- Good evening.
Welcome to all of you and
thank you for joining us,
for the 20th Annual Attorney
General Robert Abrams,
Public Service Lecture.
This lecture is a really terrific event,
we look forward to every
year here at the law school.
The Abrams lecture allows
us to continue our tradition
of fostering important dialogue
on issues of public service
by bringing distinguished
public servants here
to the law school every year
to talk about their careers,
issues they've worked on
and their perspectives on
public service as well.
And equally important each
year it's an occasion for us
to honor and thank the
namesake of this lecture,
the Honorable Robert Abrams,
NYU class of 1963, Bob.
(audience applauding)
Bob has the honor in a moment
of introducing our speaker,
Michael Turpen but I wanna
give my own personal thanks
to you for being here this
evening to speak with us.
He is the former Attorney
General of Oklahoma.
We are really thrilled to welcome him here
but first, let me say a
few words about Bob Abrams
who really is a shining
example of dedication
to public service, he's
an inspiration each year,
when he speaks here and
in everything he does
to our students and to our
faculty, to our graduates.
Has a distinguished career spanning,
many decades in government,
including time as a member
of the New York State Assembly,
three terms as Bronx borough president
and starting in 1978 serving
the first of four terms
as New York Attorney General.
In that position as Attorney
General Bob received,
numerous awards and well deserved acclaim,
across the country,
a level of national
prominence really quite rare,
for someone serving in State Office
but it was a well deserved recognition,
for the leadership position he took in
so many issues including
consumer protection issues,
environmental issues and
financial regulation issues,
among many others.
This was a leading position in
spurring legislative change,
within the state
and creating models for
legislation in those spaces,
across the country as well
as in the enforcement work
that he led in his office.
And then in 1994, he
entered private practice,
joining the Stroock &
Stroock & Lavan firm,
specializing in advising clients subject
to investigation by
state attorneys general
and conducting internal investigations,
within a variety of organizations.
Bob's legacy and expertise
has been well remarked upon
and rightly so, he is a
trusted and reliable counsel,
still today in very high demand.
Has been appointed to serve on a range
of statewide commissions
and councils charged
with working on important
issues in government
and the legal profession.
I wanna note, this I think
is a challenging time,
for public service.
There is unfortunately a growing cynicism,
about the motives driving
people's decisions
to enter public service but the motives
that drive them in their decisions
how to exercise the responsibility
invested in them by law.
This school is deeply
committed to the proposition
that we are the law
school at the university
that thinks of itself
as a private university
in the public service
and as a law school
dedicated in particular
to advancing public interest
in public service including
by preparing our students
to be leaders in those
spaces when they graduate.
And now more than ever, I think
that education requires being able
to point to role models in public service.
Role models who defy the cynical belief
that people enter public service,
for the worst possible reasons
and instead have led careers
showing us what it means
to enter in and remain in public service,
for the best possible reasons.
And there is no better example
of that tradition than Bob
Abrams and we're thrilled
to count him as a leader in our community
and I'm thrilled to welcome
him to the microphone.
(audience applauding)
- Thank you so much, Dean.
I very much appreciate those remarks.
Let me at the outset thank
two people on the dean staff
who work so hard to help put
this program together this year
and in past two years, Lisa Hoyes
and Lisa Borge, very much
appreciate their effort
and their help.
I wanna welcome Susan Turpen,
the wife of Mike Turpen
and my wife, Diane who have
come in to be here today.
And I'm so flattered and honored
to find the two former colleagues,
two former attorneys general,
from around the country have come tonight.
We have the former Attorney General
of the State of Maryland, Doug Gansler
and an Attorney General who served
with me when I was Attorney
General and who has gone on
to develop incredibly
important programs in the study
of the Office of Attorney General,
the former Attorney General the
state of Maine, Jim Tierney.
(audience applauds)
The Dean touched upon
the reason why I urged,
the deans predecessor Dean John Sexton
to perhaps create this lecture every year.
Because I was reading in newspapers then
and unfortunately you pick up a paper
and you find a similar story today.
That said, there's someone in public life
who betrays the public trust.
And there may be students
who read that story
and say "Politics, it's ugly, it's seamy.
"Certainly I don't wanna aspire
"to anything involved in politics,
"to be involved in a campaign,
to be a candidate myself."
And I felt that that would be
a disaster for this country
because it's the youth, the
young people of our country,
the new lawyers emanating
from our law schools
who represent the hope of this country
and the hope of tomorrow.
They have to bring their
enthusiasm, their idealism,
their energy to make changes
that are necessary in this country.
And so I thought that
somehow we can't afford
to allow that to happen
and perhaps we can bring
to a law school like
NYU every year somebody
who worked and toiled in public life
and who represents the
high values, the highroad,
intellect, independence,
integrity, accomplishment.
Certainly I found in my life and career
that the people who I
worked with in government
and in public office
were people of quality.
They had options, they didn't have
to go into the public sector,
they could have earned more money,
working in the private sector.
So I wanted you to get the chance
to meet in the flesh some of these people.
And this is the 20th year by the way,
the 20th anniversary of this
lecture, it's hard to believe.
20 years ago a great
colleague of mine who went on
to wonderful accomplishment
in the country.
Joe Lieberman was the
Attorney General originally,
from the state of Connecticut, he went on
to become the United States Senator,
for 24 years from Connecticut
and actually got over 50,960,000
votes for vice president,
more votes than the man who
spent eight years in the office
of Vice President, Dick Cheney.
But we learned in our classes
that it's not the popular vote
that counts, it's the electoral
college vote that counts.
And so the gore Lieberman ticket lost five
to four in the United States
Supreme Court that year.
It didn't matter that
50 million people voted
but it was the one vote on
the Supreme Court that did it.
So Joe kicked it off and
since then we've had governors
and senators and attorneys
general and judges
and it's been thrilling.
