At Home with Elizabeth Dole

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At Home with Elizabeth Dole

“As we’re at the end of life looking back, we’ll be asking that question, What did I stand for? Did I make a positive difference for others?”     -- Elizabeth Dole

Around the world, Elizabeth Dole is known as an American public official and former President of the American Red Cross. Much media attention has been given to her career path which is filled with many firsts – first woman to hold the position of Secretary of Transportation; first woman to hold position of President of the American Red Cross since the organization’s founder, Clara Barton, who held it in 1881; and most recently, in her native state of North Carolina, first woman elected to serve as a U.S. Senator.

For the Financial Times, an international news weekly, she’s one of only three native North Carolinian’s selected for inclusion on their first-ever list of “Top 20 Southerners to Watch.” The list was published in 2003 as part of a special 24-page world report, Southern Exposure, focusing on the modern American South. According to Betty Liu, managing editor of the special issue, “The people who made the list are people we believe will make an impact on a national scale. These are the brightest lights we see coming out of the region.”

photo courtesy Steve Bouser, The Pilot, Southern Pines, NC

A bright light seems a befitting description for a native North Carolinian. After all, NorthCarolina is renowned for the Cape Hatteras Light Station, a National Monument and the tallest freestanding brick light tower in the United States and possibly the world. Fully operational, its purpose continues to be an active aid to navigation, assisting captains and crewman of passing ships, guiding them to safe passage.

Elizabeth Dole’s accomplishments in public service are as monumental as North Carolina’s renowned historic light tower. Her years of service have made her a household name across the nation. As a public servant, she’s developed programs to address situations that can only be described as dire – starvation in Somalia, Rwandan refugee camps, a Red Cross Center in Cambodia for people who are land mine victims. It’s heightened her awareness of how blessed we are and the responsibility we have to give back. And, like the reassuring presence of North Carolina’s famous light tower, her on-going purpose is to assist and help people who don’t have a voice.

Senator Dole's Salisbury, NC home

North Carolina Journal for Women was granted a one-on-one interview with Elizabeth Dole at her home in Salisbury, North Carolina. At precisely 9:00 AM, the scheduled start time for our interview, Elizabeth Dole gracefully descended the winding staircase of her childhood home. As she entered the elegantly appointed living room, her radiant smile and presence made the large room seem intimate, cozy. While sipping fresh brewed coffee, the demands of a looming, fast-paced, weeklong tour of North Carolina military bases seemed to slip away. For forty-five minutes, her personal graciousness flowed in a woman-to-woman conversational style.

NCJW: Let’s start with what made public service attractive to you.

It was really just like a magnet. When I graduated from college, I wanted to broaden my horizons. I did not have a career in mind, but I always had a strong interest in where I could make a difference for people. I loved student government work, enjoyed and majored in political science. Looking back on it, one thing was leading to another and they were connecting up. I always felt that public service was just a wonderful way to give back. I was interested in helping people who don’t have a voice.

As I look back, that became the thread through all the different positions, whether it’s government or in the private sector, as in the Red Cross. Looking back I see how it all connects, sort of like following your star, following your instincts.

NCJW: What are the greatest strengths you see Elizabeth Dole bringing to public service?

As I tell young people, men and women, when I’m doing commencements, if you do that which you feel passionate about, it comes from the heart and then that drives you more because you care. You get a lot of energy from what you do. I think that’s when one opportunity opens after another because you put so much time and energy, concern and love, into what you do. You really care. It’s from the heart.

I’m a person who is persistent. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon.

I’m a firm believer in something that I call fighting the churning. In other words, if you look ahead and get those things that you know are going to happen ready, it leaves room for all the unexpected things that are inevitably going to crop up. If you don’t do that, you end up putting five times as much effort into it at the last minute and that’s what I call “churning.”

I often point out to young people, too, that both my mother and my grandmother lived to 100+ years old. When you are in your older years, if you are looking back, the question you will be asking yourself is going to be, “What did I stand for? Did I make a difference, a positive difference for others?” I truly believe that’s what is going to be important to all of us in the end.

NCJW: Share a little bit about being on the leading edge. There really weren’t a lot of role models for you. What was your guidance?

I never thought about it as being the first woman. It was just-- go in there. Do what you are committed to. Get your excellent team around you and go for it. Set those priorities and stay on your priority list.

NCJW: What about sheroes (female heroes), biblical, historical or modern day, that have been a beacon to you, such as you are a beacon to other women?

I think I’d have to start with my own mother because though she had no idea of a career, she wanted me to really utilize any God-given talents that I had.

NCJW: Who else in terms of sheroes?

I visited Margaret Chase Smith who was sort of the conscience of the Senate. I was working then for Everett Jordan who was a Democrat Senator from North Carolina. I was working that summer and just had the gall, I guess, to walk down to wherever her office was and ask if I could visit with her. She gave me an hour, which is a wonderful example of how women need to say “yes” when younger women want that counsel. She said, “If you are interested in public service, I think you should do graduate work at law school. It would be very, very valuable.” So, she kind of aimed me in that direction.

She was certainly a mentor. And there have been many other women along the way. Esther Peterson in the consumer area as well as Virginia Knauer, but Virginia just stands out because she went all out for me. With Virginia, it was a matter of giving me all the experiences that she had as the President’s Assistant for Consumer Affairs. She gave me a chance to learn and share her responsibilities as her Deputy. She really embraced me as part of her team in a way that was just incredible. It was a great experience.

NCJW: With a high-profile career, how do you make time for personal life, to balance career with a personal relationship?

This part is important. You need the balance. What Bob and I try to do is as many nights as possible, is to have dinner at home together. Now, that’s hard because the Senate schedule is so erratic. Also, Sunday’s I like to set aside, not for work, but for family and friends. If somebody’s got a problem they want to talk about for two hours, you need to be responsive. You can listen and not think I’ve got this to do or that to do. Certainly with church, that’s important to me because my faith is the center of my life.

NCJW: What’s the most important message you want people to know?

I want everyone to feel they have purpose and meaning in their lives. That means finding that which really gives you that sense of it’s from the heart. You care about it.

I think all of us, as we’re at the end of life looking back; will be asking that question “What did I stand for? Did I make a positive difference for others?” And that also ties in with my feeling that we are here to make a difference, that there is real purpose and meaning in life.

NCJW: Any other tips you would like to share specifically with women who find themselves blazing new trails, being on the leading edge?

Remember those coming behind you because chances are you had mentors who helped you and you need to keep networking and thinking of innovative ways to help more women and minorities move forward.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse courtesy www.dole.senate.gov

We were just about out of time. There were a few moments to take photos. Then, a conscientious, stay-on-schedule Elizabeth Dole extended a graceful, unhurried good-bye and ascended the stairs to collect her things. As I pulled out of the driveway, her driver and deputy press secretary were head-to-head reviewing the week-long schedule of back-to-back activities, which culminated in Elizabeth Dole joining her husband, Bob Dole, at the WWII memorial dedication in Washington, DC.

Being a public servant has so many parallels to a light tower standing as a beacon of hope, encouragement and safety. It’s an opportunity to stand and be a positive difference for others.

Senator Elizabeth Dole can be contacted through her Salisbury office, 704-633-5011; Raleigh office, 919-856-4630; or Washington, DC office, 202-224-6342.