Adults Back In Charge

[Editor’s Note:  Our friend, Dr. Scott Sturman, passed along this profile of the incoming Secretary of State nominee.  Interesting reading from someone close to the subject.  Edited for space.  -Bud Elliott]

I met Steve in 2010 in Nepal while hiking in the Annapurna region.  He graduated from the US Naval Academy, received an MBA from Wharton, and after serving his active duty commitment in nuclear submarines, spent a career at Exxon Mobile (EM).  I recently asked him if he met the Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson, during his tenure at the company.   -Dr. Scott Sturman

Dear Scott,   

I thought I would answer your query about Rex Tillerson.

As you are well aware, after every presidential election, one or two cabinet appointments are selected to be the scapegoats for the opposition during the confirmation hearings. Tillerson will be that person.  He will be unconscionably grilled and abused. They are already lining up on both sides to go after him.  The very conservative right is opposed because EM has acknowledged climate change (10 years ago but this does not change the left’s attack on EM); while he was President of the Boy Scouts they allowed gay Boy Scouts to join; he has supported LBGT rights and he is pro-choice.  On the left he is CEO of EM and he is from Texas, obviously that makes him the devil incarnate.

I just saw that they are bringing up that he is president of a joint Russian/EM company incorporated in that “renowned tax haven” of the Bahamas. As everyone knows, EM had a JV with a Russian company (the press incorrectly says that the Russian company was owned by Putin which is totally wrong) that EM had to walk away from due to Obama’s sanctions against Russia.  JV’s have to be incorporated somewhere, and Russia is not the place for that.  You can only imagine the legal implications and exposure of incorporating in Russia.  And, of course, incorporating in the US with all our corporate taxes ( as you know the US is currently one of the most heavily taxed nations for corporations in the developed world.) would not be acceptable to the Russian side. But the press wanted to make it look like a shady tax dodge.

And of course Tillerson being given that award in Russia, which by the way was also awarded to people like Van Cliburn, is “proof” of his close relationship with Putin.  What they don’t mention is that EM had great problems for a long time in Russia because Tilllerson was close to Khordokovsky.  Khordokovsky, as you may remember, fell afoul of Putin as he became a multi billionaire and started to challenge Putin politically.  Putin has no problem with people becoming very very wealthy as long as they did not become political. Khordokovsky went against this and it resulted in his being arrested and losing ownership of his company, just as we were signing a deal with him for us to buy a large part of his company.  It was well known that Tillerson and Khordokovsky were close, which complicated relations and negotiations in Russia for years.

I know Tillerson, but not that well personally. I met him maybe 6-7 times.  He was our contact EM Director for the Saudi project I was on. So he visited us in Riyadh. He also visited us in Germany. And then there were some general business meetings in Dallas at the time of the Exxon and Mobil merger. I was the leader of the Malaysian piece of the merger, since I was the Finance Director in Malaysia at that time and spent almost 9 months flying between, Fairfax, VA (Mobil’s HQ and the new HQ for the Downstream part of our business), Houston the new HQ for our Upstream business and Dallas the HQ for the corporation.

As one would expect of someone in his position, he is incredibly smart.  He has great integrity and honesty and is a man of principles, far more than anyone in Washington today. Of course that is a low hurdle, and I do not mean that as faint praise.  He is hard working, very logical, and structured in his approach to things.  He has great international experience and very good contacts around the world at the highest levels of government. He is very well spoken and is very thoughtful in how he addresses things, unlike his predecessor, Lee Raymond, who liked to poke a stick in his critic’s eyes. He is very loyal and patriotic. He is a great negotiator.  In sum he is everything you would want in a Sec. of State.  It is true that he has no elected Washington experience, but isn’t that what we want, or at least I do.  As you know, I hold all of Washington in the lowest possible esteem. He also is self effacing and low key.  There is an article I saw recently about a woman’s experience during jury duty in Dallas on which both she and Tillerson served.  I have copied it below.

Nine years ago, I showed up to the Denton County Courthouse for jury duty and got myself picked for the job. A young girl had accused her mom’s boyfriend of sexual assault and the case was being brought to trial. If you’ve ever served on a jury trial before, you understand the almost immediate, yet very temporary bond that ties 12 strangers together who are randomly chosen from each of their private lives in order to fulfill a very solemn public purpose.

One of our first tasks was to choose our jury foreman. Perhaps it was his business suit, his impressive stature, or his charisma, but almost everyone in that jury room suggested that this middle-aged man with greying hair was likely the most fit for the task.

“Thanks, but I decline. I’m not interested in the spot light,” he told us. I didn’t think anything of it.