So tonight we've got a guy
who is in that whole line,
Mike Turpen, the former
Attorney General of Oklahoma
who I had the privilege of getting
to know during his tenure
as Attorney General.
Mike is a son of Oklahoma,
went to the University of Tulsa
to get his AB degree,
the University of Tulsa
to get his law degree.
His first legal job was legal advisor
to the police department
in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
He then went over
to work in the district
attorney's office in Muskogee
as an Assistant District Attorney.
And he worked hard and he was recognized,
he became a first Assistant
District Attorney.
And then he ran for the
Office of District Attorney
of Muskogee and got elected.
Then he ran for Attorney General
of the state and got elected.
And like a number of
us, I think, four of us
who are here tonight as
former attorneys general,
ran for higher office
and didn't quite make it.
And so you gotta remember
what Frank Sinatra says,
if you don't make it, you
gotta pick yourself up
and get back in the game, that's life.
And that's another
important lesson to learn
that you can't always be
involved in a winning effort
but there's still a bright road down ahead
of you even if somehow
success is elusive to you.
So after being Attorney General,
he went into private practice
for the past 30 years,
works as a partner in one
of the biggest law firms,
in the state of Oklahoma
but importantly for us he's
still a public servant.
He still dedicates an
incredible part of his life
to the public interest.
The president of the
United States appointed him
to be on the Advisory Council on the Arts,
for the Kennedy Center.
The Governor of the State appointed him
to be on the Board of
Regents for Higher Education.
He was appointed and now is the chairman
of the Memorial Commission
and Museum in Oklahoma City
where in 1965 they had a bombing
that took 168 lives due to terrorism.
He is on a highly acclaimed
weekly television program,
for the past 20 years
on the NBC affiliate,
right before "Meet the Press".
He argues the democratic
position, it's counterpoint,
what's it called Mike?
- [Mike] I don't know.
(laughing)
(mumbles)
- What's the name of the (mumbles)?
- [Mike] "Flashpoint".
- "Flashpoint" not
counterpoint, is "Flashpoint"
and he flashes every week on that program.
He raised $10 million for the
arts in his local community,
building the Lyric Theater.
He created the the Poetry
Club for young people,
in the state of Oklahoma.
He wrote a book, the wit
and wisdom of Mike Turpen,
"50 Shades of Life"
which you're gonna get a copy of tonight.
As a special treat and prize
as you leave here tonight,
a free copy of Mike Turpen's
book is gonna be given to you.
So Oklahoma has produced
great people, Will Rogers,
Mickey Mantle, Kristin
Chenoweth and Mike Turpen,
the former Attorney General
the State of Oklahoma.
(audience applauding)
- But at my back I always hear,
time's winged chariot hurrying near.
But at my back I always hear,
time's winged chariot hurrying near.
I'm thinking the poet must
have been talking about Bob
where we are in our life right now.
In my life right now as I look
at all these wonderful young people
and thanks for being here.
As I reflect back over
my life there's probably,
more yesterdays than tomorrows.
And you get reflective
and you start thinking
about your own mortality
and you come to the conclusion
that life is terminal.
And what do you do about all that?
Well, you start living your life in a way
that you wanna make every second count.
And I've even got a life philosophy
and my own kids would say,
"Dad, give it a rest."
But I like to wrap it
up this way, ES EM ED,
every second every minute
every day live life
to the absolute fullest.
My theory about that is TGIM,
Thank Goodness it's Monday.
And it is Monday and so
this works pretty well
but that's my life philosophy.
Successful people get up on Monday morning
and then TGIM, let's
make something happen.
Destiny does not make house calls.
You got to go get it, folks.
You got to do something to be something.
You got to be laborious
before you can be glorious.
You don't grind, you don't shine.
Okay, my own kids once again
said, "Dad, give it a rest."
(audience laughing)
So I will but the point is
that as I reflect back
on my life you realize
what really matters is
probably faith and family
and friendships, Bob.
Wonderful friendships,
lifelong friendships
and that's what Bob and I have.
He's been my mentor, he's
oftentimes, you've been my hero
and I brought a prop, folks.
I got the prop right here.
Is the program from a few years back.
The Robert Abrams Building
for Law and Justice,
the dedication ceremony
at the Empire State Plaza.
My friend has a building
named after him in Albany
and ladies and gentlemen,
hear me now, believe me later,
he's still alive.
(audience laughing)
This is unusual, this is unusual.
It's usually a few years later, right?
But here he is, you've
seen him here tonight
and there's a picture
of the building, folks.
I mean, I've been there
and you will be too
someday I'm quite sure.
He's taken delegations of
Attorney Generals Doug, Jim,
from all over the country,
all over the world
but especially to Israel.
I mean, year after year after year
and one of the places they go
that's so special is, I
wanna say it just right Bob,
Shir Hadash, that's close?
And that's your son-in-law
and daughter's synagogue,
right there in Jerusalem.
And they've been working
on that for years,
helping build it up.
Our son was in Israel recently,
played American football
for the Tel Aviv Sabres,
ladies and gentlemen.
American football in Israel, in Tel Aviv
and they went to help me out,
Bob, a Shabbat on Friday night
and they still talk about it.
But that's the kind of friendship we have.
I mean, we've done it all
and I like to say looking
back over my life,
once again, young ladies and
gentlemen, think about this.
There are givers and takers
and I'm thinking the
takers probably eat better
but the givers they sleep better.
So Bob and Diane, thanks
for having me here
and you are the two givers in my life
that personify the whole idea
of you ain't giving, you
ain't living, they personify.
Well, now for some prepared remarks
to the extent I'm prepared
to give any remarks at all
and I am because I'm here
and I'm proud to be here.
My prepared remarks are all
about vocation and avocation.
So bear with me,
I'm gonna try to develop
it in just a little bit.
Vocation, Bob works at
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan,
that's his job.
He's an attorney of law
just like you will be
so his vocation is, I hope,
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan.
That's his vocation, what's his avocation?
The work we just talked
about all over the world.
