U.S. Senator Tom Carper’s journey to becoming one of Delaware’s most iconic politicians started on a hot afternoon in 1976, lying on a beach towel on Dewey Beach and listening to the radio when he caught a broadcast of the Democratic State Convention - no one was nominated to serve as state treasurer. When he returned to work on Monday, he quit his job to run and took out $5,000 in personal loans to fund the new venture.
Carper, who first became a Delawarean in his early 20s, won that race - and many more since then, serving Delawareans as their governor, congressman and U.S. Senator. Carper will soon retire after 40 years in politics. He took the time to talk with the Delaware Business Times about his legacy, Delaware politics and working with President Joe Biden. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
One of the things that struck me was that you have many nicknames and among them is “the winningest politician in state history.” You have the most election wins since you first started 1977, across many offices like Treasurer, Congressman, Governor and U.S. Senator. What does it mean to you to be elected to serve so many times?
The first thought is that the people of Delaware are forgiving. I’m an imperfect leader at best. Growing up in a coal mining town in West Virginia, all my uncles served in World War II. One was killed in a kamikaze attack on his aircraft carrier at the age of 19. We were raised with the idea that we have a responsibility to serve.
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U.S. Senator Tom Carper served between 1968 and 1973 naval flight officer in the U.S. Navy. | PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF U.S. SEN. TOM CARPER[/caption]
My father worked as a claims adjuster and my mother worked at a Five and Dime. And I remember, one day Dad came home for supper and he looked at my sister and me and told us he wanted us to go to college. And he expected us to figure out how to pay for it… [while I was working part-time jobs]. I heard about Navy ROTC scholarships to pay for books and college tuition. And I won it. That got me on aircraft carriers and in flying lessons. I went on to be a naval flight officer and a month after I graduated, I joined my squadron to go on three tours in Southeast Asia. I wasn’t a fan of the Vietnam War, but it was my job.
Why make your legacy in Delaware?
When I was overseas, I got copies of “Time” and “Newsweek” and both talked about the 1972 presidential election and congressional elections. They also featured an election in Delaware where a young whippersnapper of 29 [now-President Joe Biden] upset the U.S. Senate race by beating Caleb Boggs, who was an icon. I was looking at business schools at the time, and I decided to go to Delaware and check it out. I fell in love with it.
I had been in Delaware, like, not even a month, and I met someone who was volunteering on a congressional campaign [for James Soles]. She found out I was interested in politics and she talked me into joining the campaign. When the treasurer left, Jim said, “Tom’s an MBA, he can do it.” That led to an invite to come to his house to listen to Joe Biden talk about his upset victory and what the lessons were. I hadn’t been in Delaware for six months at the time.
My parents couldn’t believe it when I said I was moving to Delaware. I just said I had a feeling that this is who I should be.
In Delaware, the House of Representatives was held by Republicans for 25 years, until 2008. As a Democrat who became governor in the 1990s, I’m sure that was an upset. How have you seen the political landscape change here?
At the time, the du Pont family had played an enormous role in the state government, and Pete du Pont was our congressman. So, when Jim Soles was running, I was trying to help him defeat Pete du Pont. It’s a small state and you get to know people. Along the way, I met Pete and every now and then, we’d have conversations.
I think at that time, the Democratic Party was not focused on economic development, job creation, job preservation. And businesses don’t like unpredictability - they don’t want politicians to be lap dogs, but they want to have a real dialogue with decision makers. They want common sense regulations. I thought the party should embrace that.
Especially in northern Delaware, the party [leadership] was seen as corrupt [around the 1980s] and we had to clean it up and start over again with new leadership, and we centered it. We just made sure we’re honest and open about what we’re doing.
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Tom Carper's longevity in Delaware politics means that he either saw or had a change in shaping many economic driving projects and policies in the state. | PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF U.S. SEN TOM CARPER[/caption]
Many have pointed to you as the start of a dynasty of centrist Democrats in Delaware. Where do you see yourself in Delaware’s political history?
I was the right person at the right time - and had the good fortune of meeting Jim Souls, being part of his team and making friends among all those volunteers. I think, maybe, it’s about having the right values. I think people were just fed up at the time. They wanted to be proud to be Democrats. There were folks who were reluctant to run as Democrats because of the reputation.
At this moment in Delaware politics, we’re seeing more progressive policies from Democrats. How have you seen the state’s political identity evolve?
