A week ago at this time, the trade people in Washington were thinking about the
Trade Prom, which would be held that evening. We find it impossible to believe that anyone who was there was disappointed. The 2014 Annual Awards Dinner of the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and the Washington International Trade Foundation was a fabulous affair.
As for the awards, the choices could not have been better. That is especially true of the
Lifetime Achievement Award, which went to the Hon.
Clayton Yeutter.
Selected video clips of the evening are now available on the WITA website. If you were at the Trade Prom last Wednesday, you can watch and relive some of those moments. And if you were not there, click on the link below and see for yourself what the buzz is about. In these entries, we specialize in recalling words that propel the world of trade policy. So here is some of what was said at the Trade Prom last week by and about Clayton Yeutter.
Peter Allgeier, the president of the Coalition of Service Industries, was the master of ceremonies. Himself a former U.S. ambassador to the WTO, Mr. Allgeier was one of (our guess) hundreds in the room who at one time had worked for Ambassador Yeutter. He began his introduction of the honoree saying,
"The affection and the respect for this man is stunning, but it is not at all surprising for any of us who have had the privilege of working with him."He then quoted Tweets he had received about Ambassador Yeutter in advance of the dinner. Here are three of them:
From
Dick Cunningham of Steptoe and Johnson: "Without Ambassador Yeutter there would have been no Uruguay Round and thus no World Trade Organization."
From
Ellen Terpstra of the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy Council: "Clayton inspired his own team and the other side with his infectious enthusiasm for engagement on contentious issues."
And from
Josh Bolten, now Managing Director at Rock Creek Global Advisers: "A great mentor to generations of trade policy professionals, Clayton Yeutter taught me that the good guys can play offense."
When it was his turn to talk, Clayton Yeutter didn't give a trade speech. He thanked people, mainly his family, his personal family with children from 9 to 59, and his professional family that included a large number of those at the prom. As he put it, "I think half the audience worked for me at some time or another, either at USDA or at USTR through the years."
It is more than understandable why he would emphasize those two positions, but they are not the only high level positions he has held. Born in Eustis, Nebraska, a town blow the Platt River and just above the Republican River, Clayton Yeutter has served - to name just a few - as:
Chief of Staff to the Governor of Nebraska, 1967,
Director of the University of Nebraska Mission in Colombia, 1968,
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, 1974,
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, 1975,
CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, 1975-1985,
United States Trade Representative, 1985-1989,
Secretary of Agriculture, 1989-1991.
There is more, but you get the point. Today Ambassador Yeutter is a Senior Adviser at Hogan Lovells, and from that perch too he has had led the effort to liberalize global trade through TPP and other initiatives.
***
Awards, of course, are meant to honor - and so in some sense to flatter - those who receive them. In this case, however, it was WITA itself and all those present last Wednesday evening who were unexpectedly and profoundly complimented, when Ambassador Yeutter said:
"I will never in my lifetime receive an honor that means more to me than this one here tonight."There was more of course, much more. You should watch the video. These, however, are the lines we will remember.