What's your avocation?
What's it gonna be?
So think of that balance
just a little bit,
the whole work life balance,
the whole idea of vocation and avocation.
Recent book, "The Road to
Character" by David Brooks,
I like it, the premise, he says this,
"You and your life will
develop resume virtues
"and eulogy virtues."
The resume virtues,
let's think about that,
it's pretty obvious, your
degree is along the way, right?
A degree from this great law school,
those are your resume virtues.
Eulogy virtues, courage,
compassion, faithfulness,
all the things they'll
talk about at your funeral.
And if you live your life just right,
they may even talk about a
little bit during your life.
Some of those kind of virtues.
So you got the resume virtues,
you got the eulogy virtues,
you gotta be working on both of those.
The book suggests it's okay
to try to conquer the
world in a business sense
but ain't really more
important to serve the world.
To use your God given talent
to help improve the human condition.
Okay, so be thinking about that.
Your vocation and your avocation.
Well, let's move on, vocation in my life.
I got a law degree folks and
I was a moot court champion,
went all the way to New York.
It was the first time
I was ever in New York
as a matter of fact, as
a moot court champion.
I was somebody but I end up
working in Muskogee, Oklahoma
with the Muskogee Police
Department as police legal advisor.
My first job in the world, $1,000 a month,
Muskogee Police Legal Advisor.
Why would I do that?
I had students debt to
pay, I had a lot of bills
but I wanted go make a difference.
So I started at the
Muskogee police department
as the legal advisor and we
would go to the scene of a crime
with the police.
And I watched, step over the
body of the crime victim,
step over the body of the victim
to read the suspect his rights.
That's okay, I believe in suspects rights,
so Thomas More said,
I guarantee the devil himself
the presumption of innocence.
Not so much that the devil might have it
but so they can never
take it away from me.
But I was committed to victims rights
which stepped over the body of the victim.
I said that to every Rotary
Club in the state of Oklahoma,
every Lions Club as I
traversed the state trying
to pass the Crime Victim Bill of Rights
and Oklahoma was on the cutting edge,
back then for Crime Victim Bill of Rights.
Would read the suspect his
rights but we never went over
to a woman who'd just been raped
or a man who'd just been robbed
or a couple that just
had their farm (mumbles)
and we'd like to read you your rights
as a God fearing hard
working law abiding American
that just became a victim of a crime.
We changed all that,
everybody has changed,
all over the country.
We now have the victims right to be heard
and we now have victim
compensation, it goes on and on.
We don't just rehabilitate
offenders now a noble cause
but we rehabilitate victims,
we get them back on their feet.
And I developed an empathy for the cops.
Let's talk about that.
I've read a lot about
what you do here at NYU.
I even went online and
watched the panel if you will
that some of, hopefully you attended,
the panel on fixing policing,
Fixing Policing in
America today right here
at NYU Law School.
You're working on that NYU School of Law,
you had a panel on it a few months ago.
Go online and look at
it, it's very thoughtful.
Do you want your police officers
to be guardians or warriors?
That's part of the premise
of the whole discussion.
What do we want from these men and women?
I'm riding with the police
officers back then folks
and they're expected to make
a spur of the moment black
and white split second
decision based on rules
of law the Supreme Court divides on five
to four, two years later.
Shoot or not to shoot?
Arrest or not to arrest?
Search or not to search?
As their legal advisor they turned to me,
can we search or not?
Can we shoot or not?
And hard position to be in.
Police legal advisor Muskogee, Oklahoma
as my first job in the real world.
Got an empathy for the cops, I sure do.
We owe them better rules
and regulations and statutes
and case law, more predictability,
more certainty, don't we?
Now my law partner tells me,
my African-American
law partner reminds me,
"Mike, for a young
African-American in America today,
"there's a thin line
between a traffic stop
"and a cemetery."
I get it, I get it, where's
the balance in all that?
Not sure, it's for you to figure it out.
I've already written the river
folks, I've done my part.
It's your time, it's your turn.
Those are hard issues, right?
The balance on all of that?
Okay, then I became City Prosecutor.
I finally get on my feet in the courtroom
and this sounds silly but
it's honest to God truth,
the first big case I had
as the city prosecutor
Muskogee, Oklahoma was,
prosecuting a man for
harboring a barking dog.
Harboring a barking dog
is an ordinance violation.
You say, "Who cares?"
Well, they're gonna kill each other,
these two neighbors are
gonna kill each other.
So it's dispute resolution.
Aren't we as lawyers supposed
to put out society's brush fires?
Ain't that what we do?
So I bring the charge against one neighbor
and the other neighbor and here I am now,
nobody is gonna plead
guilty, they hate each other,
they're gonna kill each other
so now I got a full blown jury trial,
in Muskogee Municipal Court
and I'll take it very seriously
'cause I wanna be one and (mumbles),
I wanna win my first
case in the real world,
even though it's just a barking dog case.
But I was very prepared,
I took very seriously
and something happened
that I'll never forget.
So the embarrassing, I got
to get the closing argument,
for this little jury
in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
You've heard of the song
"Okie from Muskogee",
it's a real place, it's not
fictional, it's not mythical.
I mean, it exists.
Merle Haggard talked about
it but it's really there
And I was a city prosecutor
and I had to give my first
closing argument my whole life.
And I told you I was good in moot court,
I mean, I've been schooled pretty well.
But now I'm in the real
world, in front of a real jury
and I get up to give this
closing argument and get ready.
My hands started shaking.
Young lawyers of America, listen to me,
my hands started shaking.
To break the silence of room
with the sound of your
voice is a big deal.
I was nervous, my hand shook.
I thought, "Wait a minute,
I'm gonna be a trial lawyer."
This isn't going so well.
It's okay, you just put
your hands in your pocket.
Well, then you got keys
and change and such.
(audience laughing)
This is not going so well,
you see what I'm saying?
Well, the way you overcome the FUD Factor,
fear, uncertainty and doubt, right?
