’06 Losers Win IOP Spots

Three alums who lost critical November elections have won spring semester posts at their alma mater, including the failed Democratic senatorial candidate Ned Lamont ‘76.

The Institute of Politics (IOP) announced its lineup of spring fellows yesterday, a roster also marked by the presence of two right-leaning Harvard alums-turned-politicians whose 2006 campaigns ended in disappointment.

In addition to Lamont, other high-profile candidates who will lead study groups with undergraduates are Kerry M. Healey ’82, former lieutenant governor of Massachusetts and this past year’s unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate, and Nancy L. Johnson ’57, a former Republican congresswoman from Connecticut who lost her seat this November after serving for more than two decades.

While it was a lean year for Republicans nationwide, the results of the election turned into a windfall for the non-partisan Institute of Politics.

“Because this was a year that the Democrats did very well, we had an opportunity to attract a number of high-profile Republican candidates,” said Jeanne Shaheen, the institute’s director and a former New Hampshire governor who herself arrived as a resident fellow at Harvard after losing a Senate bid.

The other fellows include Carl M. Cannon, a White House correspondent for National Journal, Chriss A. Winston, the former overseer of White House speechwriting, and James Baker of the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

Lamont, who said he attended events at the Institute of Politics as a Harvard undergraduate, said many of the highlights of his campaign came from meeting with students.

“During the campaign, I had more fun going to Fairfield [University] and UConn and Trinity [University]—and even Yale,” he said. “The quality of the discussion, and the level of involvement and interest there, was inspiring for me. So I’m definitely looking forward to getting back in the classroom.”

That excitement, however, extends beyond the bounds of the classroom. Against the backdrop of mounting partisan fervor, the political landscape will likely be ripe for impassioned back-and-forth.

“It’s going to be a pretty politically charged spring with lots of jockeying on both sides of the political aisle because you don’t have a president or vice-president running for reelection,” Lamont said. “I hope that a lot of these candidates flow through the [Institute of Politics], and we get a chance to grill them.”

He was not the only Lamont who expressed excitement at his impending arrival on campus. Emily H. Lamont ’09 said she did not harbor any concerns about having her father right around the corner.

“He’s not usually protective, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” she said. “I think it’ll be great to have him around.”

Healey had previously told reporters that she would be taking a post next fall at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, which—like the IOP—is based at the Kennedy School of Government. But the center’s director said earlier this month that the arrangement had not been confirmed.

Resident fellows will hold office hours, advise students, attend institute functions, and lead a weekly study group.

“[The fellowship] is an opportunity to engage with young people, which for most people in public life is very exciting,” Shaheen said. “I think most people who are in public life...are idealistic. They want to change the world, they want to make a difference, and it’s great to be around young people, most of whom have the same feeling.”

—Staff writer Christian B. Flow can be reached at cflow@fas.harvard.edu.