Spotlighting L 18


NEXT CHAPTER Blanche Lincoln


BY PATRICK FOLLIARD


Reviewing the early days of her political career, former U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas ponders where exactly her gumption came from. “My father taught me not to complain unless I was willing to roll up my sleeves and contribute to the solution. Clearly, the lesson got through. I was a young, unmarried woman who had been a staffer and decided to run against my ex-boss in Arkansas’ Democratic primary. Not necessarily a typical path to Congress.”


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incoln went on to win the general election in a landslide, beating her Republican opponent by receiving 70 percent of the vote. She served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District from 1993 to 1997. Lincoln went on to make history as the youngest


woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 38; an accomplishment that still stands today. Not one to rest on her laurels, Lincoln made history again when she became the first woman in the United States to become chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in its 184-year history. In 2010, Lincoln lost a reelection bid to a third term


in the U.S. Senate. Trou ghout her years in Congress, Lincoln says, she never once considered what she might do post-politics, much less set her sights on a specific second act. “I was too focused on being as good a mother, wife, and U.S. senator as I could be and accomplishing policy goals on behalf of my constituents. After November, former colleagues advised me to take my time and think through where I wanted to be, and I took their advice.” Lincoln was certain of one thing, she wanted to land


in a place that was focused on solving tough public policy challenges and that shared her view that the best way to accomplish that objective is in a bipartisan way. As a policy adviser at Alston & Bird LLP since late May 2011, Lincoln feels she has landed in a great spot. As a native Arkansan, Lincoln is attracted to the


Atlanta-headquartered firm’s southern roots and the culture surrounding that. At Alston she has discovered a great fit for her unique experience. “Coming here I joined a public policy group of other former members of Congress. Senator Bob Dole and former Congressmen Earl Pomeroy and Billy Tauzin who practice what they preach: bipartisanship, problem-solving, and finding consensus. Tat’s what I went to Congress to do and that’s what I want to continue to foster in my profes- sional career,” Lincoln says. Lincoln brings to the firm firsthand experience with


lawmaking and policy knowledge gleaned from years of working on various congressional committees that cover finance, energy, natural resources, agriculture, and health- care. “With policy, it’s about taking the time to get to know your colleagues well because each lawmaker brings their own experiences to decision-making,” she adds. Robert C. Jones, chair of Alston’s D.C.-based legisla- tive and public policy group, says Lincoln is a tremendous


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