You've learned that you win
more case in a law library,
than you ever do in a courtroom.
Because when you stand up
and say state is ready your honor,
you know that case better,
than anybody else in that whole courtroom.
Won't you?
You sure?
Defense is ready your
honor, you're gonna know
that case better than anybody
else in the whole courtroom.
If you don't hear me now,
your hands might shake a little bit.
Might be a little bit nervous.
The way you overcome all that
is practice and preparation
and be as good as you can be.
It matters and you say,
"Well, some people are just good at it."
No, come on, to break the silence
of room in the sound of your voice,
nobody's just naturally good at that.
You gotta work at it.
So I become a district attorney
and now I'm prosecuting a murder case.
And I'm in for dire, for dire.
We call it different
things around the country.
We're picking a jury, folks
and so I'm district attorney
and I'm looking at Miss Smith.
Miss Smith, if I prove to
you beyond reasonable doubt
that shows Troy Coleman in
fact murdered John Roxy Seward
with a 28 gauge pump
shotgun on April 19th.
If I prove to you beyond
a reasonable doubt
to your satisfaction, think about that.
If I prove to you beyond
a reasonable doubt
to your satisfaction that
Charles Troy Coleman did in fact,
murder John Roxy Seward on April 19th
with a 28 gauge pump shotgun,
do you have the personal courage
to recommend the death penalty?
Mr. Smith can you
recommend the death penalty
with those facts?
Can you recommend the
death penalty if I prove
to you beyond a reasonable
doubt to your satisfaction
that Charles Troy Coleman
did in fact murder,
John Roxy Seward with a 28
gauge pump shotgun on April 9th.
Can you be with me on it?
Could you recommend the death penalty?
What's my point?
I'm not reading that,
I had that memorized.
You gotta get people bobbing on with you,
you're not selling anything
to anybody anytime anywhere,
a judge or a jury or anybody else,
unless you've got somebody
bobbing on with you.
If that jury is not bobbing on
with you you're losing and
somebody else is winning.
You gotta know that case
better anybody else,
you emancipate yourself in your notes
and you look people in the
eye if you wanna win that case
or even just a motion to the judge.
The judge wants to be entertained as well.
They wanna see the movie,
don't read the book.
I mean, look them in the eye
and tell them what's going on, why?
Why can you do that?
Because you know the case
better than anybody else.
You're not winging it, you've learned it.
You stayed up late at night,
what you did in the courtroom
was a tip of the iceberg.
What you did preparation was 90%
of that iceberg below the
surface, that's what you did.
And you did it better than anybody else,
somebody will say you're
lucky, you're just good at it.
You're born naturally be on your feet.
No, you worked at it.
You worked at it more than anybody.
Prosecuted a couple of
judges along the way.
I prosecuted the judge for bribery
and I prosecuted the
judge for embezzlement.
What's that all about?
I'll never forget the
bailiff on that courthouse,
look at me go, "Mike, does
that make any difference
"to you yet?"
Mike, does that make
any difference to you?
That's what was happening
in that courthouse
and I was young and scared and
I was especially spiritual.
Just hoping I had a guardian angel,
looking out over me folks.
But yeah, I prosecuted
the judge for bribery.
Want to have a theme, what's your theme?
Right, you're cool, you're
calm, you're collected.
You got people bobbing on with you,
you know your case
better than anybody else
but what's your theme?
Gotta have a theme, don't you?
So I was working a theme there
with that particular
prosecution and Huey Long said,
never write to a man you could talk to,
never talk to a man you can whisper to,
then whisper to a man you can wink at.
I used that and I said
all he had to do is wink
and the act got done
that I was trying to prove bribery case.
Now embezzlement case, I
usually been a Will Rogers,
all over this country I have
been I found some man rob
with a six gun and others
with a fountain pen.
All the judge had to do was
take the fine in his chambers,
lots of fines in his chambers
and just run on the court
file, fine suspended.
A champion I was, folks,
that's what was going on.
I'm just sharing a little bit
of Muskogee county history
with you (mumbles).
Is the path of least resistance
that makes rivers and streams crooked.
And people gotta have
the courage to stand up,
fight for what you
believe in along the way.
Your turn will come, folks,
(mumbles) need to go along
or you stand up and you have the courage
to do what you believe is right
because courage is being
scared but saddling up anyway.
And that's part of my
life as a public servant,
that's what we're here talking
about today, public service.
Well, I decided I wanted to
run for Attorney General,
after all that.
Cleaned up Muskogee County,
putting people on death row
and fighting judges and
all that sort of thing and.
So my name is Mike Turpen,
so my slogan was for Attorney General,
the great State of Oklahoma's,
my slogan was what?
It's time for Turpen, it's Turpentine
and everybody said, "Well,
that's a stupid slogan."
I said, "Who cares?"
I won, I'm Attorney General of
the state of Oklahoma folks.
(audience laughing)
And a little bit of humor
there if you don't mind,
along the way, maybe.
Politics is show business for ugly people,
that's what I learned along the way.
Politics is show business for ugly people.
I mean, it's humiliating.
I'm just telling you
because you gotta beg somebody for a vote.
You gotta beg somebody for money,
you gotta beg somebody put
a yard sign in their yard
and all that sort of thing.
It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen
and I had an uncle that told
me there's three things,
you should never do in life.
Number one, don't ever
try to climb a fence
that's (mumbles) towards you.
Number two, don't ever try
to kiss the girl swinging away from you.
And number three, don't ever ever,
run for city council school board
'cause it's just too close to the people.
They know where you live,
they'll come find you
and all that sort of thing so.
(audience laughing)
So don't do the same.
I also learned along the
way in the political world
that politics is the second oldest,
profession in the whole world
but the results are the same in both.
Now think about that just a second,
I don't mean for the vote,
I mean for the candidate.
I mean, it's hard to be a candidate.
Bob told you a while ago it's hard.
