FAREWELL TO FRANK
Saying goodbye P
American Gaming Association President and CEO Frank J Fahrenkopf Jr looks back and looks ahead. A farewell to an industry legend, by Sharon Harris
lanning for his June 30 retirement, American Gaming Association (AGA) President/CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. admits he never expected to spend 17 years as the public face of gaming. Looking back
over his professional life, he says his career’s three distinct phases have each given him extraordinary opportunities, experiences and memories. From a young small town lawyer in Reno, Nevada,
Fahrenkopf’s expanded his professional reach to an international stage he never could have imagined. During his 1980s political career, Fahrenkopf interacted with presidents and royalty, dignitaries and statesmen. Finally, his leadership of the AGA since 1996 has increased it from a small group of industry VIPs to a global gaming force of 513 casino properties in 23 American states. Fahrenkopf‘s future plans do not include slowing
down because he has no intention of “going gently into that good night.“ Fahrenkopf will consult with the AGA through December 2013 to ensure a smooth transition. Well wishers may say farewell at the September G2E expo, which he will attend.
GEOGRAPHY SETS HIS FUTURE Although born in Brooklyn, New York, Fahrenkopf
has always considered himself a westerner. Following a custody conflict in 1949, his father, Frank Fahrenkopf Sr., moved ten-year-old Frank and his seven-year-old sister Linda to Reno, Nevada – the then divorce capital of the U.S. The family established a six-week residency to comply with Nevada’s divorce requirements, planning to ultimately settle in Los Angeles. The elder Fahrenkopf, an auto mechanic, decided to remain in the sleepy, mountainous gambling mecca of 35,000 that was Nevada’s largest town during the 1940s. Fahrenkopf Sr. found work and raised his two children. All did not go smoothly for
Fahrenkopf. He recalls confronting
western culture shock. “I wore cowboy boots, Levis, a blue satin shirt with pearl buttons and a cowboy hat on my first day in school. The boys beat the
30 JUNE 2013
crap out of me, and then threw me into a mud puddle,” he says. Following his 1957 high school graduation,
Fahrenkopf served six months in the Army Reserve program in California. The privilege of attending the University of Nevada in Reno (UNR) in 1958 required him to work as a postal employee to pay his way. Fahrenkopf met freshman Mary Bandoni from
Hawthorne, Nevada at a basketball tournament in late 1957 and immediately predicted their marriage. They did marry in August 1962 after his graduation. Always athletic, Fahrenkopf initially studied
physical education and coached youth baseball in college, but graduated with English teaching credentials. However, law school appealed to him after his 1962 graduation and the newlyweds moved to California. Mary worked as a secretary to put Fahrenkopf through Berkeley’s Boalt Hall Law School where he earned his law degree in 1965. Throughout law school, Fahrenkopf participated in
extracurricular campus activities. He and classmate Ted Olson, the future United States Solicitor General during the George W. Bush Administration, joked about being the only two Republicans at Berkeley during the 1960s campus unrest. “What drew me to the Republicans? I never
believed that the phony free speech movement and its leadership promoted free speech. I emerged as quite conservative,” Fahrenkopf says. The Fahrenkopfs returned to Reno because he
recognized the professional advantages of a smaller population. It was easier to make connections and he joined a small firm as a criminal trial lawyer. His practice grew more political and Fahrenkopf became the president of the Reno Young Republicans and the national committeeman of the Nevada Young Republicans. As the Republican National Committee‘s youngest member, his participation propelled him into the chairmanship of the Nevada Republican Party in 1975. Fahrenkopf‘s rise continued, first chairing the
Western Chairmen and then chairing all Republican state chairmen. His life’s multiple responsibilities included his legal practice, a family with three young daughters and Republican Party volunteer duties. “I had a purpose and have always believed in
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