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Floor Speech
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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, over the weekend, our Nation lost an outstanding public servant, and I lost a dear friend of nearly 40 years.
Janet Gardner Mullins Grissom was a proud daughter of Louisville, a trailblazing government leader, and my very first Chief of Staff here in the Senate. She passed away at the age of 73.
I believe Janet was a 29-year-old single mom when she and her young daughter Shannon arrived here in the Nation's Capital, determined to start a new chapter. To give you a sense of Janet's spirit, here is what she would later say about her first job interview:
I told them I could take dictation, which I couldn't, but I figured I could learn.
Janet had smarts. She had tenacity. And she had a communication style that one might delicately call direct. Our hometown newspaper would later report that she had ``a salty tongue.'' Well, that was putting it mildly. She was a riot. She was a force of nature. And those qualities fueled a meteoric rise.
By the time I met Janet at some parent-teacher function at both of our daughters' school back in 1983, she had already ascended to the top rank of Senate staffers and actually left Washington to go back home to Louisville.
As you can imagine, I had to cajole Janet into heading up my long- shot first Senate campaign. I understand Shannon only permitted her mom to take the job and the potential return to Washington that winning might entail because Janet had assured her there was virtually no chance we would pull it off. Surprisingly, we did pull it off. We packed our boxes for Washington. I believe Shannon at least got a new puppy for a consolation prize.
Janet's veteran know-how helped me hit the ground running and make an impact from the start. She could ask for sensitive meetings, explain detailed policy issues, and curse a blue streak at some unruly reporter--and that she would all do before lunchtime. You couldn't imagine a better friend to have in your corner.
I believe she was the first woman to serve two different Senators as chief of staff. After my office, Janet's next stop was the political operation of then-Vice President Bush. That is where she met James A. Baker after he left President Reagan's Cabinet to oversee the Bush campaign in 1988. Apparently, while the other campaign staff greeted the famous newcomer with the awe and deference one might expect, Janet marched down the hallway barefoot and said: ``Hey, Jim, nice to meet you.'' Everyone else recoiled, but Jim Baker laughed. When he became Bush 41's Secretary of State, Janet went with him and served as Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs. When Baker became White House Chief of Staff, Janet went with him and became an assistant to the President. And when Janet left government for the private sector, she kept on blazing trails. She spent a decade helping steer the Ford Motor Company as a senior officer.
So Janet Mullins Grissom built a prototypical Washington, DC, powerhouse resume by being a thoroughly untypical Washington person. Brilliant and accomplished, yes, but tough as nails and a little rough around the edges in the best ways.
That same spine of steel helped Janet hold a serious illness at bay for a number of years. Up to just a few days ago, she was still in the fray, still tweeting up a storm on politics and media criticism, relishing the good fight right to the end.
Janet lived to see her most lasting legacy come full circle. Her older grandson, Harry, has a startup business. Her younger grandson, Sam, has gone into political communications himself. He even spent a couple of years in my office as an outstanding speechwriter and press aide. I know Janet was thrilled to see the boys thriving.
Elaine and I send our deepest condolences to Janet's husband Tom, her beloved daughter Shannon, and her grandchildren, Harry and Sam, and all the family members, friends, and colleagues mourning this tremendous loss.
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