Mourning Claude
Sat, Mar 11, 2006
Claude Allen is disgraced. The former White House domestic policy advisor and Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services was arrested today for alleged participation in a shoplifting scheme. “Alleged” is a nod to the principle of innocent before proven guilty — but the probability is that he is a criminal, and will now pay a just penalty for it.
I worked for Claude Allen — or more accurately, under him. I was a speechwriter at the Department of Health and Human Services during his time as Deputy Secretary there. He was a striking presence and an obvious up-and-comer: young, telegenic, and vastly more articulate than his boss, Claude was discussed with some seriousness as a successor to Secretary Thompson. His professional life was marked by a humble and gracious demeanor — and high intellectual wattage — that set him apart from other high-ranking officials. He was rock-solid on the issues, strongly pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family. It was no surprise that he was nominated for a judgeship; and no surprise that he was called to serve in the White House itself. I joined those who knew Claude in outrage at his judicial nomination’s victimization by obstructionist Democrats. In retrospect, it seems a blessing in disguise.
Claude Allen’s fall from grace is, for the most part, a DC inside-baseball event affecting none of the great issues of the day, and certainly not life in Peoria. That’s why you’ll see a few people following John Podhoretz’s lead and claiming to have never heard of Allen. (Podhoretz is either lying, or not the political journalist he should be after a full quarter-century.) They can get away with it, because most Americans outside the Beltway have also never heard of Allen. And that’s why the left-wing attempts to exploit this incident will come to nothing — particularly as the White House quite obviously forced him to resign upon learning of his troubles.
But for those who knew him, this is a tragedy. The examination of what turns a man to crime is better done by a Dostoevsky. The examination of what turns a well-off man in high office to petty, small-time crime is better done by a student of madness. There is a perverse curiosity in wanting to know what turned Claude Allen bad. But more immediately, and more appropriately, there is bewilderment, astonishment — and mourning, as one would for the dead.
Exception is taken, and rightly so, to the suggestion above that Podhoretz might be lying. I continue to believe that knowledge of the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy ought to be a given for observers of the White House. But in the imputation of dishonesty, the error is mine.
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March 12th, 2006 at 21:28
Your blog entry is very insightful and conveys many of my personal sentiments. I worked with Claude a generation ago on the 1984 Helms Campaign in North Carolina. I was my honor to become good friends with this kind,intelligent, well read,and principled individual. Claude had a very strong faith and a moving testimony. I last spoke with him a few years ago when he was at HHS.
I hope that the charges are not true. However,I too find myself feeling a profound sense of personal loss, shock, and to quote the White House spokesman, of “outrage.” The individual arrested in Target on January 2nd can not be the same Claude Allen that I, as a high school history teacher, have “held up” countless times to many of my “at risk” students as an example of someone who has “made it” in spite of being born into modest circumstances, etc.
I only hope and pray that Claude, if guilty as charged, will receive the necessary help to get his life back on track.
March 12th, 2006 at 21:39
Then you know him better than I did. It’s a testament to his character — and the quality of this tragedy — that even his longtime acquaintances are stunned.
March 12th, 2006 at 23:08
Nice looking blog. I like your blog layout but would respectfully disagree (partially) with your use of the word “tragedy.”
I can respect the human side of this for you as a former colleague of the (alleged) perpetrator, but I might take issue with the term “tragedy” to describe a pre-meditated, multi-stage crime. Tsunamis and cancer are tragedies.
I worked with a fellow who reminds me a lot of Allen - family man, three kids, mortgage note, attorney, well liked, well regarded for honesty and good character but dishonest. Least likely fellow to do a dirty deed… The fellow is now in federal probation after pleading guilty to forging the signature of a federal judge (and of course disbarred). What he did was not a tragedy, but a crime of deception and a besmirchment of the good name of every attorney.
Maybe you can argue that the tragedy is for his wife and kids, who have to undergo an unbelievable humiliation and loss in standard of living, and more importantly a loss of respect for the moral leader of their home. I would buy that.
Notwithstanding my harsh snarkiness, however, I am sorry that you experienced a similar let-down to the one I experienced one year ago. Best wishes for continued luck with your blog.
Bruce Godfrey
http://www.crablaw.com
March 12th, 2006 at 23:25
It seems very odd that the White House had to force him to resign. I would think Allen would have immediately offered his resignation, given the circumstances. Was he hoping that he could survive this somehow???