The fight to belong in the club, to win that first public office, is so all-consuming that for politicians, the idea of giving it up may just be impossible.
After that first victory, the instinct is not to win, but to survive. Instead of "be all that you can be," the winning politician’s motto is "being in office is all you can be."
Hawaii has had three senior members of Congress die in office — Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, Rep. Patsy T. Mink and Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga — so we can appreciate how important is the drive to remain.
David Heenan, a Campbell Estate trustee, former chairman and CEO of Theo H. Davies & Co. and University of Hawaii dean and vice president, is a one-man think tank. He has just written a new book, "Leaving on Top: Graceful Exits for Leader," using local examples to examine "the sweetly timed exit."
Heenan points to the Hawaii hotel pioneer family of Roy Kelley as a perfect example of how the baton is effectively passed.
First Roy, then Richard and then son-in-law David Carey and then grandson Chuck Kelley, formed the Outrigger group of hotels.
"With a minimum of bickering and a maximum of pride, subsequent generations have left on top — transforming the Outrigger brand into an 11-thousand room, trans-Pacific empire and enhancing the family legacy," Heenan writes.
The idea, Heenan counsels, is: "Staying power is elusive at best. Therefore, reassess the situation as conditions change … even the most accomplished executives can’t always be in control."
Another local example is retired Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, who left Washington after serving the U.S. House and Senate for 37 years.
The Akaka lesson is half about leaving on top and half about leaving because you just stepped on a trap door.
"Regrettably, Hawaii’s ‘true ambassador of Aloha,’ as Inouye has called him, could have left office on a high note —saving face instead, as some see it, of having egg on it.
"The beloved, but reluctant, elder statesman would have been well-advised to have followed the old social axiom: Leave the party when you are still having a good time," Heenan writes in his book.
Unfortunately, part of Akaka’s legacy will be that from 2006 to his departure in the first days of this year, much of the debate about Akaka was about his age and effectiveness.
Beloved by his constitu-ents, Akaka defended his Senate post from then-U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who in 2006 challenged Akaka, arguing that a new, younger senator could build up seniority.
Case’s chancy position was not accepted and he has been repeatedly punished for forcing voters to choose between the well-liked Akaka and the brash newcomer.
As much as Inouye defended Akaka in the 2006 campaign, it was Inouye’s two remarks in 2011 — that Akaka did not have enough money to run a successful campaign and that he would not be able to help Akaka raise the needed money for his 2012 campaign — that were interpreted as a strong signal for Akaka to go.
Heenan writes of Akaka that by early 2011, "the increasingly frail lawmaker was beginning to feel the strains of his diminishing standing in the Senate and the prospect of a difficult and bruising re-election campaign. In the end, health and a family trumped politics.
"To most elected officials, their entire identity is tied up in politics. To re-pot, to go from 100 to zero, is unthinkable. Yet to his credit, Akaka bears no trace of the sadness and lack of purpose that hang over many once-powerful men in their later years," Heenan wrote.
For Hawaii, it may not have turned out as well.
Case’s worst case scenario has come to pass. With Akaka’s retirement and Inouye’s death, a delegation that measured its seniority in decades now has less than six months ranking.
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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
