Can Sandy “B” Saved?

December 21st, 2006 · 5 Comments · Local, Main, National

[Photo of President Clinton conferring with Sandy Berger and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1999 at a summit in Istanbul, Turkey, courtesy Ralph Alswang]

Update 12.23.06: The inspector general’s report on Sandy Berger is now available online.

Wednesday the inspector general of the National Archives basically concluded that Millerton native Sandy Berger did what we already knew he did.

The former national security advisor to President Clinton visited the archives in 2003 in preparation for an appearance before the House and Senate intelligence committees, stuffed classified documents down his pants (and perhaps his socks), went outside for a break and hid them under a construction trailer. It was like a scene out of a French farce (minus the door slamming).

Berger later pleaded guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents. He was fined $50,000, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and was barred from access to classified material for three years.

It’s not entirely clear why he did it, but officials told the AP the purloined documents included critical assessments of the Clinton administration’s handling of terror threats and airport security.

I remember thinking at the time that this was a sad end to an otherwise fine career. The 1963 graduate of Webutuck High School has become a laughing stock. If you don’t believe me, do a Google Image search using his name and see what turns up. And parodies such as this one from Scrappleface and the one below are everywhere.

When we met, he had just returned from the Camp David 2000 Summit, where the Clinton administration had engaged in intensive peace talks with the late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Berger struck me as the kind of person who went into public service for all the right reasons (unlike his boss, who probably went into public service for reasons too unsavory to list in a family blog).

He recalled growing up in Millerton as the son of a haberdasher, explained that small-town life had shaped his worldview and encouraged him to help others in any way he could.

After our chat, Berger left his Secret Service detail and walked across Main Street with me to my office to renew his subscription. A couple of weeks later he followed up with a letter to the editor thanking everyone for showing him such a good time. Just a classy guy whose company everyone enjoyed that summer weekend.

It’s really a minor tragedy that a foolish slip-up has tarnished his name. Take a look at his Wikipedia entry, for example. At least half of it’s devoted to this incident. And the web is replete with satirical articles and images about “Sandy Burglar.”

Like Donald Trump, I believe in second chances, especially around the holiday season. No one should be remembered for one hideous mistake. Sandy, have a happy Hanukkah and may you rise from the ashes and redeem yourself.

P.S. In the first comment space at the end of this post is my write-up of the interview six years ago. Sorry, it’s no longer available online, so pasting it into the space is the best I could do.

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5 responses so far ↓

1 Terry // Dec 21, 2006 at 5:59 pm

By TERRY D. COWGILL
Editor

MILLERTON — From Millerton to Washington to Beijing, Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger has seen it all — most recently as National Security Advisor to President Clinton for the past eight years.

And Berger credits this proud village and its people with inspiring him to undertake a long and distinguished career in public service.

“It’s always been my roots,” Berger said in an interview while in town for Webutuck’s Millennium Reunion.

“I think growing up in a small town is always a tremendous influence upon everybody. You’re forced to be concerned about what happens to other people. I think that has had a profound influence on pushing me toward public service.”

Looking fit and relaxed, the Millerton native and Webutuck alumnus took time out of his busy schedule to speak with The Millerton News from the porch of Simmon’s Way, the Main Street bed and breakfast where he stayed during the reunion late last month.

The half-hour interview was interrupted twice by smiling friends and relatives who were eager to touch bases with the 54-year-old political star who says he has never forgotten where he came from.

First Stop ‘Always Terni’s’

“It’s great to be back,” Berger said of his visit, the first since he spoke at Webutuck’s 1994 graduation. “It’s an extraordinary weekend.”

“The first stop for me is always Terni’s [store]. The clocktower and Phil [Terni] are the touchstones here.”

The village has changed immeasurably since Berger was here helping build his family’s clothing business located for most of its years where Oblong Books & Music currently sits. In fact, Oblong owner Dick Hermans told Berger he still has an awning in storage somewhere in the building that says “Berger’s Department Store.”

