Steve Beckman

— 5th — (1977) Jimmy Carter

After two years of working in industrial shops, sorting out how to become useful to the working class and to myself, I decided UMass's program in traditional and radical Marxist economics would lead in the right direction. So far it has.

— 10th — (1982) Ronald Reagan

Until June '81, I worked in the International Union of Electrical Workers Research Department on tasks such as economic analyses, international trade policy, support for local and national negotiations, and new technology (robots). I am now in the Industrial Union Department (IUD), AFL-CIO Research Department primarily preparing analyses of companies with which IUD coordinates the bargaining of many unions. I still find the labor movement to be the (imperfect) representative of workers' interests, and the necessary base from which the realities of class structure in economic and social life are explained and organized into coherent, worker oriented policies.

After many years of sharing home with roommates, we have lived on our own for over a year and settled into it. Non-work time goes to family -sharing the hard work and fun of raising children and learning from them with Rachel who has juggled work time to allow as much time for being with the children as possible.

We had two home births, both of which went well. Both were truly awesome experiences for me - well worth the small extra preparation required. Emily now shares in some of the endless chores and errands around the house. Children are fascinating to watch and be with.

— 15th — (1987) Ronald Reagan

The past five years have passed quickly. I have lost some of my interest in introspection, though. Just making sure that everything that has to get done gets done — important things like the groceries (my forays to Haymarket for Jordan K meals left me with an interest in grocery shopping), paying bills, making meals — seems to take tremendous amounts of time and energy. Even as the kids get older and require less of our minute-to-minute attention, there's still the house, the yard, and car repairs to think about. Rachel's set of concerns, including the ever-changing who's playing with whom tomorrow, are equally consuming. Life seems hectic much of the time.

I changed jobs two years ago with the help of some good friends. I now work on international trade for the UAW. The pace is more demanding than at my last job, but not as impossible as some Washington jobs (I usually ride the same bus home in the evening).

With trade legislation a high priority in Congress this year, I have been involved in the process of making complex laws. What goes on is a very human activity. It can be reassuring or frightening, depending on the people involved. So far, I am, on the whole, reassured.

I still enjoy being able to express and live out my political beliefs through work, rather than having to separate the two. The labor "movement," while struggling with the profound changes taking place in this country's economy and the world's, still reflects the interests of its diverse membership. While "technicians" are generally tolerated in unions, the UAW has long valued the contributions of its professional staff, so it is an especially pleasant and satisfying place for me.

With Rachel's ten years of various residencies finally ending, we are embarking on a whole new adventure. Her private practice of child and adult psychiatry could make for more scheduling flexibility and, of great importance, shorter commuting to work. And, oh yes, she will probably earn more for the same effort. In some ways, it seems too good to be true.

— 40th — (2012) Barack Obama

It has been twenty-five years since my last contribution to this forum. On the home front, our kids, who were small then, are now in their thirties. Emily is married with two little ones of her own and working full-time as a public defender in nearby Alexandria, Virginia; Louis has started a residency in psychiatry in Boston. We have substituted parents for children in our home. My mother, who moved to Maryland in 1996, moved in with us in 2003; she moved to my brother's house after more than three years, then passed away nine months later. In 2008, Rachel's parents moved in after we had more than a year on our own. Her dad, who was mentally totally competent, died only a few months later from lymphoma, and her mother, who has dementia and apraxia, is still living with us. My -work life has fundamentally changed/disappeared. I retired five years ago. (Can it be that long?) I took my own version of the UAW's "thirty and out"; I worked at the UAW Washington Office for twenty-two years after four years each at the Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO, and the International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE). While I worked on international trade negotiations and legislation for all of my time at the UAW, I became more and more involved in international union relationships. When I retired, I was the only person doing this work, as one colleague retired and the other died; neither was replaced. My retirement made it possible for me to serve as Rachel's father's "case manager" as he dealt with his lymphoma and a few other ailments in the last few months of his life. That was challenging, especially as Rachel, her two brothers, and a first cousin are all physicians. I was the one, though, who was with him when the oncologist gave him the diagnosis and prognosis for his cancer. That was a rough day.

