Hangin’ up the Spikes: A Tribute to A Senate Superstar

2007-02-01T13:05:00-07:00

Though hundreds of thousands now say they were there, it was 10,454 fans who really showed up to Boston’s Fenway Park to witness Ted Williams’ last game as a major league baseball player. Yesterday, as I was rattling around the Capitol after a meeting, I had my own Ted Williams moment. I ran into Ed Greelegs in his last hour of his last day as an employee on Capitol Hill.

If you work in Washington in the field of government, then you know Ed Greelegs. If you are from somewhere else, you’ve missed a lot of great stories. He spent 29 years on Capitol Hill, the last 17 as Chief of Staff to Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin. In the halls of Congress, he was the only staffer more famous than his boss. And he always had something interesting or funny to say – to anyone.

I first met Ed in 1989, when I worked for Massachusetts Democrat Chet Atkins. Ed would come in every afternoon to get a copy of the Boston Globe’s sports section to check up on the Celtics. I was a young legislative assistant who had painted my wall the color of the Green Monster and stenciled the Fenway scoreboard from Yaz’ last game on top. We were kindred spirits. And he has been a friend and mentor ever sinse.

Ed had a bunch of crazy jobs and a lifetime of ridiculous stories. But the stories always – OK, often – had a point. Over thirty years ago, he worked for the National Enquirer and sold the tabloid to supermarkets. He worked in Sales with a poor,undereducated fellow who was a registered Republican. Ed said to him, “Why are you for the Republicans? All they care about is the rich, and they do nothing for the poor.” The guy responded: “Because no poor person has ever given me a job.” Ed was and is an unreconstructed liberal, but he saw the lessons and contradictions within his own party and ideology, and he wrestled with them constantly.

On his last day in the Senate, he made his first trip to the Senate floor with Senator Durbin. As Ed related to me over a soda (at the inaptly named “Senate Chef”), Durbin was shocked to learn that in 10 years in the Senate Ed had never set foot on the floor. He told Durbin that he never went to where he wasn’t needed, and he was never needed on the floor.

That really says it all about Ed, who may have had the greatest combination of influence and humility of anyone in the history of Capitol Hill.

There were 10,454 fans who showed up to see Ted Williams bid adieu. There are probably 10,454 staffers, lobbyists, and Washington academics who were helped in their careers by meeting Ed. I was one of them, and I am proud that I was with him for the final moment when he left his office, officially, for the last time.

There goes Ed Greelegs, the best damn Chief of Staff in politics. I know that the Hill will never be the same, and Senator Durbin agrees. Here’s what he had to say about Ed Greelegs on his last day:

RETIREMENT OF ED GREELEGS—(Senate – January 31, 2007)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I come to the Senate today to say something I hoped I would never have to say. I am here to say thank you and farewell to my chief of staff for the past 17 years, Ed Greelegs, as he retires from the Senate.

This is the first time he has ever been on the floor of the Senate while it was in session. Ed is the kind of person who does his work without a lot of fanfare, without a lot of need for attention, but he does it so very well.

Some people are drawn to Congress because of what they think are the perks and power that come with the job. That is not what Ed Greelegs has given so much of his life to. For Ed, being a good public servant has always been privilege enough. The desire to help others, to try to translate our Nation’s most cherished values into law and policies that meet the challenge of our times—that is what brought Ed Greelegs to the U.S. Congress and why he stayed all these years.

I will say without fear of contradiction that Ed is one of the most well liked, even beloved figures on Capitol Hill. All you have to do is walk down a hallway in the Capitol with Ed Greelegs and you will know what I mean. He knows everybody and everybody knows him. His easygoing nature and real caring for people means that he has made thousands of friends on Capitol Hill. From those who do the important work of maintaining and cleaning our offices to those at the highest levels, Ed knows them all.

We have a saying in our office, incidentally: Talk to Ed, he probably knows somebody. Whenever a new issue comes up, if you want to know who you can turn to and trust, Ed invariably knows whom to call. The relations he has made and nurtured on and off the Hill have been a great help to me for 17 years. I can’t tell you the countless people who have never met Ed but who have benefitted nonetheless from the alliances he has forged, the common ground he helped plow, and the laws he helped pass.