This business is hard of politics.
You can't tell people your trouble.
If you're a politician,
you're a candidate,
you're running for office,
look what's happening in America today.
You can't tell people your troubles.
Half the people don't care
and the other half are kinda
glad you're having them.
I mean, so you're all by
yourself as a candidate.
Just your family and friends
and you're out of the gallery,
it's the toughest business.
And I learned through it all,
the most important thing
is a certain amount
of self-deprecating humor.
You gotta keep a proper
perspective, folks.
Lemme give you just a
little bit Abraham Lincoln,
the last great republican
president, just a little bit.
And no, I didn't mean to put it that way.
I didn't mean to get political,
he was a great republican president is
what I'm trying to say.
So this is Abraham Lincoln, folks.
The famous Lincoln-Douglas debates,
Douglas gets up says that
Abraham Lincoln talks
at the both sides of his mouth.
In fact, Abraham Lincoln is two faced.
Lincoln gets up and says I'll leave it
to my students here this evening.
If I had two faces,
do you think Id been wearing this one,
in front of you tonight?
(audience laughing)
So smart, self-deprecating humor.
I learned along the way,
folks, three things in politics
that worked for me pretty well.
And it's funny bone, backbone, wishbone.
The funny bone is a sense of humor.
Shakespeare said, "Show me
a man who never makes a joke
"and I'll show you a
man who stands as a joke
"to the whole world."
You gotta have a sense of humor.
So funny, bone sense of humor,
backbone, sense of courage.
Courage is like I said, being
scared but saddling up anyway.
Gotta have the courage to do
what you believe is right.
It worked for me in
politics, a funny bone,
a wishbone is a sense of idealism.
You believe in we instead of me.
We're all fellow travelers
on this spaceship earth,
rolling this thing together, fair enough.
And in a serious way,
I learned in my political
world in Oklahoma
as I went store to store and door to door.
I call that retail
politics, store to store,
door to door, meet and
greet, grip and grab,
that's where you get elected.
I went to all 77 counties
and what I learned along the way,
was personal contact alters opinions.
Remember that in your life,
personal contact alters opinions.
You gotta get to know the people.
As this world spins faster and faster
and more and more high tech,
I suggest to you there's still a greater
and greater need for the human touch,
not just high tech but high
touch, the human touch.
Personal contact alters opinions.
I also learned as that traveled the State
of Oklahoma going all those
bean dinners and fish fries
and Lions Club buddies night,
every man, every woman is a book,
is a volume if we'll take
the time to read them.
Because there's a room
for the best sellers.
I'm sincere, get to know each other,
learn from each other, right?
So it matters.
And I learned in my
political history, COIM,
actually got this from Tip O'Neill.
But if you're running for school board
or president United States of America,
it all comes down to COIM.
C is the candidate, O is the organization,
I the issues and M the money.
And when I was running I'd go,
"Hi, folks, my name is Mike
Turpen, I'm the candidate.
"I'm running for governor
of the state of Oklahoma."
O, organization, I'm
organized in all 77 counties,
I've been there folks.
I, the issues, education,
jobs and justice,
whatever they are.
M, money, somebody is always saying money.
So what you learn
and here's the most critical
thing I can say about,
public service, about politics,
is politics is the art
of extracting money from the rich
and votes from the poor under the pretext
of protecting one from the other.
(audience laughing)
Little bit cynical but
we need good people.
We need good people in all that,
you just heard me talk
about in a serious way,
in a funny way and all that.
We need good people.
Well, lemme wrap up my
public service there.
I was Attorney General,
I won that race folks
and I got to argue in front
of the United States Supreme Court.
So lemme just share that
with you ever so briefly
so now I'm in front of
United States Supreme Court,
you don't go in front
of the United States Supreme Court unless,
you're really prepared 'cause
you don't want your hands
to shake and you want the
judge to bob down with you,
just a little bit, I'm serious.
And you need a theme,
don't you need a theme?
You always do.
If you're gonna break the
silence a room with the sound
of your voice anytime
anywhere you need a theme.
Sales is a transference of
belief, you got to believe
and you got to have a theme.
My theme was gonna be forgotten person.
It was gonna be Mr. Chief
Justice my name is Mike Turpen,
the Attorney General state of Oklahoma,
I'm here to advocate for
the Reverend Richard Douglas
and his wife, Marilyn.
They're dead, they're
gone, they're murdered.
Their eyes are closed,
their lips are sour,
they couldn't be here today
to speak for themselves.
I'm gonna make sure Mr. Chief Justice,
they don't become forgotten people,
in the criminal justice process.
Well, I didn't get to say all that
'cause if you ever get there and you will,
that Q&A happens
immediately, I promise you.
But I was ready babe, I had
my theme, I was ready to go.
I wanted to get them bobbing on.
Okay, it was challenging
but I want you to learn from Churchill,
just learn from Churchill.
One of the best books I've ever
read about any presentation,
anytime, anywhere is "Churchill:
Speaker of the Century"
by Jamie Humes.
It's based on an unpublished
essay of Winston Churchill,
an unpublished essay they found
of Winston Churchill called
the Scaffolding of Rhetoric.
The Scaffolding of Rhetoric,
isn't that beautiful?
How to build an oration?
And Churchill talks about,
you gotta have rhythm,
you gotta have analogies,
you gotta have metaphors
and don't ever forget what JFK
said about Winston Churchill.
President Kennedy said
about Winston Churchill,
he said, "He mobilized
the English language
"and sent it into battle."
We're talking World War II.
We're talking Winston Churchill (mumbles)
the British Empire last for 1,000 years,
men will still say this
was their finest hour.
Those are powerful words, words matter,
put those words together, be a wordsmith.
You see what I'm saying?
Okay, the last thing Churchill
said about an oration.
He said one quality matters
more than anything else.
One word, sincerity, sincerity.
If your style is better
slow and deliberate,
don't ever speed up.
