What has led to the erosion of civic engagement and volunteerism over the course of the past generation? This week Eric J. Tanenblatt ’87 joins host Roger Ream to discuss how his TFAS experience led to him to pursue a career in government and public service, and the memorable moments he experienced as a result (coordinating the 2004 G8 Economic Summit, serving in the George H. W. Bush administration and serving as chief of staff to former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue). Tanenblatt also emphasizes the importance of civic engagement and volunteerism and gives his thoughts on effective leadership.
Eric is the global chair of public policy and regulation at Dentons Law Firm. For over three decades, he has worked at the highest levels of federal and state government, including serving in three presidential administrations. He is also an alumnus of The Fund for American Studies’ class of 1987 and was recently presented the TFAS 2024 Alumni Achievement Award at this year’s 34th Annual Scholarship Dinner.
Episode Transcript
The transcript below is lightly edited for clarity.
Roger Ream [00:00:02] Welcome to the Liberty + Leadership Podcast, a conversation with TFAS alumni, faculty and friends who are making an impact today. I’m your host, Roger Ream. Today I’m excited to welcome Eric J. Tanenblatt to the Liberty and Leadership Podcast. Eric is the Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation at Dentons Law Firm for over three decades. He has worked at the highest levels of federal and state government, including serving in three presidential administrations. Eric’s commitment to civic engagement includes working with the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Conference for Service and Volunteerism. He is the founder of “Hands on Georgia” and has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 100 most influential persons and was one of the state’s 40 under 40 rising stars. I’m pleased to share that Eric is an alumnus of The Fund for American Studies, class of 1987 and over the years has maintained a supportive relationship with us. He serves on our Board of Trustees and led our 50th anniversary campaign. A man who certainly leads by example, Eric models the many qualities that TFAS encourages its students to emulate. Because of this, TFAS presented its 2024 Alumni Achievement Award to Eric at this year’s 34th Annual Scholarship Dinner. Eric, welcome and thank you for joining me.
Eric Tanenblatt [00:01:40] I’m glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
Roger Ream [00:01:43] If I could start, close to the beginning, which is 1987, when you attended our Economics and Public Policy track, which was at that time the Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems. Can you tell me how you first heard about our program while a student at Emory University?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:02:01] Yeah, it’s hard to believe that was over 35 years ago, but I was looking to do something different during the summer of my junior year, so I guess it was in the fall of my junior year, I started to explore what opportunities were out there, and I went into the Emory “Career Planning and Placement Center” and they gave me a book and it was filled with various programs and opportunities, and I started perusing the book and saw the brochure for TFAS and for the Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems, was intrigued, didn’t tell my parents or anyone, and I just applied and got in. That’s how it happened.
Roger Ream [00:02:49] They probably don’t have that book anymore, but I’m sure they’ve got a lot of online research.
Eric Tanenblatt [00:02:53] That’s right.
Roger Ream [00:02:54] So, hopefully we’re in there. Share some memorable experiences from that summer in 1987 when you spent it in Washington, D.C., with us.
Eric Tanenblatt [00:03:02] Well, it was a life changing experience for me because it really set me on a path that I ultimately pursued from a career standpoint, to pursue a career in government policy and politics. I didn’t know what to expect when I got to Washington. I’d always been involved in student government and was always intrigued by government and politics, but never really worked in or around government and politics, and being in Washington, D.C., it was all around me. And through the TFAS program, we had these unique opportunities to see things that most people don’t get to see. I remember going to the House floor and Congressman Newt Gingrich, this is before he was in leadership, spoke to us on the floor of the House. Just being in the House chambers alone was pretty high. We were all pretty much in awe. I remember going to a lunch that we were all invited to at the Washington Hilton and Ronald Reagan spoke, and for a young kid to see the president of the United States, especially Ronald Reagan, and at the Washington Hilton, which has historic significance with regards to Ronald Reagan. I remember when he walked out, he walked right by our table, and it was an aha moment for me.
Roger Ream [00:04:39] Yeah, that’s really neat. It’s still an aha moment when students happen to see even the presidential motorcade go by or something like that. In what sense did the fast experience influence your career trajectory?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:04:54] Well, after that summer, I had decided that I really thought that this was a path that I wanted to pursue, and it was the fall of 1987. So, that was the start of the 1988 presidential election. And so, I decided that during my senior year, I was going to get involved in a presidential election, and I researched all the candidates that were running. And the candidate that I saw was most aligned with where I was George H.W. Bush, who at the time was the vice president. So, I contacted his campaign leadership in Georgia, and I said, I want to volunteer on the campaign, and they got me involved. The vice president did his southeastern announcement in Atlanta, and I helped get a bunch of Emory students to volunteer and help with that event. And then they gave me another task of organizing organizations for the vice president on college campuses throughout Georgia, and because of my summer at TFAS, I had enough credits to graduate after my first semester. So, the Bush campaign asked me if I wanted a full-time job that January prior to, I guess, we had a Super Tuesday primary in March. And so, I started organizing telephone banks for the campaign, and then about a month later, they sent me out in the field, and I was assigned a congressional district and got involved in the presidential race. Ultimately, when President Bush won, I was invited to serve in his administration. And so, it all sort of took off from there, and it started that summer of 1987.
