Move over, Richard Nixon.
Thankfully for Duke students, past and present, the infamous 37th president of the United States and 1937 graduate of the School of Law is not the only alumnus to have shaken things up on Capitol Hill.
With two heads of state, 10 cabinet members and White House staff, 19 members of Congress, 13 diplomats and a host of other positions at the state and city level, University alumni and faculty members have become increasingly involved in the world of government and politics.
"Really, it is an opportunity to make a difference," said Jerry Meek, Trinity '93 and Law '97, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. "As I've gone through pretty much any party office you can hold, I've also been very active in the policy arena, and it has been particularly enjoyable to see what you're doing results in some kind of benefit."
Meek, who attended Duke as a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar, said he became interested in politics after finally realizing that his 6-foot-8 frame would not support his childhood ambition of becoming an astronaut. Instead he redirected his energies to volunteer for John Glenn's senatorial campaign.
For other graduates, their experiences at Duke were the most significant in shaping their political leanings and ambitions.
Stanley Lundine, Trinity '61, who served as the mayor of Jamestown, N.Y., as well as congressman and lieutenant governor for the state, said his interest in policy was first sparked by John F. Kennedy's visit to Duke in 1959.
"I was very, very impressed with [Kennedy], and my first political activity was with his campaign in 1960, while still at Duke," Lundine said. "I didn't know for sure that I would be running for elected office someday, but it's definitely what got me more interested in government and politics."
In addition, some alumni and faculty members said their time at the University equipped them with the specific skills needed to be successful in their future careers in public policy.
If student involvement is any indicator of future profession, it is no surprise that Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, Woman's College '58, went on to pursue a career in politics. Dole was selected Leader of the Year by The Chronicle and served as president of the Woman's Student Government Association her senior year, in addition to being a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority.
Bob Krueger, who obtained his master's from Duke in 1959, was a professor of English literature from 1961 to 1973, eventually served as dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and later went on to be elected to Congress as a representative and then a senator from Texas. He was also appointed ambassador to Burundi under the administration of former president Bill Clinton.
Under his tenure as dean, Krueger advocated for an overhaul of the Trinity curriculum which reduced the course load from five to four classes, added small-group learning experiences as an essential part of the undergraduate experience and introduced Program II to its list of major offerings.
"I got my political training at Duke with the Undergraduate Faculty Council," Krueger said. "I had to defend all these rather heretic Bolshevik ideas, as they were perceived in 1968, to the faculty."
After his successes as a Duke administrator, Krueger said he felt ready to take on the challenges of running a campaign in his home state of Texas and serving his constituents effectively.
"Through having discussions with my own students and my dealings with faculty, I was trained in discussion and I believed in it," he said. "I believed in the value of exploring ideas together... and I felt people would respond to that."
The path to a career in government today, however, is not always as smooth as other conventional post-graduation professions.
"I do not have statistics on the number of students who go into government or politics [because] most students secure jobs in these sectors after graduation," Teri Mills, Career Center advisor for government, law, politics and nonprofit, wrote in an e-mail. "The advice I get from most alumni is to tell students to 'just come to D.C. and you will get a job.'"
Often this road is initially paved with countless hours of stuffing envelopes and making phone calls, said Kerci Stroud, who worked for a New York City politician immediately following her graduation in 2000.
"I don't think it's hard to break into politics if you're willing to pay your dues," Stroud said. "Once you get to know people on one campaign, you'll be able to jump to another campaign or find a government job. Plus, there are a lot of Duke alums in politics who you can reach out to for help."
Many graduates working in public policy and government said there is ultimately no perfect or preset path to elected office.
Krueger said he had initially wanted to become a stock broker, but later changed his mind when thinking of what he could accomplish in the arena of policy.
"You have to follow your star," he said. "You have to care enough for people to do things that are sometimes unpopular."
U.S. Congressman David Price, D-N.C. and a professor of political science and public policy at Duke, said the most important part of preparing for a career in government is an interest in serving the people.
"In some ways, the best way to prepare for a political career is to look for a satisfying career in another field and getting involved in the community," he said. "Have a good career option that doesn't depend on getting elected."
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