YSEALI PFP Day 5: Last Day of Orientation Week

24 April 2019

The morning run continued. An and I ran to Rock Creek Park, where we climbed down to the river bed and took some photos.

Went to read up a little bit on this park and discovered that it had been established by an act of Congress in 1890. It was the third national park of the United States.

No man is an island, so says the man on the rock

Under the bridge

Found a neighbouring Rose Park

The official programme for the day began with a meeting with Matt Sanderson, Attorney, Caplin & Drysdale and Trustee, American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL). The topic was on US Campaign Finance Regulations, and he brought with him his experience representing several Presidential Campaigns, including Mitt Romney and John McCain's.

Matt began with the history behind how companies started to plough in money to campaigns against candidates who were running against capital, and how it eventually led to restrictions imposed on campaign financing. Using the whiteboard, Matt also shared with us the eco-system of election campaigning financing (including Political Action Committees [PACs] and SuperPACs) and the limits. 

I took the opportunity to ask about how organisations like EMILY's List, which we visited the day before, fit in to the eco-system.

The second meeting for the day was with Karla Jones, Director, Task Force on International Relations, American Legislative Executive Council (ALEC). ALEC is the largest non-partisan membership based organisation that provides a platform for like-minded lawmakers to share best practices and avoid pitfalls. ALEC holds regular meetings for their members, which also include private sector corporations, trade associations and think tanks, and develop state-based model policies which are made available on their website. ALEC supports Jeffersonian principles of free markets, federalism and  limited government.

Lining up for lunch

One thing I like about the Professional Fellows Program thus far is the back-to-back programme schedule. Lunches are not for wasting on just eating, but time is maximised for learning.

Our lunch meeting was with Tom McMahon, Partner, NP Strategy Group and Matt Robbins, Director, Government Relations, The Auto Care Association. The topic was Grassroots Campaigning and Voter Mobilisation. It was a very engaging and insightful session, given that Tom had been involved with several campaigns; and Matt who trained thousands of grassroots volunteers in electioneering.

Pardon the empty bowl in the photo

The last meeting for the day was with our ACYPL Programme team - Kaylee and Pete - who briefed us on our upcoming exciting 4-week attachment to our host organisations in our placement cities. Looking at the thick programme schedule for our time in Chicago, can't help but to admire the effort and thought put into scheduling the meetings and visits. Salute!

As always, the official programme ended at about 3.30pm but the programme for the day had not. From the meeting, some of us headed to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, which were housed side by side to each other.

With Jocelyn (Singapore) and Ivy (Malaysia)

Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence

Marriage Protest

The draft of the Marriage Protest

Female Supreme Court Judges

George Washington - the first President of the United States

Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the United States

Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States

Roosevelt took office in 1901 and initiated one of American history's most reform-oriented presidencies. His contributions included implementing efforts to conserve natural heritage, instituting significant curbs on the excesses of big businesses and building the Panama Canal.

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States

A familiar name for those who studied WWI/WWII history. Wilson mooted the League of Nations (the predecessor of the United Nations) but failed to convince his own country to support it.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States

Roosevelt led the US out of the Great Depression and held a third term of Presidency as the US entered World War II.

Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States

Truman endorsed the Marshall Plan, the strategy that helped rebuild war-torn Europe.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States

Under Eisenhower's leadership, the US saw the end of the Korean War, and the beginnings of desegregation in the South. He was the first President to send in federal troops into the South to enforce federal law to protect African American students.

John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States

Kennedy created the Peace Corps and promoted the goal of landing on the moon. He oversaw the buildup of American presence in Vietnam. He was assassinated in 1963.

Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States

When Johnson saw this finished painting, he declared it "the ugliest thing I ever saw". Artist Peter Hurd gave the portrait to the Gallery which promised not to exhibit the portrait until after the President left office.

Richard M. Nixon, the 37th President of the United States

Nixon's portrait was the smallest in the entire gallery, presumably due to the Watergate scandal which made him the first and only President to resign from office.

Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States

Reagan guided the US through the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, which crumbled two years after his presidency.

George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States

William J. Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States

Clinton established new organisations for free trade, including NAFTA as well as free trade agreement with Singapore. He played a crucial part in curbing federal deficits and achieved a surplus in revenues for the first time since the 1960s. He was successful in making the Democratic Party more centrist and better equipped to compete with Republicans.

George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States

And of course, Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States

Elsewhere in the National Portrait Gallery:

An exhibit which featured a printer printing live

The Gates

Beyonce Knowles

Michelle Obama, probably the most popular portrait in the Gallery

George Lucas

Signing of the Treaty of Versailles

And then the National Art Gallery:

A drawing of two children who had passed on

An exhibition on Vietnamese Refugees:

Statue of Liberty

We walked past Chinatown, and headed to the Union Station.

A statue that honours victims of Communism

National Guard Memorial

Great words on the top of the National Postal Museum: 

Messenger of Sympathy and Love

Servant of Parted Friends

Consoler of the Lonely

Bond of the Scattered Family

Enlarger of the Common Life

Union Station:

He that would bring home the wealth the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him so it is in travelling, a man must carry knowledge with him if he would bring home knowledge

Supreme Court

Literally saw squirrels every day in my stay in the DC

Library of Congress (Thomas Jefferson Building)

Spent our last night of Orientation week at The Front Page.

Dinner served :)

It was an amazing week of networking, meetings and cultural learning in Washington DC. We were all ready to be embedded within our respective placement cities and learn from our host organisations over the next four weeks.