FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

“Over the years, [David] Rubenstein’s Democratic allegiance has loosened. In 1990, Carlyle put George W. Bush, who had just left the oil business in Texas, on the Caterair board. In the late nineties, Rubenstein and Rogoff still hosted the [Jimmy] Carters at their Nantucket vacation home, but they more often socialized with George and Barbara Bush. In 2000, Rubenstein, Rogoff, and their three children (two daughters and a son, now grown) accompanied Barbara Bush and her grandchildren on a safari. That same year, Rubenstein and Rogoff attended Barbara Bush’s seventy-fifth-birthday party, in Kennebunkport.

“Rubenstein has admitted that his relationship with the Bush family affected his politics, but he also developed strong ties with the Clinton Administration. In 2001, Carlyle hired two former Clinton officials—the chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. For years, Rubenstein has refrained from contributing to political campaigns, and Carlyle has never formed a political-action committee. Rubenstein told Reuters in 2012, ‘I don’t really try to get involved politically by giving money to politicians or by saying I’m a Democrat or Republican. Right now, I just view myself as an American.’ Last year, when President Obama visited Anchorage, he had dinner with Rogoff at her home.”

Alec MacGillis, “The Billionaires’ Loophole,” New Yorker, March 14, 2016, pp: 64-73.