If you talk a little bit fast
like I do, don't slow down.
Righteous indignation with your own style.
You're breaking the silence in the room
with the sound of your
voice, one word, sincerity.
Got to believe it.
Okay, I eventually went
into private practice.
My days in public service were over
and I just gotta share this
with you ever so briefly,
I spent half my life trying
to put people in jail,
I spent the other half
trying to keep them out.
Think about that.
Am I big time criminal defense attorney?
No, but I had some cases and
it's scary to defend people.
To think you're the only thing
standing between somebody
and incarceration, giving up their freedom
and liberty interest, are you kidding me?
Man, it's frightening ladies and gentlemen
to defend somebody.
I know we have people in the room,
I've talked to public defenders and such,
man, you're doing God's work.
At this point in my life as I get older
and wiser I think I've decided
that there's enough
good in the worst of us
and enough bad in the best of us
that it behooves all of us not
to judge each other too harshly.
I believe in a God of second chances.
That's where I end up folks.
I'm just telling you, I believe
in a God of second chances.
So I'm pretty much on the side
of giving somebody another
break along the way.
See, we can't salvage
a fellow human being.
So I spent a lifetime in prosecution
and I spent lifetime in defense.
I look at it both ways,
I look at law from both sides
now, you see what I'm saying?
And (mumbles) tough on
the civil side of law,
now you're developing a civil practice.
And what we tell everybody
is we'll get you one client
who's rich man wrong.
Go get one client who's rich man wrong
and Bob and I fortunately and Doug,
we've got some clients maybe
that are rich man right.
All the way to the United
States Supreme Court, right?
That's where you build a
private practice, folks,
so they say.
If you're not careful
you get in a big law firm
and all you're doing is
fighting big cases over money,
more money, even more money.
Whose garage gets the new Mercedes?
You can get bogged down and all that.
If you've ever seen a movie,
"Thank You for Smoking",
he's trying to explain
to his 15 year old son
why he's a lobbyist,
for the tobacco industry.
He's telling his 15 year old son,
here's why I'm a lobbyist
for the tobacco industry.
Because 99% of all the good and bad things
that happen in this world is
because somebody somewhere
is trying to pay a mortgage.
Maybe cynical folks but
I want you to hear it.
I want you to hear from me.
There'll be a time when
you might be thinking,
why am I doing this?
And the reason, I'll give you an answer,
is a Mike Turpen one liner but it's real,
marriage, mortgage,
munchkins and maltuition.
Marriage, mortgage, munchkins
and maltuition, you gotta pay.
You gotta make it work.
Susan and I we teach
a Sunday school class,
I teach those young people, the four Fs.
I call it all that matters in life,
is faith, family and friends.
You gotta figure those
three out on your own,
I don't, all that
matters in life is faith,
family and friends.
Wait a minute, I said the four,
all that matter is not just faith, family.
Oh no to support your faith,
to take care of your family
and to have fun with your
friends, you gotta have money.
You gotta have a job,
faith, family, friends
and of course finances.
How you balance those four
in your life is the challenge
and opportunity and quandary of your life.
Lemme suggest something
in the homestretch here.
After doing all that,
that's your vocation,
what about an avocation?
What about something in the community
where you volunteer your time
and you become a state regent like I am.
I'm a big fish in a little
pond back in Oklahoma
and all I can think of when
I'm a regent is students debt.
Last year in America
71% of all the students,
they got a four year degree.
71% of them last year in this country,
71% of them had students debt.
Average debts 37,000,
not buying a new car,
not buying a new house,
deferring their marriages.
What do we do about all that?
Don't know?
It's very complex problem.
Try to figure out some
of the answers, okay?
'Cause I do believe in a higher ed.
I do believe enroll, retain and graduate.
I do believe those degrees
can improve the quality
of your life, the biggest frustration
of my life looking back
over all these years now,
I got more yesterdays than tomorrows.
Listen to this one,
this is my frustration.
Demography is destiny.
Demography is destiny.
What side of town you grow up on, in, on,
largely will determine where you end up.
I'm I right or wrong?
What changes that may be
quality public education,
from the kindergarten to the PhD level.
My wife teaches Intercity
School in Oklahoma City,
60, 70%, Hispanic, these
kids are willing to work,
they're willing to get scholarships,
they're willing to get degrees
but someone's gotta help them,
they gotta learn the rules of the road
like you do right here
with NY scholarships.
Read all about it, folks.
Every child needs a champion.
Educators impact eternity.
If you don't do that in your life
'cause you're gonna be a lawyer.
You can do these things as an
avocation, not your vocation.
You can be involved in the community
You see what I'm saying.
So think about that when
you're balancing your life out,
you could do those things with
your free time, so to speak.
Well, I'm on the homestretch
and I got to tell you
that I am proud to be the chair
of the Oklahoma City
National Memorial Museum.
The bomb went off in
Oklahoma City 21 years ago,
Bill Clinton came to town said,
Oklahoma city, you broke our hearts
but you lifted our spirits.
Like New York did 15 years ago,
we turned our darkest
hour into our finest hour.
I do believe, based on how we responded.
Response, recovery, resilience,
rebirth, renaissance
to a certain extent.
Right now, keep up with what's going on,
on ground zero right now.
The big quandary down there right now is,
commemoration versus (mumbles).
Retail versus reverence.
I mean, how do you
balance all that together?
Get on the committee, be involved in that
because you've got the skills
on how to resolve disputes
and how to resolve differences
of opinion among people.
So that's something you might think about
but I'm very proud of
what we were doing there in Oklahoma City
because Oklahoma City like New York,
I believe eventually we achieve
victory over victimization.
Strong statement, I think
we've been in both places
to large degree.
Poetry club, I can't
help it folks, here I go.
To see the world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower,
to hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.
To hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.
When was the last time you did that?
When was the last time you
held infinity in the palm
of your hand?
Those words from the poet 200 years ago,
what did he even mean?
