‘Government Geek’ Pursued His Political Ambitions

Few people can stand their ground against Antonin Scalia before a crowd of thousands.

In 1992, Artur G. Davis ’90 did just that to win the title of Best Oralist at Harvard Law’s Ames Moot Court Competition, considered one of the most prestigious extracurricular activities at the Law School.

Davis, a former U.S. Congressman who is currently running for mayor of Montgomery, did not always exhibit this eloquence and confidence. He arrived to Harvard in the fall of 1986 a shy and reserved student raised by a single mom in Montgomery, Ala.

Thomas A. Schwartz, a professor in the History Department at the time, said that despite his humble origins, Davis was someone who could “come to Harvard and just excel.” Davis worked as a research assistant for Schwartz for a year.

The diversity of thought and the rigor Davis found in his academic work at Harvard challenged him to consider the viewpoints of others in ways that have influenced his subsequent political career.

Davis translated his academic talents into a thoughtful approach that sets him apart from the polarized nature of party politics. Davis’s career—he has run as both a Democrat and a Republican—exemplifies this willingness to cross party lines.

“Harvard sensitized me to the fact that there is a thoughtful argument to be found on the side of most issues if you take the time to look for it,” Davis said. “I’ve always tried to have that approach in politics.”

A SHY START

Arriving at Harvard a shy teen, Davis was immediately struck by the academic opportunities that were available to him. He delved into his coursework with a passion to develop a burgeoning interest in politics; these academic pursuits took priority over college’s more social aspects.

“I was a pretty shy kid when I was at Harvard,” Davis said. “I was someone who was still very much trying to find my way in the world.”

Davis came from a public high school in Alabama without an advanced curriculum. and he knew enrolling in the University would present a new challenge.

“It was important to me that I belonged there,” Davis said “It was important to me to get a handle on my grades, it was important to me to make sure that I was mastering my coursework as best I could.”

Davis found his place in the study of government and history, so much so that 25 years later he retains a mental course catalogue of his favorite classes and professors.

“At that point in time, Harvard literally had an all-star cast,” Davis said.

While Davis did not allow politically-focused extracurriculars to distract from his studies, Joshua M. Levisohn ’90, Davis’s freshman roommate, said the future Congressman showed a keen interest in politics from his first days at the College.

“Artur was the government geek. Some people have memorized stats of baseball players or football players—that was what he was like with government,” Levisohn said. “We came in the fall of 1986, and it was the midterm; he knew who was running in all...[the] Congressional races.”

Every morning, Davis walked to the Out of Town News stand in Harvard Square to buy the latest issue of the Washington Post, a newspaper that covered Southern politics. This daily dose of Southern news fueled his ambition to someday run for office himself.

“I would intensely follow Doug Wilder’s campaign for governor of Virginia because I thought it might have something to do with the future life that I wanted to have,” Davis said.

‘A RARE REPUBLICAN’

Davis’s time at Harvard Law School solidified the confidence he would need to pursue those political aspirations. His time both at the College and HLS challenged him to question blind commitments to political ideology.

“I’m not sure that I ever would have had the nerve to go into politics without Harvard Law School,” he said.

Not only did Davis gain the confidence to pursue a career in politics itself, but he also defies the trend of politicians tied to the party line.

“I think he’s clearly someone who forged his own character,” Schwartz said. “He’s willing to buck conventions in so many ways.”

Seeing a sense of independence and thoughtfulness in his research assistant, Schwartz predicted that Davis would pursue a career in academia. Instead, Davis applied these traits to his political career.

“I’ve never been a deeply ideological kind of politician,” Davis said. “[That approach] has always struck me as the less rigorous way of looking at the world.”

Unwilling to be bound by extremism on either side of the aisle, Davis finds himself as a “rare Republican” in the political center. So much so, that he considers himself “un-nominatable” in a Republican primary.

In 2002, Davis defeated long-time incumbent Earl F. Hilliard in a heated Democratic congressional race, achieving the first political success of Davis’s career. After an eight-year Congressional tenure, Davis made an unsuccessful bid for governor of Alabama in 2010. He has since switched his party affiliation to Republican and hopes to win the Montgomery mayoral election in 2015.

Freshman roommates Cedric D. Ho ’90 and Levisohn both spoke of their initial surprise when they learned of Davis’s success as a politician. Looking back, Ho said he realized that even the Davis he knew as an undergraduate had the makings of a future Congressman.

“He had this really strong sense of self-confidence,” Ho said. “Clearly he had it inside him all along; that’s the most important thing, he had this inner strength.”

—Staff writer Samuel Vasquez can be reached at samuel.vasquez@thecrimson.com.