The overwhelming perception in political circles is that anyone worth considering for vice president is already a household name, or at least well-known in political circles. This has led, in the conventional wisdom, to the dismissal of several rising GOP stars — Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal? Not ready yet. Sarah Palin? Alaska’s too far away and too small a proving ground. Tim Pawlenty? The Minnesota governor is barely noticed on the national scene.
If three sitting governors can be dismissed as “unknowns,” one can only imagine the chattering class’ reaction to the sudden buzz about Frederick W. Smith.
Most Americans have never heard of Smith, a McCain campaign co-chair. But they know, usually admire, and have probably used the company he built from the ground up, Federal Express (today simply FedEx).
Smith isn’t even a well-known figure within the McCain camp, although he fits a recurring theme in McCain’s remarks about “dollar-a-year men,” bright figures from the corporate sector coming to Washington to overhaul failing bureaucracies and spur new and innovative approaches to government services.
For a man most Americans couldn’t identify in a police lineup, Smith has led a remarkable life. His grandfather was a steamboat captain, and his father, who died when Smith was four, built from scratch a regional bus line that became part of Greyhound. His mother and uncles raised him, and he learned to fly a plane as a teenager. While at Yale University, he was a classmate and fraternity brother of George W. Bush and worked weekends as a charter pilot. The most often-cited anecdote in profiles of Smith is the story of a paper for a class at Yale detailing the need for reliable overnight delivery in the information age, about a decade before the birth of Federal Express. Smith recollects he got his “usual C” for the idea. He was a member of Skull and Bones, and one of his closest friends was John Kerry.
After getting a bachelor’s in economics, Smith joined the Marines and served two tours of duty in Vietnam, receiving the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. (Interestingly, he has
called the Vietnam War “one of the great historical mistakes of all times.”)
But Smith was still devoted to the overnight-shipping concept, and raised $80 million from investors to found Federal Express. The business’ first two years were chaotic; another oft-cited anecdote is that in 1973, he was in such dire need of cash that he flew to Las Vegas, won $27,000 at blackjack, and wired the money back to his struggling company.
Federal Express grew, of course, into an icon of modern business and one of the great American success stories, perennially ranking on
Fortune magazine’s industry lists, including World’s Most Admired Companies, America’s Most Admired Companies, the 100 Best Companies to Work For, and the Blue Ribbon Companies List.
Smith played himself in the Tom Hanks movie
Cast Away, and is getting involved in financing film production with the company making
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
There is little doubt that as a CEO, Smith was indeed a leader; he has constantly touted the importance of rewarding workers and building loyalty.
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