Village Changes

“Millerton is different now than when I grew up. For one thing, Millerton was a lot farther from New York City than it is today. It was like two light years away. Most people made their living either farming or running the stores. There was no bookstore, no boutiques. There was Delson’s Five & Dime. Sapersteins was across from our store.”

But with each visit, there is the realization that some of the fixtures in his life are no longer with us: “Every time I come back, there’s always a few people who aren’t here anymore — Irv Saperstein, Madame [Henrietta] Terni.”

Powerful Local Influences

For most his years in Millerton, Berger lived with his father, mother and sister Laurie in a modest house on Dutchess Avenue, just above Barton Street. Berger feels most of the changes he has seen over the years in Millerton have been for the best.

“The town esthetically looks better than it has ever looked,” he observed.

Some of the local people who have had a profound influence on Berger’s life include his father, Albert, who died when his son was only eight years old, and his mother Rose, who passed away in 1992.

Others include legendary Webutuck teachers Violet Simmons and Leola Downey, the mother of Millerton attorney Ed Downey, who remains one of Berger’s closest friends.

And of Jack Bauer, Berger said, “He was an unorthodox teacher. He ran an extraordinary drama program.”

Berger and his fellow 1963 alumni were the first class to start seventh grade in what was then the new Webutuck High School building on Haight Road and graduate after six years.

“Most of the kids in my class were farm kids,” he added, ticking off a list that included George Beneke, Janet Meade Reagon, George Kaye and Louie Lattrell. “They got up before school and did the milking.”

Growing Up Jewish

As for growing up Jewish in the WASP heartland, Berger said it was never a problem.

“I never felt any anti-Semitism or negative feelings from being Jewish. I think this has been a very tolerant community. Of course, we had Temple Beth David In Amenia. When I was ready to be Bar Mitzvahed at age 13, there was no full-time rabbi, so my mother found a rabbi at the Wassaic State School ” she would drive me once a week to Wassaic for lessons.”

Life After Millerton

After leaving Webutuck, Berger went to Cornell University in Ithaca and he eventually graduated from Harvard Law School. During his summers home, Berger worked with Downey at the K&E plant on Route 22.

In 1968, Berger’s mother, a school teacher by training, sold the family store. “At that point she moved and that’s when I lost family ties here,” he added.

“My father loved it here. She didn’t,” he said, adding that for much of his mother’s time in Millerton she was forbidden by state law from holding a teaching certificate because she was married.

JFK Inspired Him

Another major influence on Berger was President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated when Berger was a freshman at Cornell.

“That was for my generation a powerfully defining event. I think that I was pulled into government by several things. My mother was always interested in politics. And Mrs. Simmons and Mrs. Downey pushed me in that direction.

“When [JFK] was elected I was a sophomore. Ed [Downey] and I were the only two Democrats in the class. This place was very Republican. Politics was not just a abstraction; it was part of our curriculum. [JFK] created a role model of public service as a worthy enterprise”

“Traded’ For The P.O.

After Cornell, Berger went to work for Congressman Joe Resnick, one of the only Democrats to ever represent Dutchess County in Washington.

“He was a self-made man who had built the Channel Master Corporation. I had read in The Millerton News that Joe was coming to Millerton. I approached Chet Lyle, who then was the Democratic Chair in Millerton. I told him I really wanted to meet Joe and work for him.”

At that time, Lyle and others were eager to obtain a new post office for Millerton, but Resnick protested that he had already facilitated too many post offices and had exhausted his quota.

“He said, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll hire Berger and you leave me alone on the post office.’ I was traded for the Millerton Post Office.”

Met Clinton in ‘72

After his stint with Congressman Resnick, Berger returned to Washington to work on the 1972 campaign of Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern. It was then that he met, among other people, Bill Clinton.

