Rosen, George recall time in politics, D.C.

Both George and Rosen have served multiple stints in presidential administrations. George served under President Bill Clinton on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and under President George W. Bush as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. He was also a former judicial fellow at the U.S. Supreme Court. Rosen most notably served as a member, and the eventual chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers — a position currently held by economics professor Alan Krueger — along with previous service as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department.

George emphasized that the politics of Washington were quite different from his life in academia.

“There are political realities that you have to deal with. You cannot simply translate abstract theory into concrete political practice,” George said.

Rosen recommended that, if students bridged their life before Washington with their life in Washington, they’d avoid the disconnect that George said he felt between his work and his service.

“In terms of concrete advice, then, I’d say that it might make more sense that before you do your service in Washington you’d have established your career in some extent so you have something to go back to,” he explained.

The panelists also discussed times when they disagreed with their political superiors. George said that these disagreements are common when the professor becomes a policy adviser.

“If you’re a pretty good academic, you’re not going to be a party-line person and sometimes your views are going to be out of line, even within your area of expertise,” he explained.

For most of the conversation between George and Rosen, the two professors swapped humorous stories ranging from the proper protocol at formal French dinners to stressful moments in the Oval Office.

When George represented the United States at a bioethics conference in France during the early days of the American invasion of Iraq, he explained that he could sense the tension as soon as he stepped off of the plane. George said that he spent most of his time as the keynote guest at a dinner with French president Jacques Chirac worrying about a possible harsh rebuke from the French audience. Yet George noted that his dinner with the French president was enjoyable and his speech was well-received.

“In the end I escaped unharmed and returned to the land of Freedom Fries,” he said.

Rosen said that one of his most memorable moments in Washington was during his first presidential briefing in the Oval Office as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Rosen explained that he prepared relentlessly for the briefing but was interrupted after just 30 seconds by President Bush, who had a series of questions for his adviser.

“His view was that I was his economist and, therefore, I should know everything about economics,” Rosen explained. “And he says, ‘Hey, what was the price of oil this morning?’ and I say, well, ‘I didn’t know this was going to be on the exam!’ ”