York Times
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