![]() ![]() Today, West is tackling his second presidential appointment-working for President Barack Obama in a dream position as assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice, Civil Division. ![]() “My parents were tremendous role models who reinforced this idea.” This idea stuck with me and sort of got me started on the path I’m on today,” he says. This is an important lesson from history: that anybody, given the right set of circumstances and the right motivation, can actually make a significant positive impact. “When I read about people who changed the world in which they lived, I found it fascinating that individuals could have such a big, broad impact on our world and the way in which we live. His parents’ example and the lessons from all the history books he read laid the groundwork for West’s future. When tallying the number of political campaigns West has volunteered for, he starts with Jimmy Carter’s presidential bid in 1976-he was just 11 when his dad, the regional campaign manager, took him along canvassing door-to-door and to the campaign headquarters in San Jose to lick envelopes and get mailings out. His father, a retired IBM executive, served on the local school board, the San Jose Planning Commission, and in the Democratic Party. His mother is a schoolteacher and music instructor. And he did indeed go to Harvard, and then to Stanford Law School, knowing well the effort required to spell-and attend-these top-tier universities.Īlong with encouraging West academically, his parents were role models for community and government service-inspiring him to get involved. From then on, West excelled at school, at sports, at debate team, and at student government-he was elected president of his senior class and won several awards for running and debate. This went on for a bit until I asked her, ‘Okay-how do you spell Harvard?’ And she said, ‘You spell Harvard A-A-A-A-A-A.’ ” He laughs recalling the scene but says it was a transformative moment. “She kept asking me, ‘How do you spell Harvard?’ And I would start-H A R-and she’d cut me off and say ‘No’ and then ask again. Tony West ’92 and Maya Harris ’92 (Photo by Trujillo-Paumier) His mother’s response to the poor grades made an impression on the young West. ![]() That year, he brought home a none too stellar report card-full of Cs. His mother knew that West had read about a university called Harvard, where his favorite author and several of his heroes, including President Roosevelt and President Kennedy, had gone. Tony West ’92 discovered Theodore White’s The Making of the President books when he was about 10 years old and quickly developed a passion for American history. ![]()
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