I'm not sure it's like
a good Bob Dylan song.
You figure it out, folks.
I'm gonna suggest you here tonight
that when you get the degree
from NYU School of Law,
you will be holding infinity
in the palm of your hand
to a certain extent.
And when you meet the person you love
and when you have your first child,
I mean, those are moments
in the power of poetry.
I won't go into this but I can't help it.
I got about three or four
minutes to go up here,
then I'm gonna stop and
you ask me some questions,
if you got some on your mind
but I want you to hear this.
This kinda changed my life a little bit.
It's a poem, it's dark,
it's serious, okay?
You just gotta just gotta bear with me.
Whenever Richard Cory went to town,
we people in the street looked at him.
He was a gentleman from
sole to crown good looking
and handsomely slim and he was
rich and richer than a king
and well schooled in every grace.
In fine we thought that he
was everything to make us wish
that we were in his place.
So on we worked and waited for the light
and went without the meat
and cursed the bread.
And Richard Cory one calm
summer night, went home
and put a bullet through head.
Don't ever be jealous of another person.
Don't ever covet in a man's home.
Thank God for what you have
and make the best of it.
You can buy a house but
you can't buy a home.
You can buy people but
you can't buy friends.
You can probably buy a reputation
but you can never buy character.
The most important things in life,
cannot be purchased, all right?
Just need to hear from me
now (mumbles) I got more,
yesterday's than tomorrows,
I've learned a lot along the way.
Okay, so the last, not vocation
but that avocation is be an
author, write a book someday.
My mother used to say
a room without books,
is like a person without a soul.
And I believe in the ancient
technology of ink on paper.
I want the ink on the paper,
I don't want that Kindle,
I don't want that E-read,
I want a physical book,
I wanna touch it folks.
And my book closes
with one of my favorite
Supreme Court Justice,
is Sandra Day O'Connor.
Sandra Day O'Connor said the secret
to happiness is three words.
Sandra Day O'Connor, the secret
to happiness three
words, work that matters.
Work that matters, work that matters.
In your vocation, in your
avocation, in your community,
in your home, in your
church, in your synagogue,
in your mosque, do work that matters.
That's what it's all about
ladies and gentlemen.
Put your signature on this planet.
Thank you, thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
(audience applauding)
Thank you, thank you folks.
(audience applauds)
- Okay, you probably
didn't expect that coming.
(audience laughing)
Ask big Mike some questions, come on.
- [Woman] Can I start Bob, do you mind?
- Yes.
- [Woman] You touched
touched upon your career
as a prosecutor and
prosecuting capital cases.
And I was really hoping
that you would touch upon
what I understand was a pretty
profound change of heart
with respect to the death penalty.
And I think that the students,
would probably appreciate
hearing about that.
- Yeah, it's just, well.
Churchill said, if you're
young and conservative,
you haven't got a heart
but if you're old and liberal
you haven't got a mind.
But my life experience has been such
that you just find you
wanna give a person a break,
another break and it was so
easy to be young and certain.
It was so easy to be young
and see everything in
black and white and I did.
And as a district attorney I
could put everybody in jail
'cause I knew and the
death penalty just seemed,
the obvious thing to do.
It's society's right of
self-defense so I still get all that
but where I am right now,
it's such an imperfect system.
You have no idea, DNA has helped a lot.
That's all you know, maybe is DNA,
in our world we had the
fingerprints and the junk science.
We didn't even have DNA,
thank God we have DNA now
but I look back over my
years as a prosecutor
and I do have to confess
to you I wonder if I
haven't in fact, been part
of putting an innocent man.
Now I don't wanna believe in
the so called electric chair,
that's what we had in Oklahoma.
See, I focus on the high chair
now not the electric chair.
I don't wanna believe I was a part of that
but I do think I may have
put looking back over,
maybe a couple cases where
an innocent person in jail,
didn't have it, we didn't have the DNA.
Now you have the Innocence
Project, thank goodness.
It's more balanced system now
and that's good for everybody.
But golly, folks, we
evolve over a lifetime
and I've just become more
and more compassionate along the way.
I don't know, you know why?
To certain extent 'cause I got kids
and once you got kids, you realize folks,
you darn sure want somebody
give your kids a break
and give them a second chance if possible.
Because so many bad things
can happen out there
to everybody and when you
got a kid in this world,
you realize, God, this
is tough, it's tough.
Anyhow I changed along the way,
folks, it's okay to change.
Only a fool never changes his mind
'cause this is easier
hobgoblin small minds.
I'm throwing all the quotes today, okay.
(audience laughing)
Anything else?
Come on, give me an observation.
It doesn't have to be a question,
just give me an observation, yes sir.
- [Man] (mumbles) go back
to your point about needing
to be in (mumbles).
- Well, I'm gonna reverse
that a little bit.
He's talking about this high touch thing
that I was espousing.
I'm gonna start name dropping
last, as we speak here
but last night I was with Bill Clinton
and it was in a smaller room than this.
It was about 50 people there
and so I'm gonna use that guy
as the best example I know in my lifetime
of personal contact alters opinions.
And I'm not trying to win
your vote over in all this.
This is not a campaign issue,
I'm also in town for the
Clinton Global Initiative, CGI,
is the 12th one, I've been in all of them.
And so last night he had a reception,
Bill Clinton did for all the people
who've been to all 12 is CGIs,
Clinton Global Initiatives.
He looked at us in the
room about 50 of us,
60 of us that have been in all of them
and he said, "Look what
we've done in this world
"with an open hand instead
of a clenched fist."
With open hand instead of a clenched fist,
an open hand of friendship and assistance
and not a clenched fist.
But I'm gonna try to make
it kind of a personal story.
So about eight years ago,
I'm helping Hillary Clinton
and we do well in Oklahoma
and Bill Clinton calls me
and says, "Mike what's the go?
"What can I do for you?"
Now think about that, Bill
Clinton called you and said,
"What can I do for you?"