By retiring, I also became eligible to serve on an Obama administration transition team. Since registered lobbyists were precluded from serving, current union staffers were almost all disqualified. I worked on the Office of the US Trade Representative team. This overlapped with Rachel's father's illness, so I couldn't throw myself into the details as much as I would have liked, but it was a great experience, and I enjoyed getting into the thick of consideration of trade issues again and talking with the people still working on them. I didn't regret at all, though, not having to worry about job options or impressing soon-to-be important people. Retirement has also made it possible for me to be a hands-on grandparent. And we have to compete with our son-in-law's parents, who are both retired and moved to be close to the kids. Each set of grandparents has covered one day every other week of child care for the first grandchild, Aurora, now approaching three, and, since the new year, also her little sister, Kalinda. I drive forty-five minutes in early rush hour traffic from Maryland to Virginia (Old Town, Alexandria), hang out for a while, then, at the first sign of interest in a nap, head back to Maryland. Rachel has limited work time on those days, so she gets to be a happy grandparent, and the barely mobile great-grandmother gets to see the kids as well. It has been a big shift going from a toddler to a toddler and an infant, but we're getting the hang of it. These are very lucky kids — they have doting parents, a doting nanny, and four doting grandparents, for a total of seven smitten adults. My retirement was the result of growing frustration with my situation and the political environment in which I operated. It's no secret that the political life of Washington has become toxic, and that was true of trade and international economic policy as with other issues. The declining strength of the labor movement and reduction of staff devoted to these issues made it increasingly difficult to influence the political agenda. Despite the tremendous interest in international economic issues (the massive US trade deficit, workers' rights, multinational investment, outsourcing, environmental degradation . . . ) , there are fewer members of Congress today who are deeply engaged in these issues than twenty years ago. Changes in the UAW leadership and the reduction of staff in my department also had a depressing effect on my sense of worth and effectiveness. The work I was able to do with unions in other countries helped keep me inspired about the potential for unions to do great things, but there was less and less of that inspiration in the bulk of my US political work. Spending time with the Brazilian union that had been headed by Lula (now the former, widely respected president) was most satisfying; working with the German metalworkers union on the Daimler takeover of Chrysler and the French unions on organizing was challenging and fun. (I got to use my elementary school through high school French after years of being frustrated at not being able to have serious discussions with unions and activists in Mexico in Spanish.) I learned a tremendous amount about the way things get done in different countries, how much perceptions of worker-company-government relationships correspond to, or deviate from, what really goes on, and how much institutional political, economic, and social structures matter to improving living standards and limiting economic inequality. In all these areas, the situation in the US is terribly depressing, and I lost confidence in my ability to have a positive impact on making it better. Staying on the job was just making me more frustrated and cynical. Being retired has succeeded in eliminating the frustration, but the problem of cynicism has barely shrunk. Our family has been incredibly fortunate. Our kids are doing great and have jobs, and we have excellent retiree health insurance through the UAW as well as a nearly extinct defined benefit pension; Rachel still loves her work and, with a solo private practice, can mostly control her hours to slow down whenever she chooses; and there have been no major health problems. Our parents (except my father, who died at sixty-five) have made it into their nineties and have been generous with their time and wealth. Rachel and I are happily in love after thirty-six years of marriage and forty years of living together (hallelujah for Jordan K), and, while aging has taken a bit of a toll, we're in good health and enjoy our weekly yoga class. If only the right-wing shift in US politics were reversed and the lessons of the Great Depression could be effectively applied to the Great Recession, there would be hardly any grounds for complaining.

— 50th — (2022) Joseph Biden

Looking back on my years at Harvard and Radcliffe from this surprisingly distant position, there is very little related to academics that is salient. I decided on a job/activism path that I followed and I found a love and life partner to create and share the years that followed graduation. After two years living unhappily in all-male dorms, I was blessed to live for two years at the Jordan coops at Radcliffe. The healthy living environment, the wonderful people (including Rachel), the home-cooked food, the great dancing parties got me through the challenges I faced in figuring out how to spend my life.

The many anti-war, anti-capitalism demonstrations I participated in, the ubiquitous discussions about political goals and strategies had a profound effect on how I saw my place in the world. But just like the way I interacted with my courses, I never took a leadership role or became deeply involved in one or more specific political groups. I was sure I wasn’t confident enough to identify with a specific academic discipline or political group. But I did, sometime maybe sophomore year, decide that workers, and the interests of workers, were the foundation of real progress toward “justice” for the vast majority of people. That was an intuitive decision that felt right and gave me some direction and even a bit of focus. It was not entirely different from Rachel’s decision senior year to go to medical school; it just seemed the right thing to do.