After the McGovern campaign went down in flames to Richard Nixon, Mr. Berger practiced law at a Washington firm for seven years before landing a job as deputy director of the State Department’s Policy and Planning staff in the administration of Jimmy Carter.

After Carter’s 1980 defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan, Berger returned to the same law firm, but kept in touch with Clinton for the next several years. When in 1991 it became apparent that Mr. Clinton was serious about pursuing the presidency, he tapped Mr. Berger for a major role as foreign policy advisor.

Politics Or Government?

“I don’t know if what I do is politics or government. I’ve always been more interested in government than politics. This last eight years has been an extraordinary experience.

“As we try to define an appropriate role for us in the post-Cold War era, we’ve been faced with most of those challenges, whether that is trying to make peace in Bosnia or Kosovo, or the Camp David process we just went through, or trying to build a relationship with China. It’s been a tremendous opportunity. I’ve traveled all over the world and gotten to meet some interesting people.”

Berger said he is unsure what he will do after Clinton’s presidency ends in January: “There’s only so much you can do in terms of pursuing [another job] while you’re still on government.”

Life In The “West Wing’

Asked whether life in the White House is as overwhelming as depicted in the television series “West Wing,” Berger recounted a recent White House visit by actor Rob Lowe and the show’s executive producer Aaron Sorkin.

“I sat them down and told them I thought it was a good show, but how in the world could they make war and peace with no national security advisor? Apparently [Lowe] went out the next week and said he had been chewed out by the National Security Advisor.”

Currently, Berger’s day begins at around 7:30 a.m. with his daily national security briefing with the president.

“I get home around 10:30 [p.m.] and the phone rings most nights more than once and the weekends are about the same. You take what little time you have and save it for your family and put your friends in escrow.”

The Berger Family

Meanwhile, Berger continues to live in Washington with his wife, Susan. Their children are all grown.

Debbie, 27, is a producer for CNN’s legal affairs program, “Burden of Proof.” Twenty-two-year-old Sarah just graduated from Cornell and is about to enroll at University of Virginia Law School. And Alex, 20, is a full-time student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.

After the interview, the affable Berger strolled across Main Street to the offices of The Millerton News to renew his subscription. He said his wife had forgotten to pay the bill a few months ago.

On the way out he was greeted by Millerton resident Cynthia Duel-Haskell. “You were 10 the last time I saw you,” she said. “Good to see you, dear.”

“It’s great to see you,too,” he replied.
2 Yankee // Dec 21, 2006 at 6:52 pm

Terry,

Can you update us on what Sandy Berger is doing theses days? Washington consultant? Lobbyist? Private equity?
3 Terry // Dec 21, 2006 at 7:12 pm

I thought he had gone back to Hogan & Hartson, which is where he usually goes when there is a Republican president. His daughter is an associate there. But evidently he is here.
4 Marshall Miles // Dec 22, 2006 at 5:11 am

Its a sad story, as old as time. It seems the end always justifies the means. Power effects people in many different ways, but stealing is stealing…does not matter who you are, under what President you served…stealing is just that.Oliver North, Sansy Burger, John Rowland, etc. The abuse of the trust placed in a public official seems alomost to comonplace nowadays.

Well, Democrat of Republican, Liberal or Conservitave, whoever you are wheerever you are this Holiday Season….Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and best wishes for a terriffic New Year.

See all of you fellow bloggers after the holidays!

Marshall
5 Paul Bartomioli // Dec 22, 2006 at 5:51 am

So, let’s see.

There is an investigation underway.

Someone connected to the investigation uses his security clearance to steal documents that perhaps, maybe, could prove that the person being investigated is indeed guilty.

He gets a plea deal of a fine and the dreaded “community service.” He does not lose his security clearance; it was suspended, like the law license of Clinton, but has been restored.

Gee, I thought that the penalty would be a bit more severe.

Oh, yeah. Tell me again why I should feel sorry for criminals that are caught?

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