A tribute to Former U.S. Senator and Attorney General Slade Gorton | August 19, 2020
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Slade was born and raised in Chicago, and graduated from Dartmouth College, and Columbia University Law School. He served in both the U.S. Army and in the U.S. Air Force reserve attaining the rank of Colonel. In 1958, Slade married Sally Clark of Selah. Slade and Sally had three children, Sarah, Rebecca and Thomas, and were married until Sally's death in 2013.
Slade never retired, and was seen frequently in his Bellevue-area neighborhood during his daily walks with his dog, Trip.
A Republican, Slade served in public office for 40 years including in the Washington State House of Representatives 1959-1969; as Washington State Attorney General 1969-1981; as United States Senator 1981-87, 1989-2001. Slade served as a member of the 9/11 Commission 2003-2004 and the Washington State Redistricting Commission in 2011.
Slade with his brothers Mike (left) and Nat (center)
Team Gorton Alumni Network – His proudest legacy
Slade's career stood out in part because he developed a large and unusually loyal following of the people who had worked for him across his six decades in public life. In 1998 at a surprise party when he turned 70, Slade surveyed the crowd of more than a hundred past staff and supporters and said “You are my legacy.”
When he left office, he built on that belief, often saying,
“My greatest legacy will not be any particular legislation, but the hundreds of young people who have worked with me over the years and who have gone on to become leaders themselves.”
For years, Slade continued to meet regularly with many of his former staffers. He would attend lunches with them to mentor and hear about their lives, and he enjoyed nothing better than to have former staff and their families as his guest at Mariners’ games.
And every Team Gorton member knew that if you said yes to a Mariners’ invite, you had better be ready to take over scorekeeping duties on his personal scorecard whenever he stepped away from the game for a moment or two.
An advocate and champion for women in the workplace
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Throughout his career, Slade was an ardent advocate of women in the workplace. One of those he mentored and promoted was Gregoire, who got her start in public service as an assistant attorney general for Slade where she focused on child abuse cases.
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Gregoire said:
“Slade was a pioneer in breaking the glass ceiling in hiring and promoting women lawyers at a time when law firms were hiring few women. Slade was a supporter and mentor to me and many other women in advancing our careers in the Attorney General’s Office.”
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When Slade left the Senate in 2001, a group of former women staffers created an organization called The Gorton Legacy Group. Its mission was to carry on his support for and mentoring of women in the workplace, in politics, or in the home if that was their choice. Its guiding light was captured in a speech Slade was asked to give by the Estonian Congress after the dissolution of the USSR as they were establishing their own fledgling government. They asked for his advice on how to create and maintain a working democracy. In part, Slade said:
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“One particularly important aspect of equality before the law and equality of opportunity is its relationship to half or more than half of the population of every society: our women. Through most of history and in most societies, women have been and still are severely limited in their ability to live up to their full potential. This is profoundly unjust, both to women and to men, and may be the greatest inhibition to the success of human society.”
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Slade’s women staffers experienced the living proof of that philosophy in his treatment of them.
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Another mission of the GLG was simply to stay in touch with Slade and with each other. That has continued to this day, and includes connecting with Slade’s male staffers, who saw, understood, and emulated Slade’s example.
Slade with his daughters Becky (left) and Sarah (right)
9/11 Commission – a leader who inspired consensus and ‘partnership’
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In November 2002, Slade was appointed to the 9/11 Commission, formed by an Act of Congress to examine the circumstances leading to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On that panel, Slade was a strong leader, insisting the panel be given full access to all records pertaining to the investigation and ensuring the panel’s findings and recommendations were fully bipartisan.
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Also serving on that panel was Jamie Gorelick, who had been a Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton. The two teamed closely. Recalling their work together, Gorelick recently said,
“Slade was the best partner I could have had in one of the most riveting efforts on which I have ever been engaged. I am grateful for his partnership and friendship.”
An independent thinker who regularly challenged authority
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In politics, Republican Slade was an independent thinker and contributor. Slade championed individual freedom and distrusted big institutions, selfish motives, and concentrated power. He believed that part of his role as a public officeholder was to be willing to challenge entrenched leaders and institutions when he thought they were damaging the public.
Over decades, Slade challenged U.S. Presidents of both parties, heads of international corporations, organized public employee unions, international environmental organizations and many others. Slade called for the resignation of the CEO of Exxon following the Exxon Valdez spill and the company’s delayed clean-up response.
He was one of the Northwest's first major political figures to call for President Nixon’s resignation because of the Watergate scandal. In 2016, Slade argued that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were unqualified for the Presidency. In the U.S. Senate, he voted for the impeachment of President Clinton, and, this year, argued that President Trump, by offering a proposed quid pro quo with the Ukrainian President, warranted impeachment.
There was hardly a single interest group Slade didn’t take on at some point in his career when he thought they were wrong.
In the Senate he fought automakers for higher fuel efficiency standards. He fought the major oil companies while successfully requiring tug escorts for tankers in Puget Sound. He battled with environmental organizations when he believed that the proposed Spotted Owl restrictions were an overreach and destructive to rural communities and families.
When Sea World captured the Puget Sound Orcas, Slade, as Attorney General, stopped the capture, saving this vital portion of Northwest heritage. Slade sued Major League baseball as Attorney General, leading to the landing of major league baseball in Seattle. He battled with Native American Tribes over the scope of their treaty rights.
Slade fought for the independence of the Baltic states from Russian rule and for the freedom of Chinese students to travel following that government’s assault on its citizens in Tiananmen square.
One of the students recently mentored by Slade had this meaningful family connection to legislation he championed 30+ years ago:
During a conversation we had once, I had asked you if there was a legislative effort that you were most proud of. You replied that it was the Chinese Student Protection Act and shared the story of its introduction, which was crafted in response to the events on June 4, 1989. At the time (and regrettably), I was not aware of my family’s connection to this bill. Recently, I was speaking on the phone with my dad and he had mentioned that the Chinese Student Protection Act was what allowed him to safely stay in the U.S. He had only immigrated to the U.S. a short time before the events look place, and the law you had first introduced as legislation was what kept him here. He eventually received his PhD from the University of Washington and is now a professor in Tacoma. He also met my mom, and had two kids; me and my brother. These opportunities were afforded to him because he was able to stay. This realization has been a striking reminder to me of how small our world truly is, and how interconnected our lives are - knowing or unknowing. On behalf of my family, I wanted to properly thank you. I’m grateful. Said Leah Li, Gorton Global Leaders Program graduate; Legislative Aide, U.S. House of Representatives
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Also, Slade was one of the first state attorneys general to make consumer protection a cornerstone practice of state law enforcement.
“Slade was the national leader as Attorney General in ensuring consumers had the state’s top lawyer by their side,” said former Washington State Governor and Attorney General Christine Gregoire.
An effective, driven and successful Attorney General for Washington State
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As Washington state’s Attorney General, Slade personally argued 14 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Justice Burger observed that Slade made “the best arguments before the Supreme Court of any Attorney General in America.” Justice Byron White, a Rhodes Scholar and Kennedy appointee, concurred.
In court, “Gorton was our toughest opponent,” said Ron Allen, former president of the National Congress of American Indians. “He made us better, smarter and more savvy. Slade doesn’t hate Indians. He just has strong opinions based on his review of what he considers the facts. He has an incredible intellect. He can debate anything—constitutional law or scripture. He cared about the salmon and the environment and said the tribes should play a role. But when it came to sovereignty issues we collided time and again. . . .”