the eXtRAoRdinARy octogenARiAn 377
property protection through a congressional initiative he dreamed up and
testified on.
Besides undiminished energy, he has more disposable income. His law-
yering and lobbying for K&L Gates’ clients is more lucrative by far than the
Senate. He’s delighted to be able to help with college tuition for his grand-
children and glad he’s had more time to watch them grow up and take them
out to the ball game. Safeco Field is just a few blocks from his office.
The past three years have been laced with boards and commissions.
He was a member of the National War Powers Commission and co-chair-
man of a panel reviewing federal transportation policy for the Bipartisan
Policy Center. Formed in 2007 by former Senate majority leaders How-
ard Baker, Bob Dole, Tom Daschle and George Mitchell, the center incu-
bates ideas to meet major challenges. To modernize surface transporta-
tion in America, Gorton’s group concluded that federal funds need to be
allocated through a performance-based system that ties spending to na-
tional goals, including economic growth, connectivity, safety, security
and environmental protection.^1
Gorton also joined the advisory board of the William D. Ruckelshaus
Center, a regional think tank to promote collaborative problem solving.
The center is named in honor of his longtime friend, a widely respected
former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. It works
with faculty and students at Washington State University and the Evans
School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. In 2008 the
center set out to assist the Legislature by mediating talks between envi-
ronmentalists and farmers over land-use regulations. Gorton is an enthu-
siastic participant, stimulated by the chance to tackle diverse problems
and the caliber of the board. Besides Ruckelshaus, it includes Dan Evans,
Bill Gates Sr., Billy Frank Jr. of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commis-
sion, former secretary of state Ralph Munro and ex-House speaker Joe
King. “The methodology of the Ruckelshaus Center is, I am convinced,
the wave of the future,” Gorton says.^2
the 2008 pResidentiAL cAMpAign featured a measured reconciliation
of Gorton and McCain. Besides refusing to endorse Gorton’s candidacy
for the federal bench, the Arizonan had been a sworn enemy of Trent
Lott. The grudge stemmed from McCain’s conviction that Lott had helped
spread scurrilous rumors about him to boost Bush during their bitter
fight for the GOP nomination in 2000. Two years later, however, McCain
rose to Lott’s defense when Bush joined the push to oust him as majority
leader over a racially-charged remark Lott ad-libbed at Strom Thurmond’s