|
|
Features |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When you want to find out how to get things done, you go to Charles (Chuck) Blanchard '81, says Alan Levitt, head of media for the Office of the National Drug Control Policy. "If it's worth doing, he'll roll up his sleeves, sit down with you and see how you can move forward." Blanchard's ability to build consensus and to get results has earned Blanchard the title of general counsel of the Department of the Army, the Army's chief legal officer, with a rank equivalent to a four-star general. The U.S. Senate confirmed President Clinton's appointment on Aug. 5. Directing a staff of 30 who oversee more than 2,000 attorneys, Blanchard is responsible for all legal issues involving the Department of the Army ranging from international weapons treaties to environmental regulations to personnel questions for the one-million employees on active duty or in the reserves. Blanchard graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a major in chemistry, winning the Rena Ratte Award, the College's top academic honor, along the way. He was named Distinguished Young Alumnus in 1987.
Charles Blanchard '81, who majored in chemistry, ranks equal to a four-star general. Chemistry Professor James Duncan remembers working with Blanchard on a research project about thermal arrangements of hydrocarbons. The Journal of American Chemical Society published their paper in 1982. Courses Blanchard took in politics and international affairs, as well as an overseas study program in Poland, inspired him to pursue public service. "It was a tough choice," Blanchard says. "I enjoyed my undergraduate research in chemistry and learned a great deal. But I decided that public policy was a better fit." Robert Mandel, professor of international affairs, agrees: "Chuck was a wonderful student and integrated information well," he says. "He was congenial, and his enthusiasm was absolutely contagious. He succeeded without showing any effort. We predicted that someday he would become a Supreme Court justice or president of the United States." "He's ambitious and has a lot of self-confidence," Duncan says. "But he's also modest with a good sense of humor, so he works well with people." After finishing college, Blanchard tackled a joint graduate program at Harvard University. He graduated first in his class from Harvard University Law School and was selected class valedictorian. At the same time, he earned a master's degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He went on to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who praises his work: "He was a splendid law clerk, very gifted, with a pleasant personality." She notes that "his later experience as an Arizona legislator demonstrated his skills in the public arena." Blanchard then worked for independent prosecutor James McKay, who was investigating the Wedtech scandal. Returning home to Arizona, Blanchard won election as a Democrat to the state Senate in 1990, where he served two terms, focusing on protection of the environment, campaign finance reform and crime prevention.
Blanchard is responsible for legal issues ranging from international weapons treaties to environmental regulations. "I loved it, it was a wonderful experience," he says. "I was working on issues that had an immediate impact on my neighborhood, and I could see right away if new policies were working out or not." He helped pass a bill prohibiting gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers and helped pass legislation setting up innovative treatment programs for prisoners with drug and alcohol problems. He ran for Congress in 1994 but lost in an election year that saw Republicans capture both the House and the Senate. Blanchard returned to private law practice at Brown & Bain, P.A., in Phoenix, Ariz., where he took on pro bono cases concerning immigration and political asylum. In 1997, he was appointed chief counsel for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Although half the work at ONDCP involved routine legal matters, the other half involved shaping policy, Blanchard says. In one major project, he helped to develop a new national media campaign to change young people's basic attitudes and beliefs about drugs. The hard-hitting campaign features real teens describing what drugs did to their lives, according to Blanchard. The campaign also seeks to counter the widespread notion among young people that it's normal to take drugs. "The reality is that 80 percent of teenagers don't use drugs, yet they think they're in the minority. In fact, it's normal if you don't take drugs." When Duncan was in Washington, D.C., in August to review grant proposals for the National Science Foundation, Blanchard invited him to a news conference announcing the anti-drug media campaign. At the reception following the conference, Duncan overheard a colleague com-plimenting Blanchard on his calming influence on those around him. Blanchard credits his ability to stay calm in tense situations in part to his science studies: "Science requires an analytical rigor, and the ability to see a problem from many perspectives and to think it through thoroughly. That calms you down." Blanchard says his time in Washington, D.C., has been "challenging and fulfilling" and that his new job offers an excellent opportunity to serve. "I like to feel that what I'm doing during the day is having a positive effect on the country and the people around me," he says. Currently, for example, the United States is preparing to relinquish control over the Panama Canal and is destroying its stock of chemical weapons, as required by international treaties, Blanchard says. Compliance with such agreements demands careful legal review. The Army Corps of Engineers alone has a vast mandate, Blanchard points out. "It deals with flood control, issues 90,000 permits a year that protect millions of acres of wetlands and is in charge of a proposal to restore the Florida Everglades that will cost $8 billion." "Blanchard is politically astute. He's unpretentious, down-to-earth and phenomenally good in helping people work together," says Levitt. &emdash;by Jack Yost
|
|