Frank Carlucci was an extraordinarily consequential public servant. On April 29, his daughter, Kristin Carlucci Weed, shared his life story as part of the Richard Nixon Foundation’s Distinguished Speaker Series. This program was presented in partnership with Chapman University’s Presidential Studies Program.
Kristin Carlucci Weed is the author of Get Me Carlucci: A Daughter Recounts Her Father’s Legacy of Service. The book interweaves Frank Carlucci’s personal memoirs with Kristin’s narrative and historical research. She believes his example of humility in public service is undervalued, and that younger people can see that bipartisanship in government is possible.
The title of the book came from a Washington Post article from 1981 when Carlucci became Deputy Secretary of Defense. The article explored the question, Get me Carlucci has been said by Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, Ford and President-elect Reagan, but what are the qualities that make one man wanted by so many presidents who have so little in common? It goes on to state, “Carlucci, 50, has what the Washington mighty perceive as the right stuff for the man behind the boss.”
As a Foreign Service Officer in Africa during the tumultuous years of decolonization in the 1960s, Carlucci learned Swahili to be more effective in his role. While implementing humanitarian relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Agnes in 1972, Carlucci served as President Nixon’s personal representative and became “the Father of FEMA.” He was the first Ambassador to Portugal who could speak Portuguese, and served during the pivotal time when Portugal became a democracy (1976-78). Carlucci was intimately involved in shaping Cold War policy as National Security Advisor and Secretary of Defense under President Reagan.
From humble roots as the grandson of an immigrant, to influential roles at the highest levels of American government, the story of Secretary Frank Carlucci offers a positive reminder of what can be accomplished through hard work, humility and devotion to country.
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Signed copies of Get Me Carlucci are available for purchase in the Nixon Library’s Museum store.