I spent my career of 30 years in the labor movement determined to do my work in cooperation and coordination with others, which was extremely satisfying, but not to be anyone’s “boss.” I was successful for almost all of those years. Another goal was to avoid having a job that would require me to be part of a team that would require advocating views that were not my own, even if they were the result of a fair debate over the appropriate policy. As a result, I was not interested in working in a government policy job, in which I would certainly lose many internal debates. I was happy fighting for the interests of the union’s workers, to push public policies as close as possible toward meeting their needs.

In recent years, much of my time has been spent as a caregiver. My mother lived In our house for a bit more than three years; a year after she moved to my brother’s house, Rachel’s parents moved in. Though her dad lived only a short time after the move, her mother was with us for more than six years, and I was in charge of provisions, keeping track of her helpers as well as cooking (including making the blintzes that she ate for lunch every day).

Looking after grandchildren has also been part of this role. Our daughter and her family live a half mile from our house, so we have regular before and after school responsibilities for her two girls and I provide additional support for busy parents. Our son and his family live only 8 miles away, and we have had regular times for looking after their two boys as well. It’s true that there is nothing more rewarding than spending time with grandkids, but it’s also true that it can be exhausting. The oldest is 12 and the youngest is now almost three, so the time for chasing after little ones is nearing an end. For several years, we’ve been sharing Shabbat dinner on Friday nights with Emily’s family and occasionally Louis’s, and I’ve been baking challah for the occasion. That has become a family ritual, along with brisket for Passover and meringues and a chocolate torte for holidays and special occasions. I’ve also been decorating grandkid birthday cakes (the cake itself is a basic Joy of Cooking recipe) with designs that are a bit more complicated than the ones I made for our children’s birthdays. My recent Atlas V, spewing fire and smoke, was as good as the images of Harry, Hermione and Ron a few years ago. I definitely enjoy making the desserts more than the meals, but meals have to be made anyway and the appreciation I get is very rewarding.

In recent years, since Rachel was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, I have been responsible for more of the household tasks and for helping to keep track of her needs and schedule. She’s doing very well and is incredibly active, but she’s focused on fewer priorities and I have picked up some of her lower-ranked tasks. When I retired, I thought I’d get involved with one or several political or charitable organizations in our community, but the family support activity has kept me plenty busy closer to home.

The past 50 years have been much happier and satisfying than I imagined in 1972. I have been lucky to have a wonderful, healthy family, including loving and generous parents and parents-in-law, work that was challenging and, I like to think, valuable as well as, appropriately for the UAW, providing a stable pension and “Cadillac” retiree health insurance, and I have been the beneficiary of the country’s reprehensible income inequality and white privilege. Harvard’s main contribution to this good fortune was making it possible for me to meet Rachel, to have a lifelong love, a joyful companion and a sharer of ideas, commitments and real family values. I couldn’t have been more fortunate.

A couple of years ago, our daughter-in-law asked us if the current political/social strife in the U.S. is scarier than the political struggles of the 1960s and 70s. I didn’t have a handy answer and I still don’t have a good one. I thought we were living in a revolutionary time back then (though I didn’t really understand what that meant) and joined the effort for fundamental change; as it turned out, the more successful political movement was the counter-revolution -- the attack on the New Deal, the Great Society and other modest economic and social reforms. That movement was energized by the demise of the Soviet Union and the conversion of China to state-run capitalism. Margaret Thatcher’s slogan, There Is No Alternative, became a relevant rallying cry for economic fundamentalism. The same issues that we organized around as students remain -- fighting racism, sexism, militarism, worker/human rights abuses, excessive corporate power and income inequality and sustaining the environment (among others), with a much more urgent current goal now of limiting climate change to a livable extent. But there is the additional issue of whether there is sufficient support for our political process as an adequate arena for addressing these fundamental issues, nationally or locally. I had worried about the potential for a demagogue to get elected president for more than 20 years before it happened, and I worry that it could happen again, only with a smarter, more charismatic person with a more focused agenda. Certainly, the possibility of dying in an indefensible war was far scarier for me as an individual 50 years ago, though many Americans died in that war and have died in wars fought by the U.S. since, but, is the future of the country today more precarious than it was with Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover in charge? I think so.