Former Wyoming Senator Alan K. Simpson loves to dance.

But the director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) wasn't always light on his feet--his future wife Ann taught him his dance floor moves after they met in the early 1950s.

"I saw her in Grayville, Wyoming, cheerleading at a basketball game. When I saw her again at the University of Wyoming...I asked her out," Simpson says. "But she wanted someone who could dance, so she taught me, and now I can't quit. I love to dance."

After 45 years of marriage, three children and a 19-year stint in the U.S. Senate, Simpson maintains his zest--for life and for politics.

"We've had a hell of a lot of fun," he says.

Towering in stature and lanky in build, he is fond of such pointed proclamations as "democracy isn't a spectator sport" and "people who try to avoid controversy are among the dead un-killed."

Simpson learned his politics in the Cowboy State of Wyoming and after a distinguished Senate career, he continues to vocalize his opinions on the issues of the day--from the Republican Party line to the recent Clinton impeachment proceedings.

He took the reigns as director of the IOP in January of 1998 at the urging of Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass.) and has since welcomed the likes of former President Gerald R. Ford and New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman to the Arco Forum.

A Political Institution

Simpson's father Milward was Wyoming's Governor from 1954 to 1958 and also served as a U.S. Senator for the Cowboy State in the mid 1960s.

Simpson says life with his parents and brother Pete was "wonderful," and credits his dad's personal stamina within political storms as his own motivation for breaking into the political game.

"They didn't loose their identity or get consumed...my father was a gutsy guy," Simpson says of his parents' political life.

In keeping with the family traditions of law and politics, Simpson entered the Wyoming State Legislature in 1964--he would go on to serve as majority whip, majority floor leader and speaker pro-tempore in the Wyoming House.

In 1978, Simpson was elected to the United States Senate and served for the next 18 years, holding the position of Assistant Majority Leader from 1984 and 1987.

And he was a Senator with a powerful presence.

Simpson initiated broad legislation aimed at reducing immigration and was outspoken in his support of Clarence Thomas when Anita Hill accused the soon-to-be confirmed Supreme Court Justice of sexual harassment.

He says it was his experience in practicing law, not his opin- ions about gender, which motivated him to takehis stance amidst the firestorm.

"We were faced with things that looked legal,"he says. "I have a logical mind."

Simpson is vocally pro-choice and hasencouraged the Republican Party to drop theabortion issue from its platform.

"I've never been able to let a sleeping doglie. I love being in the middle of controversy,"he says.

After a life in politics, Simpson speakslucidly about what he sees as the realities ofpolicy-making.

He says "emotion, fear, guilt andracism"--instead of actual facts--are oftentwisted, in the push to make bills into laws.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, butnot everyone is entitled to their own facts,"Simpson says.

Fun with the Media

Simpson's has had an up and down relationshipwith the media.

When Simpson first arrived in Washington in thelate 1970s, his easy laugh and sharp humor drewfriendly stories from D.C. journalists.

In 1980, Ward Sinclair of The Washington Postwrote, "Simpson turns out to be one of the mostrefreshing breezes that occasionally gentles theirway through Congressional pomp and fustian toremind that all is not lost."

But when the U.S. became entangled with Iraq inOperation Desert Storm, Simpson fell out of favorwith the press, after he accused CNN correspondentPeter Arnett of being a "sympathizer" with SaddamHussein.

"I could not stray from my simple belief thatjournalists are citizens first and reporterssecond," Simpson wrote in his 1997 book, RightIn The Old Gazoo: A Lifetime of Scrapping With thePress.

Even two years after his departure from publiclife, Simpson is quick to offer his thoughts oncurrent political happenings.

In a recent article in the New York Times,Simpson describes President Bill Clinton's habitof saving his political career just as a newscandal appears to threaten it.

"Clinton's life is bounding from precipice toprecipice like a huge mountain goat, bridgingcrevasse after crevasse and people shooting at himwith high-powered rifles and the other sidecrumbling as he lands, just like in the movies."

Simpson...Young and Restless

After graduating from public high school in hishometown of Cody, Wyoming, Simpson was placed onfederal probation for shooting mailboxes andsubsequently spent a year at the Cranbrook Schoolin Michigan to "settle down."

With the intent of putting his rambunctiousyouth behind him, Simpson enrolled at theUniversity of Wyoming, only to get into afist-fight with another student.

The president of the University called theyoung 6'7" Simpson into his office and told himthat as a result of the incident, his name couldnot be in the Who's Who Among American CollegeStudents.

Simpson says of his college years "I have a bitof regret that I didn't address myself to theissues of the day. But there was the beginnings ofa creeping maturity."

He went on to graduate from the University ofWyoming in 1954 with a B.S. in Law and joined theArmy, a time Simpson deems, "hell on wheels."

After surviving his military stint, andsubsequently earning his law degree from theUniversity of Wyoming, Simpson joined his father'slegal practice.

"I took all the money and did all the work,"Simpson says. "I used my dad's name."

Drawing strength from his colorful past,Simpson has delighted both bigwig politicians andHarvard undergraduates alike with his own uniqueblend of self-deprecating and cutting, sarcastichumor.

He has found that his wit is not only effectivein engaging the public, but serves as a valuableasset in his political dealings as well.

"Humor is my sword and my shield," Simpsonsays. "Humor throws off opposition, they don'tknow what to do with you. Humor is a greatdefense."

Simpson Goes to Harvard

After his retirement from the Senate, Simpsoncame to Harvard as a Visiting Lecturer in theLaurence M. Lombard Chair, teaching a courseentitled "The Creating of Legislation: Congressand the Press."

Simpson was soon persuaded by Kennedy to headup the IOP and continue to teach at Harvard.

"When they first started talking to me aboutcourse requirements, syllabi, and readings, Ithought they were speaking Egyptian," Simpsonquips.

Yet almost two years later, he says he relishesthe opportunity to work with students and makehimself accessible to student groups.

He and his wife Ann live in Eliot House andfrequent undergraduate classes--Mrs. Simpson was aregular in this spring's English 10b, "MajorBritish Writers II," taught by Porter UniversityProfessor Helen H. Vendler.

Alan Simpson praises Harvard students as the"finest" and "brightest" but commends what he seesas a zest for life.

"There are seven boys living across the hall[from us], and boy do they boogie. It makes meknow all is well," Simpson says.

He emphasizes that students should realize howprivileged they are to attend Harvard, and"remember the thousands who wanted to comehere...and put out a little extra, do a littlesomething more."

The Speech

Though Simpson might not have been the topchoice for Class Day speaker--Simpson himselfconfirms he tried to book John Glenn and CollinPowell--he promises that his speech will be"spirited and good humored."

"I'm going to tell [the students] that theyhave to get involved. The real issues [in theworld] are so loaded, and they have to beaddressed," he says.Courtesy of the Kennedy School of GovernmentPublic Relations OfficeON FRIENDLY TERMS:ALAN K. SIMPSONhugs former president GEORGE BUSH after an ARCOForum speech last year.