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A closer look at Thomas Melady
Favorite food: fish and vegetables
Favorite place to travel: “My four years in Rome were really great. We go back there a lot. There’s so much to see in Italy.”
Favorite president: “I served under President [George H.W.] Bush, and I think he was a great man. I also served under president Reagan. The two presidents who gave me appointments were great people. I’ve learned to admire two other presidents, in terms of their foreign policy: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and President Eisenhower.
Last book that you read: The Statesman by Dennis Ross. He was in the Clinton administration and he handled the Middle East. I’m teaching the art of diplomacy, and the two books I want my students to read are Kissinger’s Diplomacy and Dennis Roth’s book The Statesman.
Favorite music: “I love Beethoven’s moonlight sonata.”
Best advice: “I’ve been helped by several people in my life. When I was a student in graduate school, I was told, ‘Focus,’ and secondly I was told to remember the importance of people and staff.” |
Thomas Melady thinks America could use a dose of “mature optimism,” and he believes Mitt Romney is the presidential candidate who can provide it. Melady, a Catholic and a former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican (1989-1993) recently endorsed the former Massachusetts governor’s bid for the 2008 presidency. Throughout his career in diplomacy, higher education, and public affairs, Melady has served as ambassador to Burundi, to Uganda, and as Senior Adviser to the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations, as well as Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Post-Secondary Education under President Reagan. He has also served as Executive Vice President of St. Joseph's University, and as President of Sacred Heart University. Now a professor and Senior Diplomat in Residence at The Institute of World Politics, Melady recently spoke with Catholic Digest about family values, the role of faith in politics, and some of the biggest challenges facing America today.
CD: In the press release issued by Romney’s campaign, it states that you’ve chosen to endorse his presidential candidacy because of his support for family values. Could you define what you mean by the phrase “family values”?MELADY: The things [that families] hold in common — being concerned about stability at home. But this is one factor. The reason I was attracted to Mitt Romney as governor [of Massachusetts] was that he managed — after a lot of discussion and negotiation — to come up with a health insurance program [for the state]. It’s really unfortunate — we’ve done a lot of great things, and we still have almost 50 million people who don’t have health insurance. I relate that to family values — concern about the family and the members of the family.
Also, he set an attractive example. I have met his wife Ann and several of his sons, and I think he’s the personification of family values, and a certain amount of optimism. I think his is a mature optimism, a general hope. We seem to be going through a period of — I don’t want to say despair, that might be too severe — but a period where optimism isn’t quite there. My grandfather came over from Ireland to Norwich, Connecticut. He was a great optimist, and he said, ‘One day you can live in the house on the hill,’ and even though my father and mother were working class people who worked in the mills of Norwich, I could have that aspiration going into college. And I see that optimism [in Romney]. I think we need a return to mature optimism, respect for the family. When I wrote my memoirs and I had to think of a title, I chose
Faith, Family, and Friends.
CD: And it seems you feel that these are values shared by Romney?MELADY: Yes. I’ve had people ask me, “Well, do you know what church [Romney] belongs to?” and I said, “Well, I do, but to me the important thing is his faith.” I’m quite convinced of that, the enthusiasm. I’ve only known him for about a year and a half, but those who have known him for years say that [enthusiasm] was characteristic when he was a missionary in Europe, and when he took over the tough assignment of managing the Olympics [in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002]. Now I’m not an expert in the Olympics, but I recall from what I read that they were pretty messed up financially. He stepped in at a difficult time and people from all sides of the political divide say he did a great job.
