ANDREW CARD

'Andrew Hill "Andy" Card Jr.' (born May 10, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist, two time member of the United States Cabinet, and head of George W. Bush's White House Iraq Group. Card served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation under George H. W. Bush and the White House Chief of Staff under his son. He announced his resignation as Chief of Staff March 28, 2006, effective April 14, 2006.
A native of Holbrook, Massachusetts, he and his wife Kathy have three children and four grandchildren. A dedicated Chief of Staff, he was once asked by his wife "Are you married to me or George W. Bush?"^[1]

Contents

Early life

Private career

Government career

Honorary degree controversy

References

External links

Early life

Card was active in the Boy Scouts of America's Old Colony Council as a youth. Later, he graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. He also attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Card got his start in politics serving in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1975–1983. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts in 1982.

Private career

From 1993 to 1998, Card was President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA), the trade association whose members were Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation. The AAMA dissolved in December 1998. From 1999 until his selection as President Bush's Chief of Staff, Card was General Motors' Vice President of Government Relations. Card directed the company's international, national, state and local government affairs activities and represented GM on matters of public policy before Congress and the Administration.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad announced on July 27, 2006 that Card was elected to the board, increasing the board's size to 10 members.^[2]

Government career

From 1989 to 1992, Card served in President George H. W. Bush's administration as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. Card served in President Ronald Reagan's administration as Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and subsequently as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, where he was liaison to governors, statewide elected officials, state legislators, mayors and other elected officials.
From 1992 until 1993, Card served as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President George H. W. Bush. In August 1992, at the request of President Bush, Secretary Card coordinated the administration's disaster relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Andrew. Later that year, Secretary Card directed President Bush's transition office during the transition from the Bush Administration to the Clinton Administration.
On November 26, 2000, Card was appointed to be chief of staff of Texas Governor and President-Elect George W. Bush upon Bush's January 20, 2001 inauguration. On September 11, 2001, it was Card who whispered in Bush's ear while the President was conducting an education event at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida that terrorists had attacked the United States.^[3]
Card is known to have headed the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), whose members include Karl Rove, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Condoleezza Rice, Karen Hughes and Mary Matalin. This group is known for controlling public relations for the Iraq War. It is now well documented that much of the information provided by WHIG was known to be false. ^[4]
In March 2004 Card tried to convince Attorney General John D. Ashcroft to reauthorize a domestic surveillance program, which the Justice Department had just determined was illegal. Ashcroft lay ill in an intensive-care unit when Card and White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales urged him to sign the papers. Ashcroft refused.^[5]
On November 26, 2005, Card experienced a close call along with 12 other passengers aboard a Gulfstream twin-engine plane when smoke began pouring into the cockpit during the flight. The plane was bound for Washington, D.C., but the pilot managed to land safely at the Nashville International Airport. No injuries were reported.
On March 28, 2006, the White House announced that Card would resign as Chief of Staff and be replaced by United States Office of Management and Budget director Joshua B. Bolten.^[6] Card's resignation was effective April 14, 2006.^[7] In his book '', Bob Woodward states that Card resigned because he was concerned that the war in Iraq would be seen as another Vietnam War, after twice failing to persuade the President to dismiss Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense,^[8] with the support of First Lady Laura Bush on his second attempt.^[9]

Honorary degree controversy

In 2007, Card received an honorary degree in public service from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The decision by the university administration to give Card the degree was met with protests and petitions from students, faculty, staff, and community members. They argued that Card played a critical role in disseminating deceptive and misleading evidence to justify the Iraq War.^[10] At the May 25, 2007 graduate school commencement ceremony, hundreds of students, faculty, and staff protested the award with boos and catcalls as Andrew Card accepted the degree. Protesters, including many faculty on stage, drowned out Provost Charlena Seymour's remarks.^[11]
Hundreds boo former Bush chief of staff at University of Massachusetts commencement ceremony

References

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48515-2005Jan4?language=printer
2. Union Pacific Corporation Elects Andrew Card a Director Union Pacific Railroad
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/28/AR2006032800416_2.html
4. Depiction Of Threat Outgrew Supporting Evidence
5. Gonzales Hospital Episode Detailed
6. White House shake-up: Chief of staff resigns Associated Press
7. Andrew H. Card, Jr. White House Chief of Staff, 2000-2006
8. Card Urged Bush to Replace Rumsfeld, Woodward Says William Hamilton
9. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/29/books.woodward.ap/index.html
10. UMass protesters rally against honorary degree for Andrew Card
11. UMass faculty, students boo Card Associated Press

External links

★ Official White House biography

★ President Thanks Andy Card, Announces Bolten as New Chief of Staff - official transcript of Card's resignation announcement.

★ Letter from Congressman Henry Waxman to Card asking if Bush knowingly signed into law a bill that didn't pass

★ Washington Post feature on Andrew Card, published before the 2005 Presidential Inauguration

★ Petition to the University of Massachusetts to revoke its offer of an honorary degree to Andrew Card

★ Video (Part 1 of 2) of UMass protest on May 15, 2007 against Andrew Card receiving honorary degree

★ Video (Part 2 of 2) of UMass protest on May 15, 2007 against Andrew Card receiving honorary degree

★ Youtube video of protest at UMass graduate commencement - May 25, 2007