While at Dartmouth, Cincinnati native and former anthropology major Rob Portman '78 never imagined himself in public office. But on Friday, the now prominent member of Congress and seasoned campaigner, returned to New Hampshire in support of presidential hopeful George W. Bush.
Portman, six-year representative to the House from Ohio, traveled all around the state last week for the Texas governor's campaign.
"I've seen more of New Hampshire in the last four days than I did in my five years at Dartmouth," he joked on Friday before heading off to teach a special class on campaigns and elections.
Why Bush?
Portman said he supports Bush because he is a "unifier and not a divider,' citing the Governor's garnering of 49 percent of the Hispanic vote in Texas in the last election as testament.
He said "that much" minority support is "unheard of" for a Republican candidate.
He also said Bush has a "proven record" from his work in Texas including increased education performance and tax relief while continuing healthcare funding.
"It's one thing to talk the talk, but another thing to walk the walk," Portman said. "[Bush] has walked the walk."
Portman noted that Bush's major competition in the primary, Sen. John McCain, has an advantage because he has spent more time in New Hampshire.
"I hope people won't make their decision on who's been here more," he said, mentioning that Bush is still governing Texas while McCain has been free while the Senate is in recess.
Portman said he is very optimistic about what the country could do with Bush as President and that he believes Bush is able to relate better to the younger generation.
"There is no veneer there," he said.
Portman, who has worked on both the elder George Bush's and Bob Dole's presidential campaigns, said of the younger Bush, "I haven't been this excited about a presidential candidate before ... I also just like the guy," he said.
Portman's involvement with Bush and his family goes back over 15 years.
Not politics as usual
After graduating from the College, Portman worked on the Congressional Presidential Commission on Immigration and Refugee policy for two years while the elder George Bush was vice-president of the United States.
Portman then attended the University of Michigan Law School. Upon graduating in 1984, he spent two more years in Washington practicing international trade law. In 1986, he returned home to practice law in Cincinnati.
In the 1988 presidential campaign, Portman worked on a volunteer basis in Cincinnati, helping to run the elder Bush's campaign in the area.
Of George W. Bush at that time, Portman said "I remember him as being funny, engaged, a little bit of a 'rabble-rouser' and just a fun person to be with."
He said the younger Bush was his father's biggest cheerleader. He was also great at getting the volunteers motivated, Portman said.
During the campaign, Portman became acquainted with Boyden Gray, then White House counsel. When the elder Bush was elected president, Gray offered Portman a job in the White House.
Portman served as an associate counsel to the president for six months and then the Director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs for two years before returning to Cincinnati in 1991 to settle down with his family.
"I had only wanted to stay in Washington for two years," he said.
But in 1993, Congressman Willis Gradison, the representative from Portman's home district, unexpectedly resigned, paving the way for Portman's first ever run for public office.
In the House
As one of the least known of seven Republican candidates, Portman emerged victorious in a tight primary. In a landslide victory in the actual election, he commanded 70 percent of the popular vote, sending him back to Washington -- this time as a congressman.
In less than two years, Portman was among three first-term appointees to the powerful Ways and Means Committee which has jurisdiction over important national policies such as Social Security, international trade, and health care and welfare reform.
Portman and the two other freshman congressmen in 1995 were the most junior members of the House to serve on the committee since the elder Bush served on it during his first term in the House, in 1967.
Portman led the effort to get unfunded mandate reform signed into law. The unfunded mandate law seeks to restrain, but not prohibit, Congress from imposing expensive requirements on state and local governments without providing funding.
According to Portman the legislation "changes the way we deal with state and local government."
The bill eventually passed both houses of Congress and Portman was on hand at the White House when President Clinton signed it into law.
Then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole made the unfunded mandate bill the top priority in the Senate, and Portman ended up becoming one of the three co-chairmen of the "Dole for President" effort in the House.
His other Congressional achievements include the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act, the Drug-Free Communities Act, the Tropical Forest Conservation Act and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act among a total of nine legislative enactments during the term of the 105th Congress.
The Dartmouth years
As an undergraduate at Dartmouth, Portman changed majors three times and graduated in five years. Originally a government major, Portman switched to history before finally deciding on anthropology.
Portman was a member of the Dartmouth Outing Club, and says he spent most of his time at the Ledyard Canoe Club. In 1977, Portman spent two terms kayaking down the Rio Grande River on a Ledyard trip.
During his junior and senior years, Portman led the Trip to the Sea, a canoe expedition from the Ledyard docks down the Connecticut River.
He was also a member of the Ski Patrol and noted that his winter grades were "particularly low" because of his enthusiastic involvement with the Patrol.
During his junior fall, Portman interned for Gradison in Washington, whom he would eventually succeed as the Representative from Ohio's Second Congressional District.
As part of a Xerox undergraduate research grant, he worked as a cattle rancher in Texas along the Mexican border and wrote his honors thesis for anthropology on Mexican migration.
Portman also participated in a language study abroad program and traveled in Europe during his time at Dartmouth.