One of Ed’s great talents is recognizing and nurturing talent among others. If I had a young person who came to me anytime in the last 17 years who said, It has always been my dream to work on Capitol Hill, I would say, I want you to meet Ed Greelegs. He would patiently take the time to read the resume, talk to them, relate his life experience on Capitol Hill, and point them in a direction so they had a chance to realize their dream, as he had. They come back to me, years later, after success on the Hill or at some other branch of Government, and ask, How is Ed? That is the most common question I run into.

Ed grew up in nearby Wheaton, MD, and graduated from the University of Maryland. He came to Capitol Hill as an intern in 1970. In the 20 years between that first internship and becoming my chief of staff, Ed worked for Congressman Marty Russo of Illinois, Congressman Bob Eckhart of Texas on the House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, then for Congressman Sam Gejdenson of Connecticut, and finally back to Congressman Russo’s office for most of the 1980s. He worked briefly for the Consumer Federation of America and for Fannie Mae. But when he left the Hill to go into the private sector, his heart was still here. He even told me stories of jobs in the private sector where he never unpacked the boxes. He just never felt comfortable. It was not where he wanted to be. He might have been making more money, but he wasn’t happy. He found his way back to Capitol Hill.

It was the leadership he showed in the office of Marty Russo that really brought Ed to my attention. In 1990, I persuaded him to come work for me as my chief of staff in the House of Representatives. Six years later, I decided to run for the Senate seat that belonged to my longtime friend and mentor, Paul Simon. Ed Greelegs was at my side in that effort.

I wondered how he would adjust, making that transition from the House to the Senate, but it was seamless. He knew just as many people on this side of the Hill as he continues to know on the House side.

For the 10 years I have served in the Senate, Ed Greelegs has been an unfailing source of wisdom and thoughtful advice. His quiet, wry sense of humor has helped to lighten the mood when things become too intense, and his decency, modesty, and great egalitarian spirit have helped remind everybody on our side of what is most important and why we are here.

There are a few things Ed loves more than the Senate. Among them are his wife Susan and his stepchildren Andrew and Amanda; another, his books. Ed has so many books you wouldn’t believe it. He has a room, I understand, completely filled in his home. The fact that Susan stays with him despite this obsession on books tells you what a strong marriage they have. When I would look in his office and see all of the books stacked up, I would think, there is a guarantee he will never leave me because he just can’t bring himself to pack up all those books. But now he is going to have to, I think.

Another one of Ed’s loves is music. One of his favorite musicians is singer-songwriter John Hiatt. Ed even persuaded Susan to include a John Hiatt song at their wedding, entitled ``Have a Little Faith in Me.’‘

Over 17 years, I have come to have more than a little faith in Ed Greelegs—not just his knowledge but his character and his decency. What I know about him is that you never have to worry about his motives. You never have to wonder if his advice is crafted to serve himself or a friend more than it serves the common good. His goal has always been the same: He wants the best for the people of Illinois and the best for America. When things go well, as they often do when Ed is involved, he doesn’t really care who gets the credit.

They say that behind every successful man is a surprised mother-in-law. I can tell you that behind every good Senator is a talented chief of staff. For the last 17 years, it has been my good fortune to have my friend Ed Greelegs in that critical position in my office. I am grateful to him for all he has done for me, for Illinois, and for our Nation. I wish him the very best as he begins the next chapter of his career. I am sure it will be a successful chapter.

As you wander around Washington, you come to understand that there are some people whom everybody likes. Ed Greelegs is one of those people.

My favorite story, which I want to add at this point, involves the first trip to Afghanistan after the Taliban were deposed. I joined with Senator Daschle and a number of other Senators. We went in on the first daylight landing at Bagram Air Force Base in Kabul in Afghanistan. It was very tense. There were armored personnel carriers in every direction and troops with weapons to defend us as we came off the C-130. As I came down the ramp and got into an armored personnel carrier, there was a man in civilian clothes standing there.

He asked: Are you Senator Dick Durbin?

I said: Yes.

He said: I am a friend of Ed Greelegs’.

I couldn’t believe it. Here I am in the middle of a war zone, and I ran into a friend of Ed Greelegs’.

Whether it is war or peace, whether it is on the Hill or off, time and again, everybody knows that Ed Greelegs is genuine. He is the real thing. I have been honored to have him at my side for 17 years. I wish him the very best in his future pursuits.

Thanks, Ed.

Third Way Dispatch: Hangin’ up the Spikes: A Tribute to A Senate Superstar

Hangin’ up the Spikes: A Tribute to A Senate Superstar