(audience laughing)
What would you do?
And I didn't know what to say to him
but I said, "My mother
just turned 80 years old,
"would you call and wish
Marge happy birthday?"
He goes, "Sure I will."
Hour later my mother calls me and said,
"Bill Clinton just called
to wish me happy birthday."
Until the day my mother dies (mumbles)
that was one of the biggest thing
that ever happened to her life.
She wouldn't believe it was him,
he had to keep telling her,
"Come on Marge this is Bill Clinton."
(audience laughing)
Yeah, now, why am I
telling you that story?
It's fun to tell, it's fun to hang out
with people in the
highest, Garth Brooks said,
"Friends in low places."
He's an Oklahoman, it doesn't hurt
to have friends in the high places.
I'm just telling you right
now and whether Hillary wins
or not I've enjoyed my
friendship with the Clintons.
And they're the kind of people
that check on you every time.
When it's your mom's birthday
or somebody dies in your
family, that sort of thing.
I got two sons and a daughter
and I look at the world
through Sarah's eyes.
I look at the words in my daughter's eyes
and that makes me appreciate every woman
that builds a bridge
or knocks down the
barrier for my daughter.
About my wife's teaching in school.
Diane, you have as a
pioneer for women in the law
and you guys will have
all your causes as well.
But if I look at the world
through Sarah's eyes,
I want the next president of
the United States of America
to be woman and I don't mean just a woman
but a woman that happens to be ready,
they want to be the president
United States of America.
I didn't come here to be political,
it was not my prepared remarks,
(audience laughing)
but it was in response to a question
that kind of took me there, okay.
- [Man] You took me exactly
where I wanted to go.
You had me bobbing on.
- Yeah, I gotcha, I gotcha.
(audience laughing)
He said he was bobbing on.
Oh, you're killing me.
What else folks?
Now thanks for asking (mumbles).
It still matters, folks,
that personal touch matters.
I mean, I don't care what anybody says.
Yes, ma'am, go ahead.
- [Woman] So you probably
know that Oklahoma has placed
as women in prison (mumbles),
than any other state in the country.
You probably also know that
Oklahoma doesn't have women
who are twice as bad as women
in other states (mumbles).
Given what you know about
Oklahoma's legal culture,
what needs to change (mumbles)?
- I was at a Rotary Club recently,
a Rotary Club recently in Oklahoma City
and they said to me, "Mike,
how come Hillary Clinton's,
"worst state in the whole
country will be Oklahoma."
We've raised a lot of money for her,
I believe in the Clintons.
You don't need to hear any more of that
but now I'm at a Rotary Club
and they're asking me why she's gonna lose
that state worse than every
other state in the country?
And we do think Trump's number one state,
in America will be Oklahoma.
It's hard to live with
folks, I got a daughter.
So they say, "Well, why is Oklahoma?
"Why are they dominated by
that conservative thinking?"
I said, "Ask Jim Inhofe, he's
the United States senator."
And he said the Republicans
are winning Oklahoma,
till the end of time on three
issues, God, guns and gays.
You asked me about Oklahoma,
that's what they think
to a certain extent.
We have a lot of
progressive minded people.
We have some very blue on
clays in a very red state
but it breaks my heart
to see people dwell on,
the issues like they have
a monopoly on religion
and more and more guns.
That'll solve every problem
and I've told my Republican friends,
they gotta quit beating up on the gays,
(mumbles) America just
for political advantage.
I hope they're listening to me.
They say they're changing a little bit
but not fast enough for me,
very conservative state.
And you just asked me.
So where's corrections in Oklahoma?
Right there with it, lock them
up and throw away the key.
On the other hand,
we really are doing some
progressive things in Oklahoma,
like we are all over
the country right now.
Alternatives to incarceration
and trying to help salvage
people along the way.
I think the Republicans do
it for economic reasons,
the Democrats are doing it
for compassionate reasons,
it don't matter.
It's right and wrong, not right and left
and is one of those issues.
Everyone, is we stumble into
issues, is right and wrong,
not right left, that's one of them.
Penal reform, alternatives
to incarceration,
trying to salvage people
instead of just locking them up.
So we're getting better but
we got a long ways to go.
As Robert Frost would say,
I like to quote poetry.
Miles to go before we sleep in Oklahoma.
I know there's people in
the room that are coming
to Oklahoma on a particular
project in North Tulsa,
public defender project what's it called?
Somebody tell me the name of that project.
- [Woman] Still She Rises.
- Yes sir, there you go.
Come to Oklahoma.
Okay, one last question, we go over there.
We have a little reception.
You had a question, sir, African-American.
(mumbles)
Okay, good, so you guys,
here you go, it's a closer.
My Church, they asked a
group of 90 year old people,
they asked this group
of 90 year old people,
if you had your whole
life to live over again
what would you do differently?
A group of 90 year old people
and they said they had their
whole life to live over again.
Number one, they would reflect more.
Number two, they would risk more
and number three, they
would do more things
so live beyond your life.
So think about that.
As young lawyers think
about reflect on the,
Cardoza said the law is a continuum.
The law is a continuum.
You're all part of that
so reflect as lawyers
what you wanna accomplish,
reflect more, risk more risk.
I wanna share this with
you, risk emotionally,
don't just risk intellectually,
risk emotionally.
There can be no song on your lips,
until there be anguish in your heart.
Ringo Starr said, you gotta pay your dues,
if you wanna sing the
blues, I don't come easy.
So reflect more, risk
more and do more things
that live beyond your life.
And that's making a living,
making a difference,
vocation, avocation, all that.
Thanks for having me,
I'll see you over here
in the greeting line.
(audience applauding)
The food line.
Thank you folks.
That was fun.
Thank you, thank you.
(audience applauding)
- So I'm glad you came and
I hope you're glad you came.
Come over and say hello to Mike personally
and there's some very
delicious stuff over there.
Thanks a lot, see you next year.
- Thank you, folks.
