Senator Jeanne Shaheen Speaks During Assembly

At Assembly on Friday, May 8, the Academy welcomed United States Senator and previous New Hampshire (NH) Governor Jeanne Shaheen with warm applause. Shaheen, a close friend of current NH Governor Maggie Hassan and Principal Tom Hassan, generously offered to stay for Assembly after speaking earlier in the morning to the alumni class of 1955. In her half-hour Assembly speech, Shaheen shared her experience as an elected politician and discussed the importance of political compromise, while leaving time to engage students in an open Q&A session.

Shaheen has served the state of New Hampshire in a variety of different political positions for many years. Her years in office have shown her the “negative impacts of extreme partisanship in both national and state government.” The antidote to this, Shaheen says, is compromise. With many daunting issues in today’s society, Shaheen found it fitting to discuss this idea in hopes of illuminating a path to solutions.

Shaheen delved deeper into how this bipartisan process would work. “A healthy democracy requires a willingness to seek honest, principled compromises, and that is the only way that we are going to be able to address the greatest challenges of our day,” Shaheen said.

“A healthy democracy requires a willingness to seek honest, principled compromises, and that is the only way that we are going to be able to address the greatest challenges of our day.”

The idea of compromise resonated with Mr. Hassan. The necessary destruction of this “logjam” of parties in Washington is a “critical issue for not only the people in the seats today but as we move forward,” he said.

Additionally, Mr. Hassan connected her idea of compromise with the philosophy behind Harkness-where participants listen and exchange views with their peers. “That’s what Washington needs: a Harkness table,” he said.

After speaking briefly about her experience in politics, Shaheen invited the audience to ask questions.

Mr. Hassan admired this approach, as “it’s hard sometimes for politicians to do that because you just don't know where it [is] going to go.” He also appreciated the thoughtfulness of the students’ questions, and Shaheen’s ability to respond honestly. 

Though her answers were honest, some were unsatisfied with her lack of specifics. “In general her answers were very reserved or conservative. She was very cautious of what was coming out of her mouth,” senior Lazaro Cesar said.

During the Q&A session, Cesar asked Shaheen for her take on the ongoing issue of police brutality and the fight for racial equality, specifically in light of the recent Baltimore riots. He had hoped for a response that resonated more with him. 

“I wanted to hear specifics about policies she’s trying to work on, or bills she’s hoping would pass in the near future, but all I got instead was, ‘This is a problem, and something needs to be done.’ We all know that. Everyone knows that,” Cesar said.

Upper and Republican Club co-head Lily Friedberg asked Shaheen at the assembly for her opinion on First Amendment rights and money in politics. While Friedberg acknowledged that Shaheen was on the spot and felt that a full-fledged response would be difficult, Friedberg was disappointed that Shaheen did not in turn make her own acknowledgements of the complications of political issues. Friedberg personally disagreed with Shaheen’s vision of common sense solutions which seemed, to Friedberg, to be over-simplified and idealized for the complexities of modern society.

“I suppose it would be unfair to expect a full, nuanced answer. It’s a very difficult problem with no easy solution. But I wish that she had admitted that, instead of claiming that ‘common sense’ was the solution to all of our problems,” Friedberg said.

Many students felt conflicted in understanding the pressure and natural limitations of her responses and their own expectations of greater, more in-depth answers.

Hassan recognized that Shaheen’s neutral responses may have been her attempt to avoid approaching situations from a “Democratic” point of view as to further prove the importance of the bipartisanship she had spoken of earlier during the assembly.

Hassan believed that although her responses were toned-down, Shaheen did a nice job of illuminating the overall Washington thought process.

“It’s always hard because she’s coming at it from a Democratic point of view and with these it’s always important to have an overarching view—it’s not just talking about a Democratic agenda or a Republican agenda. I thought she did a nice job of being able to talk about Washington in general,” Hassan said.

Others believed that some questions were unfair to Shaheen and could not have possibly garnered a correct response. Democratic Club co-head and senior Joe Platte said, “Frankly, I think she was put in a difficult position by some of the less articulate questions. You can’t ask a lifelong Democrat to disavow the Democratic party.”

Shaheen was not phased by the students’ difficult questions, but rather thrilled, not because she always had a definitive answer to them, but because the students were so engaged and in-tune with the ongoing problems facing the nation. Shaheen praised the Academy for culturing such proactive individuals.

“Clearly, Academy students are used to posing provocative questions and engaging in lively give-and-take. That’s the way you approach classroom instruction at the Academy, and it’s a good way to approaching issues outside of the classroom, as well,” Shaheen said.

Overall, many appreciated her time and outreach to the younger generation. One of Shaheen’s goals at the assembly was to inspire students to take a stand in political issues.

“I always leave the Academy optimistic about the coming generation of young people. And I came away with the strong impression that Academy students are well prepared to take on the world and create a brighter future for all of us,” Shaheen said.

Despite some criticism, Shaheen’s message and success still reached many in the audience. Platte praised Shaheen and her political work. “She has lived what she talked about on stage. She has a fantastic record of reaching across the aisle and that is why New Hampshire keeps electing her,” Platte said.

Although the responses to Shaheen’s answers vary, all students still enjoyed the opportunity to interact with a well-established politician, especially one as experienced as Shaheen.