Roger Ream [00:06:53] Well, it’s interesting. You mentioned that the credits you got at the TFAS program helped you graduate early, and that sounds like it made a big difference, enabling you to get to work in the in the primary and in the campaign. You, of course, took the economics and government classes we offer. In any way to those courses or your t fast participation influence or provide any help to you and your, now, jobs with three presidents, a U.S. senator, the Governor of Georgia. How, and if in any way did this help prepare you for those career opportunities?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:07:30] Absolutely. Because you’re in Washington for the summer and it’s an intense period, you’re doing so much in six weeks, and it was unlike my experience at Emory during the semesters I was there because this was really an intense focus on comparative political and economic systems. We were constantly debating issues, talking about issues, and it exposed me to things in a way that I wasn’t exposed to in my political science classes at Emory, and that really helped me as I entered my career. My first job in the Bush administration was at the Department of Health and Human Services and their legislative affairs, and because of the experiences I had over the summer at TFAS and friends that worked on Capitol Hill, I had some knowledge of the legislative process. And then I went to the Peace Corps and worked under the director of the Peace Corps, doing congressional and intergovernmental affairs, but the Peace Corps is an agency that sends Americans overseas. So, that international exposure, while it was just over the summer, was definitely helpful. I was working at the Peace Corps during the Gulf War. And so, that was interesting, too, because you were dealing with a lot of international challenges. President Bush built a strong alliance. A lot of the allies that were part of that alliance were countries we talked about, during the summer of 1987. So, all of that was very helpful, and it’s been helpful throughout my career.
Roger Ream [00:09:20] Well, now, in 2004, you had the opportunity to coordinate and participate in the G-8 economic summit. You’ve mentioned that over your shoulder is a picture that shows the participants in the summit. Tell me what that was like, and that was in Georgia, was it in Sea Island?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:09:39] It was in Sea Island, Georgia. That was really meaningful for a number of reasons. First of all, in 2000, I played a leadership role in then Governor Bush, then President George W. Bush’s campaign in Georgia. And so, the G8 summit in 2004 was hosted by President Bush, but I was also the chief of staff to Sonny Perdue, who was the first Republican governor in Georgia since Reconstruction. And while I was the chief of staff to the governor, we really made our case as to why President Bush should select Sea Island to host the G8 economic summit. So, I was part of the lobbying team, lobbying the White House to select Georgia. And then once it was selected, Governor Perdue asked me to serve as the state coordinator. So, I worked with the federal government, the State Department, and the White House on all of the preparations leading up to the actual summit and was actually down on Sea Island during the summit. I mean, that is a unique experience when you have, at the time, the eight world leaders plus the host of the summit gets to invite other world leaders if he chooses to the summit. And so, there were Middle Eastern leaders, African leaders, and they all converged on Georgia. I remember one of the roles that Governor Perdue played, along with Senator Saxby Chambliss, who was our United States senator, was to greet the world leaders when they landed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. So, we had all the world leaders. We had arrival ceremonies, and they were helicoptered to Sea Island. So, it was definitely a memorable experience. Every time I go down to Sea Island, they have a room that’s dedicated to the G8 summit. So, I go in there and I see all the memorabilia from the summit. So, it was quite a memorable experience, and it was just really honored to have been part of it.
Roger Ream [00:11:52] Now we have several of our TFAS alumni who are in the governor’s office today, including the chief of staff to the governor of Georgia. You were a chief of staff to a governor. What’s that like?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:12:06] It’s an important job. It’s probably the most difficult job I ever had. For me, it was somewhat unique because, as I mentioned, Sonny Perdue was the first Republican governor in 135 years. So, you have one party dominance for that long of a period of time, and then a new party comes in. You’re transitioning all of state government. And so, in addition to dealing with that, we also had divided government. We had a Democratically controlled house. Governor Perdue, because of his previous service in the state Senate, was able to get four of his former Democratic colleagues to switch parties. So, the Republicans took control of the state Senate. An issue that was one of several in that gubernatorial race was the previous changing of the state flag by the previous governor. That created some angst among a lot of Georgians for not feeling like they had a say in it. So, we also had to deal with the lingering issues surrounding the flag, which ultimately led to the changing of the flag to the current Georgia flag. So, the combination of the transition of government, divided government, the flag issue, and I should probably also mention we inherited a $1.65 billion budget deficit. So, that one year I was his chief of staff, felt like a dog year, felt like seven years, but while it was probably the wildest, most difficult, it was probably the most rewarding job that I’ve ever had.
