Shortly after Barack Obama’s election, Bill White sent a personal e-mail to Rahm Emanuel touting his experience working in Washington “during the Ford, Carter, and Clinton Administrations.” We know he had a two-year stint as Bill Clinton’s deputy secretary of energy, but what did he do during the Ford/Carter years that would warrant such a robust resume claim?
“I write to share a few specific recommendations about energy policy at the beginning of the Obama Administration based on my work on Capitol Hill or the Administration on energy over 33 years, during the Ford, Carter, and Clinton Administrations.” –Bill White to Rahm Emanuel (November 17, 2008) [bold added] (Full Text)
After “he raised $2 million for Bill Clinton’s [1992] presidential race”, Mr. White was named Deputy U.S. Secretary of Energy. His time in Washington and subsequent dealings in the energy sector in the 1990’s are well known, but what about this experience he claims from working on “Capitol Hill or the Administration” during the Ford/Carter years?
From what we can gather, it looks like Bill White may have worked briefly on Capitol Hill in the 1970’s, but not in any positions with the Ford or Carter administrations.
In 1975, as a 19-year-old Harvard student, Bill White “left school for a semester” to work in the office of then-U.S. Rep. Bob Krueger, a freshman Texas Democrat from New Braunfels, hardly near the center of presidential political action, as his e-mail seems to imply.
Even then, how much influence did a college kid have on energy policy in the 1970’s? Considering what a mess energy policy was at the time, maybe he did have some real responsibility. That would explain a lot.
Professional insecurity is unbecoming for a Texas governor-hopeful.
Texans expect honesty from Bill White. If a semester away from Harvard is the full extent of the Ford/Carter experience he played up to Rahm Emanual, it makes you wonder what else about Mr. White’s self-presentation is embellished.
NOTE: This story was originally posted at www.BillWhiteForTAXES.com
