WEDNESDAY, FEB. 22: Business Bermuda’s guest speaker at its Annual General Meeting this year is Mr. R. James Woolsey, 16th Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency under Democratic President William Jefferson Clinton.
The meeting will be held on February 22, 2012 from Noon to 3pm at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel.
Mr. Woolsey previously served in the US Government on five different occasions, where he held Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, with his most recent tenure occurring from 1993-1995 as Director of Central Intelligence.
Mr. Woolsey is chairman of Woolsey Partners LLC and a Venture Partner with Lux Capital Management.
While there is often speculation associated with those who serve in high-level positions in government, and in particular those who serve in positions related to national security and defence, the speculation and rumours are often rarely based on fact and substance.
In addition to speaking directly with Mr. Woolsey, Business Bermuda had a brief interview with him via E-mail while he was travelling in Israel to discuss his upcoming speech and to preview those things he will discuss.
Q: Are you looking forward to speaking at the Business Bermuda Annual General Meeting?
A: “I am looking forward to speaking at the upcoming Business Bermuda Annual General Meeting. These are uncertain times with looming conflicts in key regions of the world. I’ll share my views of these challenges and offer my thoughts on the opportunity Bermuda has to help preserve the free flow of capital and contribute to global economic stability and certainty.”
Q: What is the biggest single threat that you see to the global economy in 2012 and the years ahead?
A: “There are major threats and that is oil’s monopoly of transportation and OPEC’s near-monopoly of oil.”
Q: You have been described as Hawk on defence and national security issues, but as a moderate on social economic issues. Do you think that’s an accurate depiction? How best would you describe your political views?
A: Due to nostalgia and stubbornness, I am a largely unreconstructed “Scoop” Jackson Democrat.
[Note: Henry Martin “Scoop” Jackson (May 31, 1912 – September 1, 1983) was a U.S. Congressman and Senator from the state of Washington from 1941 until his death. Jackson was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976.
Though Jackson opposed the excesses of Joe McCarthy (who had travelled to Washington State to campaign against him in 1952), he also criticized Dwight Eisenhower for not spending enough on national defence, and called for more inter-continental ballistic missiles in the national arsenal. Jackson’s support for nuclear weapons resulted in a primary challenge from the left in 1958, when he handily defeated Seattle peace activist Alice Franklin Bryant before winning re-election with 67 percent of the vote—a total he topped the next four times he ran for re-election.
Jackson boasted one of the strongest records on civil rights during the civil rights movement. He supported the 1957 Civil Rights Act, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In April 1968, responding to the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Jackson gave a speech in which he talked about the legacy and injustice of inequality.
For decades, Democrats who supported a strong international presence for the United States have been called “Scoop Jackson Democrats”, the term even being used to describe contemporary Democrats such as Joe Lieberman and R. James Woolsey, Jr.]