Roger Ream [00:13:43] Well, Georgia seemed to play an outsized role in the last presidential election. I imagine you’re being inundated right now with commercials on television and all sorts of political activity leading up to our election in November. In fact, I know it for a fact because my daughter lives in Cumming, Georgia, and she says: “I wish we weren’t a swing state, because of all the all the political advertising.” Do you expect that to be a smooth election this time around? Or if it’s close, there’ll be the usual controversy about the procedures or something?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:14:21] I hope it’s a smooth election. I mean, everything’s in place for it to be a smooth election. In 2020, it was also a smooth election. There were challenges by all of those who were investigated and found that there was no credibility to the challenges, and the state legislature actually has taken action over the last four years to really make the elections even more bulletproof. Look, elections were never completely perfect, but I do believe that the state has done a very effective job. I’m sure that they’ll be, as with every election, there’s going to be some questions raised. I hope there’s not an organized effort, if the outcome isn’t the way someone would like it to be. But it’s been interesting in Georgia because when I first got involved 35 plus years ago, Georgia had elected Republicans in the presidential race. In over the last 30 years, we’ve been more of a right leaning state, especially at the federal level. Bill Clinton did defeat George Bush in 1992, but that was really because of Ross Perot. But every other presidential election from George Bush, George W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney, they all carried the state, and it wasn’t until 2020 that Joe Biden carried Georgia. Unfortunately, because of some of the challenges and some people being so focused on the outcome of the November 2020 election, it’s suppressed the vote in the runoff that we had in January 2021, and Republicans lost two Senate seats. And now with two Democratic senators, who have their own state organizations, one of whom Senator Warnock, got reelected two years ago, and the demographics in Georgia have changed. It’s become much more purple, and you could see from the polls that, more recent polls that were tie and the two candidates were tied in the state. So, I think it’s going to be a very close election and it’s going to all get down to who can turn out their voters.
Roger Ream [00:16:53] Well, shifting a little to your current position at Dentons, with the world’s largest law firm as the Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation. Can you talk about what that job involves?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:17:06] Sure. I mean, I lead a practice group of lawyers and professionals that really focus on the intersection of business, government and law, and they assist companies and organizations that have issues with the government. We do that at all levels of government. So, we have a large team in Washington, D.C., the focus is on the federal government. We have people across the country that focus on state government. We also do work at the local level with large municipalities. We have an attorneys general practice that works with state attorneys general across the country, and we have a public affairs practice that really looks at communications because in the public policy world, one thing that I’ve seen over the last three decades that has changed is that there’s a lot more involvement on the part of the media, grassroots coalition building. So, we have a team of people in our group that focuses on that, and that’s in the U.S. And then every country is different in terms of public policy and the role that outside consultants or law firms play. And so, our firm has set up with different regions. So, in each region there’s a leader. And so, as the Global Chair, I coordinate all the leaders around the globe in my global capacity. So, I have a global role, but my primary role is the U.S., the head of the U.S. practice.
