After just a few pages into his latest book, Inside Reagan’s Navy, I knew I had to
Q&A with Ambassador Untermeyer. It was clear that he had an inside look at
a part of our government only a few are privilidged to see, however, it was his casual,
relatable diary entries that make his book truly unique. Rather than an
embellished and overly-dramatic tell-all, Untermeyer's entries reveal day to day life at the pentagon in a way that is easy to understand, believable, and still captivating. The author, himself, is just as interesting.
Ambassador Untermeyer eagerly agreed to my request to do a Q&A with him, much to
my appreciation. Here is a peak inside the mind behind Inside Reagan’s Navy:
Q: You have been a diarist since the age of nine. What
encouraged you to share your diary entries relative to your time in the White
House and Pentagon?
Ambassador Untermeyer: I felt the journal entries would not
only tell the story of those very interesting days but do so in a fresh,
contemporaneous manner.
Q: As a person who has experienced life in the Pentagon and
the White House, how does public opinion of these entities compare to the
reality of what goes on in both?
Ambassador
Untermeyer: Perhaps the greatest pubic misperception of the White House is that
it runs the US Government. At most, the White House sets the policy and the
message for the administration and handles the politics. Day-to-day governing
is done by the president’s appointees in the departments and agencies. What the
public may not fully grasp about the Pentagon is how convoluted its bureaucracy
(both military and civilian) is and how much that bureaucracy is fixated on the
budgetary process.
Q:
In the book you describe the White
House as a "silken cocoon." Why was it a silken cocoon, and why did
you feel the need to leave?
Ambassador
Untermeyer: The White House is a “silken cocoon” because it is a very special
place where historic things happen and whose denizens live every day in a
rarefied atmosphere. Few who work there, in any administration of either party,
can conceive of being anywhere else. I enjoyed and appreciated both my spells
of duty in the West Wing, but I knew that to gain genuine satisfaction and
benefit from serving in Washington, I had to leave for a job in a
department/agency where policy is actually implemented.
Q: You
seem to express admiration for Jeb Bush in your book. Why, and what are your
thoughts regarding his current campaign?
Ambassador
Untermeyer: I have known Jeb Bush since 1979, when he was 23 years old and
working in his father’s first campaign for president. Even then, he struck me
as a man of mature depth, strength, and judgment. His subsequent service as
governor of Florida demonstrated how well he can handle complex issues and
political controversy in a very diverse place. These are exactly what we need
and expect in a president. Although I wish Jeb’s poll numbers were higher than
they are right now, over the length of the primary campaign I am confident that
voters will come to see these qualities and support him.
Q: In your book you suggest an alternative solution to Navy
Disability Pay. What might those changes look like today?
Ambassador
Untermeyer: Any disability system needs sensible rules, but it must allow
someone at the top – in this case, the (civilian) secretary of a military
service or his/her designee – to bend or overrule those guidelines if
particular cases merit such sympathetic action.
Q: You express concern in the book about your reputation as
a political fixer. Was this a fair assessment in your opinion, and in what ways
has this perception changed over time?
Ambassador
Untermeyer: Although I have had a life-long interest in politics – and won
election to public office all four times that I ran – I have never been a
political “operative”. (I prefer this word to “fixer”, because the latter
denotes someone outside government who seeks to affect administrative and
legislative decisions. The operative is concerned with winning elections.) But
I have recognized that in the American system, opportunities to serve in
government often (if not always) come from helping specific candidates in their
campaigns. When people ask how I became an ambassador, I only half-jokingly
reply, “I stood in the snow in New Hampshire and waved a sign.” President
George W. Bush certainly appointed me to head the US embassy in Qatar for other
reasons, but he also knew I was a proven supporter.
Q: What do you believe is one of the greatest things readers
are able to take away from Inside Reagan's Navy?
Ambassador Untermeyer: I hope the book conveys some of the drama, excitement,
and humor in a major center of action during in the Reagan Administration, the
Navy Department. If I have succeeded, people who were not even born yet can
sense what it was like to be in Washington during those days.
To get a closer look at Ambassador Untermeyer’s life in the
pentagon, purchase Inside Reagan’s Navy
here.
I would like to thank Ambassador Untermeyer for taking the
time to engage in this Q&A with me and for his willingness to offer such
candid responses.
Written By Rebecca Reap
