The Chavez Debacle

A personal account

LINDA Chavez called me at home a little before midnight on Saturday, January 6, worried. “Something has come up that may derail my confirmation,” she said. Just four days earlier, President-elect Bush had nominated her for secretary of labor, in a move that surprised and delighted conservatives. I was certainly excited. Chavez had been my boss for five years. She was my mentor, and friend. And now there was a problem. Before I could even guess what it might be, she asked, “Do you remember Marta?”

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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A personal account

LINDA Chavez called me at home a little before midnight on Saturday, January 6, worried. “Something has come up that may derail my confirmation,” she said. Just four days earlier, President-elect Bush had nominated her for secretary of labor, in a move that surprised and delighted conservatives. I was certainly excited. Chavez had been my boss for five years. She was my mentor, and friend. And now there was a problem. Before I could even guess what it might be, she asked, “Do you remember Marta?”

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.