Roger Ream [00:18:43] Now, you’ve written about autonomous vehicles over the past several years and have become somewhat of an expert in the legal aspects of that technology. From everything I’ve read, the use of technology and autonomous vehicles will dramatically reduce the number of car accidents. But there’s a thorny issue involving insurance and liability issues. Do you expect that that will somehow be worked out in a way that we can expect autonomous vehicles to flourish in the future?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:19:19] I do. It’ll be a little bit ugly at first, working all of this out. But you raise a really good point about safety. Right now, 85 to 90% of accidents that occur is because of human error, and one of the things that autonomous vehicles will do, it’ll take away that human error. And so, I do think that safety will improve. Now, you’ll have a period of time where you’re going to have people driving cars in these autonomous vehicles. I’m sure that there will be accidents, and I’m sure the individuals that may be responsible will blame the machines, as opposed to taking responsibility for it. There’s a lot that has occurred in the last seven years in the autonomous vehicle space. The states typically have responsibility for regulating the drivers in the cars. Regulations come from the federal government. The problem with autonomous vehicles or the challenge, I should say, is that cars become drivers. So, a lot of this is being regulated at the state level. The federal government has been late to the party. That has changed in the last several years. There have been efforts, some fits and starts in trying to get Congress to pass laws to put a legislative framework together. I think the DOT is playing a much bigger role, the U.S. DOT in in regulating autonomous vehicles, but we still have a way to go. Look, it’s fear of the unknown. I think the testing that’s taking place, there’s a lot of municipalities right now where you’re seeing robot taxis that are on the road. I think all of that stuff is good because the more people can experience it, ride in an autonomous shuttle, ride in a robot taxi will make it a lot easier as society moves to autonomous passenger vehicles. One last thing, because as you can tell, we can have a whole podcast on this topic, but I do think that younger people tend to not want cars these days. They want it used, whether it’s public transportation, Uber or ridesharing and autonomous vehicles, I think will be part of that ecosystem that you’re going to see younger people gravitate to. I think at some point, the Ubers of today will be autonomous fleet vehicles that will just be traveling around cities, circulating, picking people up, dropping them off. And electric vehicles have a lot longer shelf life or can last a whole lot longer than a combustible engine vehicle.
Roger Ream [00:22:19] Are there some countries in the world that are further along in adopting that technology?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:22:24] Sure. You’re starting to see China. There are some places in Europe that have been at the forefront. The U.K. has been doing testing. I think that you see it in Australia and Singapore. Look, the U.S. is still a leader in technology, and you see a lot of activity in the United States. I think we’ll be at the forefront, we just got to work through some of the regulatory hurdles. Also, the United States, unlike some of other countries, we tend to be a more litigious society. And because you’re dealing with liability issues, as you mentioned, I think that may slow us down a little bit, but I think it’ll ultimately get worked out.
Roger Ream [00:23:17] Well, that’s your job there, Eric, to solve those problems along with your colleagues in the legal profession. Tell me about your work, I know in the Buckhead community, you’re a leader there and I think I’ve seen you quoted in news stories about things in Buckhead. I saw recently a report, which I think you posted, about the drop in the crime rate. Tell us more about what you do in Buckhead as a leader there.
Eric Tanenblatt [00:23:42] Yeah. So, Buckhead is part of the city of Atlanta in it’s the northern part of the city, and it’s a unique area and it’s a mix of residential, commercial and there’s a lot of tourists’ hotels. I’m a member of an organization called the Buckhead Coalition. I actually am finishing my two-year term as chair, and we focus on improving the quality of life for businesses, residents and visitors in the Buckhead area. When I took over as chairman and this, I think, gets to your point about crime, coming out of Covid as most metropolitan cities across the country, there was a spike in crime and Atlanta was not immune to that. And so, all across the city of Atlanta, crime spiked, including Buckhead, and it actually birthed the movement by some that has now, fortunately has gone away, but wanting to peel Buckhead, take Buckhead out of the city of Atlanta and turn it into its own city, which I think would be a big mistake. The city of Atlanta elected a new mayor, Andre Dickens, who has done a really tremendous job in when he came into office. One of the top priorities for him was to bring down the crime rate throughout the city, but in particular in Atlanta. Buckhead historically has always had the lowest crime rate in the city of Atlanta, and we knew that even though there was a spike because of Covid, we can get those numbers back down. Working with the police department, police chief, the mayor and leaders in the city council and working with the state as well, we were able to do that. And now Buckhead, again, leads the city of Atlanta and the drop in crime. The whole city has seen a drop in crime, and Buckhead is once again flourishing, and it is a great place to live, work and raise a family. So, anyone watching this podcast, I invite you to come to Buckhead.
