Arkansas’ ‘Fifth Congressman’ Ray Reid has died

story by Michael Tilley
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Ray Reid, the chief of staff for U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt who was often known as Arkansas’ “Fifth Congressman,” has died.

He was 90. Reid, who passed away on Saturday, is survived by his wife, Jean, and three daughters and one son.

Reid served more than 23 years as chief of staff to Hammerschmidt and U.S. Reps. Tim Hutchinson and Asa Hutchinson during their service as Arkansas’ 3rd District Congressmen.

Prior to joining Hammerschmidt’s office as chief of staff, Reid retired from the U.S. Army as a full colonel. During Reid’s more than 30 years in the Army, he worked in various departments in the Pentagon, including a stint as liaison between the Pentagon and Congress.

“Ray Reid was certainly valuable to my entire service to the 3rd District,” Hammerschmidt told The City Wire. “In my opinion, he was the best administrative assistant in the House on Capitol Hill in those days. … I’m very grateful to him for 23 years of public service.”

‘PART OF THE GENIUS’
Hammerschmidt said early in his Congressional career that a staffer suggested the recently retired Reid would be a good chief of staff.

“He (staffer) told me he (Reid) was a retired colonel, and I said, ‘I don’t need one of those, because I’ve been one of those,’” joked Hammerschmidt, who was an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II.

The Hammerschmidt-Reid team is credited by several as producing one of the best constituent services programs in Congressional history.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, who now serves the 3rd District, said he did not personally know Reid but is aware he was “part of the genius” of the work that came out of Hammerschmidt’s office.

“I can tell you that a Congressman is only as successful as his staff, and that begins with the chief,” Womack noted.

GUIDING FORCE
Rep. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, was part of the management team at the Northwest Arkansas Council during Reid’s time with Hammerschmidt.

“Ray was the guiding force to John Paul Hammerschmidt’s constituent service record. John Paul, as we all know, was the very best elected official at taking care of constituent problems and their requests for help,” Lindsey explained. “Ray put together a process and trained the staff to ensure all that happened. John Paul told Ray what he wanted to happen with constituent service, and Ray had to create that. … Ray had to instill that spirit of constituent service.”

Lindsey said Reid also knew how to open just the right doors during efforts to authorize and fund construction of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and Interstate 540 between Alma and Fayetteville.

“Ray would be the one to make the calls to the appropriate chief of staff” for the appropriate committee and “get you an appointment,” Lindsey said. “Sometimes the only reason you could get in the door was because Ray had made the calls. … But the thing is, Ray made the calls on behalf of John Paul.”

Reid also could dish out tough love when constituents would ask for something impossible or inappropriate.

“I can tell you that sometimes he would say, ‘Uvalde, this idea isn’t going to hunt.’ So, he would be very frank with you if he had to,” Lindsey said.

FIFTH CONGRESSMAN
“Anything good that’s happened for this part of the state … Ray Reid somewhere had his hand on it,” said Billy Dooly, former president of the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce. “People don’t realize how much he did for Arkansas and this (Congressional) district, but it was more than we’ll ever know and that’s why he was often called our ‘Fifth Congressman.’”

Dooly worked with Reid in several different phases of their lives. First, Dooly was a young Army officer assigned to the Pentagon and frequently reported to Reid. When Dooly became chamber president, they worked together while Reid was Hammerschmidt’s chief of staff.

And in the late 1990s, Hammerschmidt was appointed by then Gov. Mike Huckabee to draft a report on Arkansas’ highway needs. Reid served as Hammerschmidt’s aide during that process, and, because the funding and construction of Interstate 49 was a top chamber priority, Dooly and Reid again worked together.

“That was yet another contribution he made to our state,” Hammerschmidt said of the highway report. “Ray really loved Arkansas.”

When Hammerschmidt’s work with the highway report ended, Dooly helped convince the I-49 Coalition to hire Reid as a consultant.

“In the Pentagon and in his Army time, he was a soldier’s soldier. Ray was respected by everyone on the Washington scene, at all levels,” Dooly said when asked to summarize his thoughts about Reid.

MENTOR, GENTLEMAN
David Olive said Reid was instrumental during the January 1997 transition when Olive became chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Fort Smith.

“He was just a magnificent mentor and a gentleman,” Olive said.

Olive, the founder of Catalyst Partners, a Washington D.C.-based government relations and public affairs firm, said Reid is still remembered as tops in providing constituent service. Olive said Reid would “read every single letter” to a constituent written by a staffer to ensure the grammar was correct, the name was spelled correctly and the most recent info was in the letter.

“That office might send out 1,000 to 1,500 letters a week, but to the person who received a letter, it was the only letter they received from their Congressman. And Ray knew that,” Olive explained.

BIG LESSONS
Olive said Reid provided three “big lessons” during the early 1997 transition.
• Oversight
“He stepped back from his role as an active day-to-day leader and moved into a mentor role with great ease. … He allowed us to learn, but protected us from things that had been tried before but didn’t work.”

• Avoid partisanship
“He literally knew everybody. He had been in some of the biggest issues when they (Republicans) were in the minority,  and he was there when the (House Speaker) Newt Gingrich era took over the House. But there was never an arrogant or partisan attitude with him or among the staff.  … Also, there were very few disputes in his career that were of a personal nature. If he disagreed with you, you knew it was on philosophy or maybe on protocol, but it was never personal.”

• Seek long-term relationships
“Obviously there are some things you have to do on a short-term basis, but it’s always better to consider the long-term. And we learned from that (Reid mentoring) approach that better policy, better legislation often comes when you build a larger and stronger base” of support.

Olive also said the office of U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., still employs the “Ray Reid rule.” The rule requires staffers to leave the office by 5 p.m. on a Friday — barring any special legislative action.

“Mr. Reid insisted that people have a life outside the office,” Olive explained. “It was designed to keep people from burning out, and it has definitely been practiced and handed down for many, many years.”

Olive said the rule is “indicative of how Ray looked after the young idealistic kids who would come to Washington, because it’s so easy to get caught up in 18 hour days.”

FUNERAL PLANS
Hammerschmidt said he spoke with Jean, Reid’s wife, and the plans are for a funeral ceremony in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday (Oct. 15).

Following that, Reid is scheduled to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. However, Jean told Hammerschmidt there is a waiting list for burials and it could be several weeks before a military graveside service is conducted.

Hammerschmidt used the delay to exemplify his thoughts about Reid.

“I told someone today that if Ray was here he could get himself moved to the front of the (burial) line.”