MY WARS: SURVIVING WWII & THE FCC
The Memoirs of Former FCC Chairman and
Commissioner James H. Quello
published by Alexis de Tocqueville Institution

Reviewed by Ken Robinson in his Telecommunications Policy Review,
May 20, 2001, webbed by permission of Telecommunications Policy Review.

Some 40 Americans have served as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) since the agency was set up in 1934 and perhaps another 300 have served as commissioners. The number in both regards are necessarily flexible, For years, the FCC rotated the chairmanship the way many state commissions do today, so there’s no real tally (photos posted in the main agency hearing room provides a clue). There also used to be seven FCC Commissioners and they didn’t all hang around that long. Nobody really kept close tabs on who they were, or where they went.

But among former FCC Chairmen and Commissioners, there’s one who certainly stands out – James Quello. “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen [and country-women]”? That might well be his motto or slogan today.

Quello was nominated by President Nixon and served until the second Clinton Administration, just about the longest tenure in regulatory history. A leading Detroit radio broadcaster - he managed WJR, home of Mitch Album these days – Commissioner Quello was nominated to replace former Commissioner Nicholas Johnson, who evidently contested the replacement for some nine months!

On the FCC, Commissioner Quello became perhaps the strongest and most consistent proponent of “free, over-the-air television” and what today would be called “communitarian values” - - that is, the idea that broadcasters have a moral obligation to “give something back” to their community. He was also a staunch supporter of public broadcasting, and chaired a Congressional study commission on that institution’s long-term financing.

Commissioner Quello served as Chairman for much of 1993. During that time, the FCC “re-regulated” cable television, as required by 1992 legislation, and also created the “Personal Communications Service” (PCS) digital cellphone business. Over the next few years, Quello was regarded as the last best hope of Congress and the industry when it came to moderating the pro-regulatory exuberance of former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. In 1997 both left the FCC – their departure was reminiscent of one of those Cold War Berlin bridge spy exchanges, with Congress insisting that Commissioner Quello not leave the premises until Chairman Hundt was definitely gone.

Now, Commissioner Quello has published his memoirs. The book’s not long (146 pages) and covers both his FCC career and his life as a World War II infantry commander and commercial broadcaster. The book’s necessarily episodic. It doesn’t mention everything. But the book is also unflaggingly enthusiastic, ebullient. Eighty-seven, Commissioner Quello remains the perennial enthusiast, optimist. That sort of appealing Midwestern cheerfulness and optimism comes across, and across quite well.

Second, the book lends itself to what most people these days like most – brief excerpt reading. Publications like Reader’s Digest, USA Today, and People command vast readership because all you need do is read a couple of hundred words to get the story. The Commissioner reportedly wrote advertising copy for years. He was also the unusual Government official who wrote nearly all his public utterances. That approach and talent is evident here. It facilitates reading.

Third, the Commissioner’s book seems to appeal to both professionals and executive assistants. “That’s really interesting” is a comment heard from secretaries who’ve read the Quello writing. “Can I see that again when you’re finished with it?” is another. When you’ve produced a book with that sort of universal appeal – heck! You might even sell a fair number of copies, right?

Now, the book’s published by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute in Arlington, Virginia. You can get order information on the Internet. A good deal of the discussion is classic “inside-the-Beltway” -- ideological and bureaucratic battles which are important, but still don’t appeal that much to regular Americans at the Silver Diner in Dubuque. There’s a good deal of World War II history. There are a diversity of pictures, including several of the Commissioner’s late wife, Mary, eulogized at her funeral a “a woman of the 1990s – in the 1950s”!

Here’s a brief excerpt which reiterates an opinion consistently advanced by the Commissioner over some 30 years—

Congress and the FCC are recognizing that in the competitive multi-channel, multi-faceted communications world of today, with even more oncoming tomorrow, the laws limiting broadcast channel ownership are outdated. The liberalization of ownership restrictions is resulting in more TV and communications mergers causing the surmise by activist groups that broadcast service to the public will deteriorate.

I don’t agree. TV stations remain the most important local service in the cable, pay per view, digital, Internet communications universe. …In fact, local services will still be a major factor in determining leadership.

It is important to remember that consumer acceptance and audience approval will always be essential tot he success, and even survival, of all communications services. So ultimately the public is still in control.

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