Word: ceo
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...CEO has a natural advantage in gaining access to Congressmen. Not many Congressmen can afford to turn away the head of a $50 billion corporation. In fact, many members of Congress welcome the CEOs, soaking up the glamour associated with extreme wealth. In the 95th Congress, Senator Howard O. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) asked deButts to lunch to discuss public governance of the corporation, while Senator Jacob Javits (R-N.Y.) contacted deButts to solicit the business community's help on urban problems...
...CEOs find it a bit more difficult to contact Carter, although they have had numerous meetings with his staff. DeButts recalls, "He used to tell us in the meeting he expected the only contacts the White House would have with the business community would be through Secretaries Kreps and Blumenthal. And we finally told him, 'That's fine, Mr. President, but we have to talk to you. If you want something from us you don't talk to some executive vice president. You ask for the CEO. Well, we want the same thing--to talk to the CEO...
Because much of the CEO's activity falls outside his specific area of expertise, deButts attributes the value of a business executive as a government adviser to his general expertise.. The government is "going to listen because these people (the CEOs) obviously have some sense or they wouldn't be where they were. They control a large segment of the economy...
...awkwardness of the CEO in the seat of government soon wears off, however. "When you become familiar with the process, you become willing to go down to Washington increasingly more," Adam says. "it's a confidence that's sort of self-feeding...I see a lot more enthusiasm within the organization (the Business Roundtable) in the last two years than I saw previously...
Sneath is bucking the current trend of the CEO's increasing political involvement. The large corporation is no longer content to merely send contributions to members of Congress in the hope that they will remember the generosity of corporate America when antitrust legislation and the like comes up for consideration. Big business now sends its titular heads as emmisaries to Washington. Like the ruler of a foreign nation, the CEO's charisma--derived from his control of billions and billions of dollars--gives him access to the powers-that-be in Washington. In principle, every citizen has equal political right...