Philanthropist David Rubenstein took the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum stage on Monday to share his thoughts on public service, education, and the importance of history—among other lessons.
Rubenstein served in President Jimmy Carter’s administration, founded the private equity firm the Carlyle Group, and is known for his “patriotic philanthropy,” supporting the preservation of buildings and objects central to American history. A donor to the arts and education—and a chair of seven nonprofit boards—he is a member of the Harvard Corporation and a major supporter of the Kennedy School. Rubenstein is also an avid reader and writer, and he interviews public leaders for Bloomberg’s The David Rubenstein Show. All these subjects were fodder for a wide-ranging Forum conversation, billed as “Leadership Lessons in History, Investing, and Public Service.”
Joining Rubenstein for the discussion were HKS faculty members Graham Allison, the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, and Meghan O’Sullivan, incoming director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School. Setti Warren, the newly named director of the Institute of Politics, introduced the event.
We share a few perspectives from Rubenstein below.
On humor:
“I do use humor. I got the concept of it from a man after whom this place is named. When I was a little boy, I would watch the press conferences of John Kennedy, and he had incredible self-deprecating humor. When you have self-deprecating humor, it usually works. It’s really hard to screw up self-deprecating humor, although I have seen some people do it. … When I do an interview, I either use self-deprecating humor or am able to have the person I am interviewing do self-deprecating humor.”
On Jimmy Carter:
“He was a peanut farmer. I said, I don’t know if this is really going to work. Carter has no chance of getting elected, but he did. I joined his campaign when he was 34 points ahead of Gerald Ford, and when I was finished, Carter won by one point. So, Carter asked me, ‘What was your contribution?’”
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