You Say You Want a Revolution: A Story of Information Age Politics by Reed
Hundt (Yale University Press, $25)
Early in Reed Hundt’s tenure as chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission, Vice President Al Gore called him to the White House for a chat.
>From day one, the Clinton appointee, who had gone to law school with the
president and high school with the vice president, had stepped on enough
toes for it to get back to the White House.
Gore proceeded to tell him a story about a dog-food salesman who created the
best product ever made. But the man went out of business. The problem? “The
dogs don’t like the dog food,” Gore said. Gore’s message: It doesn’t matter
how good your decisions are if the top dogs in power won’t accept them.
So begins Hundt’s tale of passing the 1996 Telecommunications Act. As FCC
chairman through the first term of the Clinton presidency, Hundt weathered
the 1994 Republican takeover of the House and Senate a time when Newt
Gingrich indirectly declared war on the FCC, among other branches of the
government. He also weathered such descriptions of himself in the press as
“The Curse of Yale Law School.”
But by the time Hundt stepped down, he saw his vision come to fruition
auctions of the wireless communications spectrum, federal requirements for
educational television and new rulings that encouraged competition among the
telephone and cable industries, which helped in no small part to fuel the
Internet boom.
>From Hundt’s description in his new book, You Say You Want a Revolution, he
was in for a rude shock on his first day at work at the FCC. The
refrigerator emitted noxious odors and the walls were covered in textiles
that, according to Hundt, needed to be mowed. But the stories he tells from
his days inside those walls are lively and instructional, especially for the
high-tech community. If those who don’t understand history are doomed to
repeat it, then Hundt’s book is a good read for those who want to ensure
technology continues on an upward climb.
When Hundt writes about himself, he’s a one-man band of self-depreciation.
At first it’s humorous to see him bumbling his way through lunches with
Washington’s power elite and making one bad political move after another. At
one point he remarks during a lunch at the Washington Post that the cable
industry should be “grateful” he demanded rate reductions.
But while he’s clear on his own version of events, his grasp of technology
is more muddled. He fawns over Bill Gates, crediting him with creating the
Microsoft operating system when Gates in fact bought the original MS-DOS
from a Seattle programmer.
Other famous characters take center stage as well. We meet Ted Turner, who
sarcastically praises Hundt for killing Turner’s plans to donate part of his
fortune to charity. And we cringe under Mike Ovitz’s predatory stare. But
eventually these meetings begin to sound cliche, such as when George Lucas
apparently startled at an awards show when Hundt asks him to lobby for
wiring classrooms to the Internet replies Yoda-like, “Help can I? Let me
know.”
The book also jumps around. Although organized as a diary, it can be
difficult to follow. In some places, even Hundt appears confused, as he
often repeats himself. While the chronological style may be true to the
timing of events, for the layman it can make for glazed eyes. And it is the
average reader who should read Hundt’s book, not only the high-tech
entrepreneur who might learn from whence his current opportunities sprang.
Toward the end of his job, Hundt learns a crucial lesson. A Republican
governor gloats about his use of convicts in wiring classrooms. “But in my
new nonglib era,” writes Hundt, “I let the moment pass.” In politics, he
finally learns that while journalists may appreciate a razor-edge comment,
it always comes back to bite you.
You Say You Want a Revolution:A Story of Information Age Politics
by Reed E. Hundt
List Price: $25.00
Amazon.com Price: $17.50
Hardcover – 256 pages (March 17, 2000)
Yale Univ Pr; ISBN: 0300083645;
Dimensions (in inches): 0.99 x 9.58 x 6.46
Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.
By Lauren Barack
