|
|
Name: Jean Becker
Degree and Year: BJ '78
Company: Office of Former President George H. W. Bush
Title: Chief of Staff
City and State: Houston, Texas
Spontaneity and a willingness to try new things have been hallmarks of Jean Becker's career, which has taken her from her hometown newspaper to her current position as chief of staff to former President George H. W. Bush.
Jean Becker BJ '78
|
"I do not believe in life plans or 10-year plans or five-year plans," Becker, BJ '78, said. "I look at five- and 10-year plans as a disaster. The opportunity I had to work in the White House came out of nowhere, and if I had tunnel vision, I would have turned it down."
From Reporter to Press Secretary
On Labor Day, 1988, Becker, at the time a member of USA Today's presidential campaign coverage team, was the only reporter in the newsroom when her editor handed her a delicate assignment: edit text written by two candidates' wives, one of whom would be the next first lady of the United States.
As part of its 1988 election coverage, the paper had asked both Barbara Bush and Kitty Dukakis, the spouses of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, to keep diaries of their experiences on the campaign trail. Looking over the first drafts her editor handed her, Becker knew a rough road lay ahead.
"The first drafts were horrible," Becker said. "It was clear they were written by the campaigns' political staffs when USA Today wanted personal diaries."
Becker called both campaigns' press secretaries and explained that the drafts fell short of USA Today's expectations. The paper and the campaigns agreed that Becker should become the permanent editor of the weekly columns. She would travel with Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Dukakis, help them arrange their thoughts and review their drafts.
"By the end of the campaign, both women were doing a pretty good job," Becker said.
While Becker dealt with Mrs. Dukakis' press secretary throughout the campaign, Mrs. Bush took great interest in her column and insisted on working with Becker personally. After George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis, the first Bush administration asked Becker to become Mrs. Bush's deputy press secretary - without ever asking Becker about her political affiliation.
"They wanted a journalist, not a professional press secretary," Becker said.
A woman who still considers journalism her first and true calling, Becker said she faced a tough decision. Although she knew she had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work in the White House, USA Today wanted Becker to become one of the paper's White House correspondents.
Encouragement from her father, a life-long Democrat, finally convinced her to take the job.
"[He said], 'You've been offered this fabulous job, and you can always go back to journalism," Becker said. "Famous last words."
Finding Her Passion
Becker, a native of Martinsburg, Mo., came to the University of Missouri-Columbia to study medicine. A high school science teacher had instilled in her such love for the subject that Becker hoped to become a doctor. Two years in the pre-medicine program, however, convinced Becker that she was on the wrong path.
"I took chemistry and biology and calculus. All my electives were writing courses and communications courses. Finally, the light bulb came on in the middle of my sophomore year, when I realized how much I hated my science courses and loved my electives," Becker said.
After her self-described "awakening," Becker decided to enter the Missouri School of Journalism.
A newspaper journalism student, Becker said the skills and principles she learned at Missouri stick with her even today. She said she continues to consult The Associated Press Stylebook regularly - although she admits she probably needs to buy an updated version.
"It was drilled into us here to pay attention to detail and to be accurate," Becker said. "Accuracy was everything here."
At the time, however, learning that lesson was not always a pleasant experience.
One day, for instance, she stormed into her dorm room after receiving an F on an assignment in her basic news-writing course. She tore the paper, with the F written in bright red ink, into little bits. Later, she taped it back together.
"The TA who taught the course told me, 'You wrote a great story, but you misspelled a name. That's it.'" Becker said. "I never forgot that."
Beginning a Career
After graduating from Missouri, Becker took a reporting job with her hometown paper, the Mexico Ledger.
Although she was disappointed at the time to be working for a small paper, Becker said that in retrospect, it was the right job for a rookie reporter. During her three years in Mexico, she learned about every aspect of the newspaper's operation and wrote stories on a whole host of subjects.
"Starting with the nuts and bolts, no matter what your profession, is important," Becker said.
In 1981, a reporting job with the mid-sized Danville (Ill.) Commercial-News became available, and Becker seized the opportunity. Gannett owned both the Commercial-News and USA Today, paving the way for Becker's transition to the national paper in 1985.
Writing and Editing on the National Stage
Becker, who joined USA Today in its formative years, said putting the young paper on the nation's radar screen was challenging and interesting.
"It was full of energy," she said. "Everybody was young. Everybody was from somewhere else. There was no such thing as saying, 'Well, this is the way we always have done it.'"
