By Bob Krueger
The Houston Chronicle
In the post-Watergate congressional elections of 1974, a dozen of the 92 newly elected members of the House of Representatives were invited by Harvard University to a special weeklong session to meet luminaries such as John Kenneth Galbraith, renowned international economist, former U.S. ambassador to India and confidante of John F. Kennedy.
But for me, as a new congressman elected by the largest sheep- and goat-raising district in the United States, it was meeting not Galbraith but a 19-year-old student from San Antonio doing his undergraduate senior thesis in economics on natural gas policy that changed my life.
Attending a reception to bring together undergraduates and newly elected members of Congress, I was approached by a slight, seemingly shy, young man with wispy reddish hair and a downward glance who introduced himself as Bill White. He explained that he wanted to take a semester's leave of absence from Harvard to work for me, for $100 per week. I recollect giving an ambiguous answer, but that made no difference: Two days after I was sworn in, he arrived in my office, ready to begin.
Although I considered myself to have overall a good grasp of economics, my doctorate had been in English literature, and I had no direct experience with the energy industry. The nation, however, was in the midst of the OPEC oil embargo, a national energy crisis, and I was a new member from Texas on the Energy and Power Subcommittee. Drivers faced long lines at filling stations; and oil producers received prices for oil, under a complex and counterproductive system of federal price controls, which ranged from $2.80 for old oil to $11.40 for new oil, a price differential that tempted some oilmen to put old wine in new bottles.
The nation urgently needed a better, more rational pricing system and energy policy. Within his first few months, Bill White, at age 19, literally wrote for me legislation that gradually decontrolled oil prices, so that all oil would be sold at world market prices. Shortly thereafter, Bill substantially wrote legislation for me to introduce that deregulated federally imposed controls on natural gas that had been in effect since 1932. At that time, the federal pricing system was so out of whack that some gas under federal controls imposed in the 1930s still sold for 4 cents per mcf (thousand cubic feet) while uncontrolled, new gas supplies of identical quality sold for $2 - a price differential of 50 to 1. That made no economic sense, was immensely costly to the state of Texas and discouraged new exploration.
Throughout this period, Bill was my mentor. At one early juncture, Charles Curtis, then chief counsel to the Energy and Power Subcommittee (who shortly thereafter was named the first head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) asked me, "Congressman, would you ask Bill White over the weekend to write a rebuttal to an attack on your energy legislation, because Bill White knows more about energy than anyone else involved with our committee." Bill did. And it was brilliant.
During that first term, The New York Times wrote of how Bill, a Harvard senior, had so instructed me that there was no one in the House who knew the energy issue better than I. During the same period, I was voted by the offices of the 92 new freshmen members as the most effective new member of Congress because of my work on energy policy. That energy legislation was largely conceived, drafted and defined by Bill. Although my bill was defeated 205-201, its introduction brought an evolution that substantially changed U.S. energy policy over the next few years. Without Bill White, that change would have been delayed much longer.
Bill's mind and interests were not confined to energy policy. I recall, as he came to the airport in Washington to pick me up early one morning after flying on the red-eye special flight from Austin, he mentioned, "Congressman, sometime I would like to talk with you about strategic nuclear policy. It's been kind of an avocation of mine for the past eight years." By then, Bill was 20, which meant his interest in strategic nuclear policy began at age 12.
I have been fortunate to meet a number of brilliant people in my life, but perhaps only 10 or so whom I would put in the category of genius. Bill is one.
Fortunately, he combines remarkable clarity of thought with a warm and generous heart, and a decency and engaging personal modesty that is free of arrogance. While his skill as an attorney and corporate CEO have brought him financial success, he has avoided the temptations of greed and the display of wealth. And he is prepared to make financial and personal sacrifices for the privilege of public service. A man of good heart and great mind, the city of Houston is fortunate to have him. He has the right stuff to be not only an outstanding mayor of Texas' foremost city, but one who may prove to command the respect of the nation.
