Sunday, November 02, 2003
From Government Executive magazine, Aug 15:
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Says Laton McCartney, the author of Friends in High Places, a comprehensive history of Bechtel’s rise to prominence (Ballantine, 1989). . . in the early 1980s, Steve Bechtel Jr., then chairman of his family’s company, socialized with high-level government officials at an annual retreat at the exclusive Bohemian Grove resort in Northern California. Author McCartney describes the camp as a playground for adults, where after a few days of unwinding among equals, political and business elites developed camaraderie. At the Grove, guests stayed in one of 127 different lodges, McCartney writes. Mandalay, the most prestigious, played home to titans such as Bechtel, Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, former CIA director John McCone, and former IBM chairman Thomas Watson. The easy familiarity born of these gatherings cemented friendships, McCartney explains. John Ehrlichman, a former aide to President Nixon and guest of the Grove, told McCartney, "Once you’ve spent three days with someone in an informal situation you have a relationship—a relationship that opens doors and makes it easier to pick up the phone." This "Mandalay effect," . . . helps companies such as Bechtel and Halliburton influence policy. Labels: bohemian grove .....---
.....| Posted at 10:53 | PERMA-LINK |
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