I had my hands full years ago when we had to build the party to what we came to, and the Republicans forever had the DuPont brand name to help them just dominate politics in Delaware. So at 29, that's why I got to run for treasurer - because no one else wanted it.
In a sense, the shoe is on the other foot right now, because Democrats have been in the driver’s seat in many ways and Republicans are having a hard time finding candidates. But every dog has its day, and when the party may not be in the dominant position forever if they rest on their laurels. That’s why I always tried to govern from the middle. I tried to work across the aisle. One of my sayings, and I’ve said it a million times in my life, is “bipartisan solutions are lasting solutions.”
Speaking of getting things done: there’s many accomplishments you can point to in your career in Delaware. There’s bringing AstraZeneca to Delaware, preventing the closure of the General Motors plant for a time, as well as the Wilmington Riverfront. Looking back, is there anything you would say is your biggest achievement?
I don't know if it's a big achievement, but Albert Einstein used to say, "in adversity lies opportunity." That has been my defining value. When I missed out to go to the Air Force Academy, but I heard about the ROTC scholarship and ended up going on three tours in Southeast Asia - and that was not a popular war. Later on, I was privileged to lead bipartisan congressional delegation back to Vietnam at the behest of President George H.W. Bush to help normalize relations.
My whole life, I’ve looked at adversity and tried to find the opportunity. If you look at the closure of the Chrysler plant - 4,000 jobs and I worked for years to keep that plant alive- that’s a prime example. I went to every auto show possible and I made sure I knew the leadership of Chrysler and [General Motors], so if anything was at risk, I'd be on a personal basis with these people. Right at the height of the Great Recession, GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy. [Former UD President] Pat Harker turned to me and said he was thinking of buying it. So I made the call to Chrysler, explaining the concept for a science and technology campus.
Chrysler was in bad financial shape and they tried to drive a hard bargain. I said, "Look, for years I tried to help you. The University of Delaware is not going to compete with you. They're going to do something new and different and I think it's exciting. For God's sake, just give me the time to talk it through and be reasonable." And they worked it out. UD was satisfied. Chrysler was satisfied.
One of the saddest days of my tenure was to be at the plant when the bulldozers came in. But I was able to have a call with the Chrysler CEO and get a reasonable negotiation started.
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During his time on Capitol Hill, U.S. Tom Carper eventually worked his way to the become the Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee/ | PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF U.S. SEN. TOM CARPER[/caption]
Let’s look at your work on the federal stage, particularly in working to get the Inflation Reduction Act through, which approved $1.6 trillion in tax credits and appropriations for infrastructure, tech and clean energy projects. What can you tell me about your role in that?
Biden had called me on the phone after he’d been president for a week and told me to come to the Oval Office with some senior Democrats and Republicans from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, [which I chair]. He said, “I want us to actually pass a bipartisan bill on infrastructure, not within years, but months.” I thought, this is great, this is exactly what we should be doing.
A lot of the clean energy provisions in the IRA came through my committee. I’ve always thought the best possible way to address climate change was through economic opportunity and there’s a role for the government to play in research and development in hydrogen to reduce diesel emissions and bringing down prices for electric vehicles. We have great threats to the environment and our planet. How do we address that and find the opportunity?
That and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law were two huge things I’ll never forget. We’d been in session all night on the IRA, offering amendments and trying to get some semblance of what it was, and when the Vice President [Kamala Harris] came in to cast a tie-breaking vote, the place just went crazy. In all the pandemonium, I walked up to the vice president and told her “your vote made this happen.” She said, “Senator Carper, you made this happen.”
As you look back, how would you grade yourself on the job you’ve done for Delaware?
I've made plenty of mistakes and I've learned from my mistakes. I think my success comes from four things: my family and the right values, sharing the credit with the people around me on my team and others in the Biden administration and the Senate and the House. You also have to surround yourself with people smarter than you. I also just worked really hard.
One of the things I and [my wife] Martha have seen since I made the announcement was that people have been so supportive. I can't tell you how many times, I lost count, how many times people have thanked me for my service. It's unbelievable. And when [Biden] was making the choice [to not run for re-election], that was something I shared with him.
What are you going to do with your retirement?
I think we'll have some opportunities to continue to serve. I'll just want to find other ways to make a difference with my life. And so I think the greatest source of joy in our life is as in serving comes from serving others.