Roger Ream [00:25:57] It is a beautiful part of Atlanta. You’ve served in important roles in promoting philanthropy, voluntary service, public service, both at the national level as well in Atlanta, as I mentioned in my introduction, and your service in Buckhead is one aspect of that. It seems to me that one trend that’s been a little disturbing over the last maybe 20 to 30 years is that people more regularly turn to government when there’s a problem in a community. Let’s go to Washington, D.C., especially to try to solve that. Many of the solutions can be found at home through citizens working voluntarily in their communities to solve those problems. Can you talk some about the work you’ve done in this area, both in your service nationally as well as whether you think this trend to move everything to Washington to be solved can be slowed down or stopped?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:27:01] I’m glad you raised that because it’s actually, I don’t want to say a crisis, but there’s actual data that shows that volunteerism in general is on the decline, and that’s unfortunate. I have always had a passion for civic engagement. I think it’s part of our duty as citizens, as Americans, going back to when the country was founded and neighbors help neighbors, whether it is raising a barn or working in faith-based organizations, helping your neighbor. And so, I have been engaged in civic activity, even going back to when I was a little kid. And more recently, I had the honor of being appointed by President Bush to serve on the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which is the largest grantmaking organization in the federal government for the AmeriCorps program. To your point about government, AmeriCorps is actually a unique program. Most people don’t realize it because it requires it’s a public private partnership. So, the federal government just provides some of the funding, but it has to be matched at the state and local level. So, it’s actually a 17 to 1 return on investment for the federal government. And so, I think there’s a role that government can play to be a catalyst for programs like AmeriCorps, but I do think that there’s more that individual citizens can do, nonprofits can do, that corporations can do working with local nonprofits. So, there were not so dependent on government. I now sit on the board of Points of Light. That was something that was founded by President George H.W. Bush, which is really interesting because it comes full circle because, as I mentioned earlier, that was the first person I worked for out of college, was the Bush administration. And he saw that everyone can be a point of light. Everyone can do something to help their community. I really believe that that’s it’s an obligation that all of us need to take seriously, and I’m hoping that we can change the trend in volunteerism and more people will get involved in helping their community.
Roger Ream [00:29:37] At this year’s at our Annual Scholarship Dinner, you are awarded our TFAS Alumni Achievement Award, and it’s an alumni-initiated process that puts forward the names of our alumni. We were so pleased to give it to you this summer, Eric. Could you talk a little bit to our alumni and current students about what it means to be an effective, courageous leader and what kind of leadership lessons you might offer?
Eric Tanenblatt [00:30:01] Well, first, I want to thank TFAS and those that selected me. That was a real honor because as I hope to have demonstrated in our conversation, TFAS was really influential in my life and the career that I pursued and what I do every day. So, to be acknowledged by the organization was really meaningful. Look, I have been very fortunate throughout my career to have had tremendous mentors and to students and future students, I hope that you have are afforded the same opportunity. I was taught at a very early on in my career by probably the person that was the most influential, was the late U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell, who I started working for him when he was director of the Peace Corps and then worked for him in the United States Senate. And one of the things he taught me was that it’s really important to listen and that while you may not always agree with someone, you will likely learn something from listening. I think that was something that has always stayed with me, and that’s something that I have used throughout my whole career and in positions of leadership, because I think it’s easy to lead people when you understand the people that you’re leading and the people that you’re leading feel respected. One way that people feel respected is to have someone listen to them. One of the other expressions or things he used to say a lot is that the competition of ideas is a good thing, that when you have a competition of ideas, the best ideas bubble up to the top. And it’s unfortunate that we’re living in a time that tends to be very divisive. People tend to be in their own corner, listen to what they want to hear, and we’re not doing a lot of listening. I think we as a nation can do a whole lot better if we were doing a lot more listening. So, I guess that would be what I would want to convey to current students and others that are listening.
Roger Ream [00:32:34] Well, that’s excellent. I agree wholeheartedly. At our orientation program each summer for students, I emphasize the importance of listening, that you do learn more from listening than just by talking. I pick this up somewhere that I like to say to them: “God endowed us with two years and one mouth and expects us to use them proportionally.” It’s something I emphasize, too, in our fundraising team at TFAS, the importance of listening, because when you go visit with a supporter, we want to hear what they think, what kinds of things they are trying to accomplish, and that’s the way in any sales position, whether it’s fundraising or selling a product, you want to listen to your customer to learn what it is they’re trying to accomplish. Well, Eric, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I know you keep a very busy schedule and you’re often not only in Washington, D.C., but probably traveling the globe on Denton’s business and other work you’re doing. We’re proud to call you a TFAS alum. Thank you for your service on our Board of Trustees as well. It’s very valuable there, and I appreciate you being with me this morning.
Eric Tanenblatt [00:33:46] Well, thank you. I’ll always have time for TFAS.
Roger Ream [00:33:49] Thank you for listening to the Liberty + Leadership Podcast. If you have a comment or question, please drop us an email at podcast@TFAS.org and be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app and leave a five-star review. Liberty + Leadership is produced at Podville Media. I’m your host, Roger Ream, and until next time, show courage in things large and small.
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TFAS has reached more than 49,000 students and professionals through academic programs, fellowships and seminars. Representing more than 140 countries, TFAS alumni are courageous leaders throughout the world forging careers in politics, government, public policy, business, philanthropy, law and the media.
Liberty + Leadership is a conversation with TFAS alumni, faculty and friends who are making a real impact. Hosted by TFAS President Roger Ream ’76, the podcast covers guests’ experiences, career stories and leadership journeys.
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