I came to the Kennedy Institute for several reasons. To get away from the bureaucratic grindstone. To fill important gaps in my own knowledge and get access to current academic thinking in my field. Finally, to actually effect a transition out of government, for a while.

I can't over-emphasize the emotional and intellectual importance of taking time under the circumstances provided by the Institute to get away from the rat race and get your batteries recharged. To expose yourself voluntarily to new points of view and new problems. To let your mind run free, and find your ideas, your perceptions, change and grow in this atmosphere, liberated from the debilating day-by-day demands of an operational job. The opportunity for this kind of rejuvenation, unshackling, could be worth the year all by itself.

Although it didn't turn out the way I planned it, let me sketch out briefly my own course of study while a Fellow. My experience in government had concentrated on the political and politico-military aspects of the less-developed areas of the world. I wanted to learn more about economics, basic to all our foreign policy interests and involvements, and be able to better relate them to political and security considerations. I also felt that if the private sector didn't commit more of its resources to the development effort, you could forget about closing the gap between the rich northern nations and the poor southern ones. So I audited courses in development theory at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and courses in practical international involvement by free enterprise at the Business School. With this preparation, my idea was to find a job with a private firm engaged in development operations abroad in which my overall background in political dynamics would be valuable.

Well, a funny thing happened on my way to international business, and the assessment of this plan will have to wait for another day. I destroyed my own case study. But the important thing is that the Institute of Politics enabled someone to proceed on such a course by providing the time and the resources to make the transition feasible to undertake. And actually, given my presence and pursuits at the Institute, I was available -- alive and kicking enough -- to take a different kind of important job when that materialized.

The most automatic "in-and-outers," so to speak, are the lawyers and the academicians. They are the most experienced in making the transition back and forth from the government over a period of time because by their professional training they have a haven which they can return to, and one which relates closely to politics and government. This makes it tempting for the Institute to appoint lawyers and teachers as Fellows, but I would argue the opposite -- that the emphasis on selecting people for this experience should be placed on those who do not already have that built-in opportunity to move with relative quickness and ease to an outside spot. Those people who were in not for the Institute's unique and remarkable intent might not have a way of getting away from the stifling bureaucracy at all. Those who might not otherwise be able to fill a knowledge gap crucial to future service. Or those who might not stay alive politically or find that outside job without a place to pause for a moment to decide what to do next and how.

We all can think of several examples of men who have provided the superior leadership in our political life across a wide range of official positions. But I am thinking of those men who had that same potential for high calibre of public service who were never known, were never tapped, who were wasted, in effect, in some cases because they didn't get the enabling, helping hand at the key moment along the way. This, in my view, is what the Fellowship program at the Institute of Politics is principally about.

The most automatic "in-and-outers," so to speak, are the lawyers and the academicians, They are the most experienced in making the trasition back and forth from the government over a period of time because by their professional training they have a haven which they can return to, and one which relates closely to politics and government.