Except for a nine-month stint as Page 1 editor, Becker spent her time at USA Today as a reporter. When the 1988 elections rolled around, Becker knew she wanted to be a part of the political team.
"Most reporters like to report for a while and then go to editing," she said. "But I wanted to go back to reporting. I just didn't have reporting and writing out of my system."
Becker remembers the challenges of political reporting in the pre-Internet era.
"Especially on the campaign trail, there would maybe be 10 reporters in line at one payphone, all waiting to call their city desk and call their stories in," Becker said. "And you would only have so much time to do it."
It was her work for USA Today during the 1988 election that so impressed Mrs. Bush and compelled her to offer Becker a job on her White House staff.
Working in the White House
For Becker, the offer to work in the White House was the right opportunity at the right time.
"It was amazing, but it was a lot of hard work," Becker said. "I basically didn't have a life for four years. I was young, and it was the right time in my life to do all that."
Becker was one of Mrs. Bush's two deputy press secretaries. In this position, she was in charge of the media at all of the first lady's events at the White House, in Washington and on the road. Becker usually would arrive in a location about three days ahead of Mrs. Bush to finalize details for the event.
Corralling the national press corps across the country and around the world produced numerous memorable moments - some silly, others profound.
During the 1992 presidential campaign, for instance, Mrs. Bush was to present the blue ribbons to the best cows at the Florida State Fair. Becker and other staff members had finalized all the details of the event, including where Mrs. Bush was to stand and the location of the media platform. But, they had forgotten one important element of the ceremony to honor the prize-winning cattle.
"About two minutes before Mrs. Bush was to walk in, with huge press coverage because it was in the middle of the campaign, I realized that the cows all had their rear ends pointed toward the press," Becker said. "It was not a pretty sight."
After stopping the first lady in her tracks, Becker had to make a quick decision: turn the cows around or move the media.
"I went to all these little girls, and I said, 'Turn the cows around,'" Becker said. "I'll just never, ever forget that as long as I live."
The random details, Becker said, made the job fun.
On the other extreme, she said, some events were deeply moving, such as a trip with Mrs. Bush and Princess Diana to an AIDS hospital.
"We were in awe of meeting her, at the height of her popularity, when she and Prince Charles were still married," Becker said.
Chief of Staff to a President
After President George H. W. Bush left office in 1992, Becker moved to Houston to help Mrs. Bush write her memoirs. Then, in 1993, former President Bush asked Becker to become his chief of staff. In this position, Becker runs the former president's office and coordinates his schedule, travel, special projects, speechwriting and other operations.
Although she said she has thought about leaving the position numerous times, some unexpected development always has kept her with the former president. She even had a replacement ready to take her position in 1999, but when George W. Bush announced his plans to run for president, former President Bush asked her to remain.
"We've just never looked back," Becker said. "Life became different and interesting and challenging after [George W. Bush] was elected."
Becker said that although she has numerous fond memories of working with the first President Bush, one event stands out as the most amazing and difficult to coordinate.
In January 2001, Bush told Becker he would like to return to Chichi Jima, the Japanese island over which his plane was shot down on Sept. 2, 1944. Of the 10 pilots shot down over Chichi Jima during World War II, former President Bush was one of only two survivors.
Becker had to coordinate with the American and Japanese militaries to arrange the trip to the island, which is a three-day boat ride from Tokyo. Following records found in both American and Japanese military archives, the Japanese Navy flew former President Bush, Becker and other members of the delegation to the island along the course Bush flew the day he was shot down. In fact, the former president corrected the pilot when the plan deviated from the route he had flown nearly 60 years before.
"It was amazing to be there with him and to watch him relive all of that," Becker said. "It was a great privilege to be a part of that."
For the time being, Becker said, she has no plans to change jobs. But the time to look for a new opportunity will come.
"I told myself, 'The first day I come to work and I have nothing to do or everything I have to do is boring and I hate it, then that's the day I'll start thinking about leaving,'" Becker said. "But it's always something, and I haven't gotten bored yet."
For a woman who believes in taking life and work one opportunity at a time, that's about as close to a long-term plan as it gets.
Use the form above for shorter updates. If you would like to submit more detailed information, use the Submit a Profile form instead.
Please Note: All text submitted to the J-School may be edited and posted on the J-School's public Web site. The School does not publish contact information to its public Web pages, particularly e-mail addresses. Materials must be in accordance with the University's Acceptable Use Policy.
|
|
