None of the 43 men who have served as presidents of the UnitedStates have graduated from SMU.
Ed Board is going to be presumptuous and say the nextadministration elected in November will not be led by an ex-Mustangeither.
This does not mean our alums have not made an impact in theWhite House.
In fact, two of President Bush’s closest confidants areSMU graduates, and both are women. One, Laura Bush, is already ahousehold name and requires no introduction.
The other lacks the first lady’s prominence and is notimmediately associated with the President. If you have not heard ofher already, allow us to introduce Karen Hughes and explain whyyou, as news-conscience SMU students, should be familiar with this2003 Distinguished Alum.
Hughes is a Pi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude from theHilltop with degrees in English and journalism. Before becoming aregular guest at the White House, she was a television newsreporter for the NBC affiliate in Dallas, served as executivedirector of the Republican Party of Texas and taught Sundayschool.
Hughes’ moxie has enabled her to morph from a demure Texanmother to a political adviser described as “the most powerfulwoman ever to serve in the White House” (The DallasMorning News) and George W. Bush’s “most essentialadvisor” (ABC News). Hughes’ determination and workethic is admirable, no matter which political party you are loyalto.
Somehow Hughes has remained humble and grounded during herjourney from a child of military upbringing, a public high schoolstudent at W.T. White in Dallas, to hobnobbing with the biggest ofthe bigwigs in Washington, D.C.
In 2000, Hughes temporarily pulled her 13-year-old son out ofschool so he could tag along with her and experience firsthand thewhirlwind presidential campaign she was running for George W.Bush.
And after Bush was elected, Hughes stayed in Washington for 18months to serve as counselor to the president before relinquishingthe political spotlight to return home to Texas to be with herfamily.
One of her reasons for coming back home was to escape thepretentious atmosphere of the Capitol, a city she described aswhere people are always looking over your shoulder for someone moreimportant to talk to.
Yet in the president’s eyes, there are not too many otherpeople more important than Hughes.