I had just bought my first BlackBerry and used my breaks to catch up on all the emails I was missing from my week at the courthouse. I recall leaving the jury room on a break with this man and remarking how busy I was and how much work I had to do. He smiled as he sat and read the paper.

From the first day of jury selection, we all noticed another suited man always present in the courtroom. His presence was intriguing due to the ear piece in his ear. While grabbing lunch at Denton County Independent Hamburger on the square the 2nd day of the trial, we noticed this mysterious man dining with our fellow juror who declined the foreman spot. The intrigue grew and it was the talk of the jury – who were these men?

Finally, during a break in the jury room, one juror had the nerve to ask; “Who are you? And what do you do?”  Our fellow jury member was reading the paper again and pointed out an article with Exxon in the headlines.  “I work for them,” he said humbly. “There are a lot of people in this world who hate me for what I do, so they give me and my family guys like that to protect me.”

I immediately felt embarrassed for complaining to him the other day about how much work I had to do. It didn’t take long before a few internet searches revealed that I was serving on this jury with the CEO of Exxon Mobile, Rex Tillerson.

The trial concluded and it was time for the jury to deliberate. The story was heartbreaking and the facts of the case were clear enough to make the majority of the jury convinced of the guilt of this sexual offender of a little girl. But the defense did a good enough job to create a couple of hold-outs. As our deliberations came to a close, it appeared we might have a hung jury.

That’s when Mr. Tillerson began to speak. Humbly, delicately, and without an ounce of condescension toward those who disagreed, he began walking us all through the details of the case. I even recall being moved by his thorough explanation about the nature of doubt and the standards set forth by our justice system. With great patience, this man who strikes multi-billion dollar deals with foreign heads of state brought our scrappy jury together to bring a sexual predator to justice and to deliver justice for a scared and deeply wounded little girl.

A local nonprofit was instrumental in fostering that young girl through this process, providing her counseling and legal help. I was so struck by their mission that I toured their facility the week following the case in order to learn how I could donate and volunteer to their cause.

On a whim, I decided to reach out to Mr. Tillerson to encourage him to do the same. I found an email for him online and sent him a note, touting the role this agency played in our trial and urging him to consider supporting the great work that they do. To my surprise, I received an email back thanking me for my note, my jury service, and ensuring me that he would contact the agency. I later received a call from the director of that nonprofit to let me know that Mr. Tillerson followed-through and gave a generous donation.

I didn’t vote for Trump. This is not an endorsement of Mr. Tillerson for Secretary of State. I’m sure that the coming days and weeks will be filled with speculation and political discussion over this clearly controversial pick for Secretary of State. I certainly appreciate those concerns and the process that ensures significant scrutiny for this important position.  But during a news show tonight, I heard the term “corrupt” applied to this man who I spent five days with back in 2007.

All I know is that this man holds one of the most powerful positions in the world and clearly has the means and ability to side step his jury responsibilities, served as a normal citizen without complaint or pretense. I know that a scared little girl who was finally convinced to come public with her account of abuse was inches away from a decision that would have sided with her abuser, yet this man put his negotiation skills to a very noble use and justice was served. All I know is that this man and his myriad of aides could have ignored an unsolicited email from a girl in her 20s suggesting that he donate to a local cause, but he took the time to respond and opened up his pocket book.  My five days with Rex Tillerson is all I know about this man and his character. And in light of the recent news, I thought this a relevant story to tell.

I am not surprised at all by the above article.  This is exactly the Rex I know.  He was universally liked and respected in the company. He will bring accountability to the State Department.  And no one has to worry about his setting up his own server in his basement. He believes in following all rules and leading by example. He is of the school that all leaders have to set an example and be straighter than straight because they are the leader.  Unlike Hillary who felt by her position that the rules did not apply to her. He also will take responsibility for his actions and for those around him. He is of the old Truman school of “the buck stops here.”  Again unlike HIllary and Obama, who always blame someone else. It is never their fault. Just look at the blame game for Hillary’s losing the election.  It is everyone’s fault but hers.

Their will be no conflict of interest with him, like Hillary had with the Clinton Foundation. He will do what is necessary with his investments and he will be scrupulously honest with this.  He has already announced his retirement from EM effective the end of the year. .

Unfortunately, I put a less than 50% chance of his nomination being approved. He will likely be a token sacrificial lamb. And the Democrats will be going after at least two. Just to show their power.

Frankly, other than patriotism, I have no idea why he is doing this. He does not need the money or recognition or self actualization or the aggravation. He clearly does not have an ego problem. He will subject himself and his family to abuse.  And EM will suffer from this as he will have to go out of his way to show EM is not being given any advantage.  Of course in the interim the press will have their field day. But I respect his decision and sincerely hope he is approved, we could not do better.

Steve