Chicago Tribune Melissa Harris column

Mar 1, 2010 — Chicago Tribune

Melissa Harris

Feb. 28, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- In the last year, Robert Rivkin has steered the "cash for clunkers" program, levied the first fine against an airline for a runway delay, and is now enveloped in the U.S. inquest of Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM)

On Wednesday, Rivkin, the top attorney at the Department of Transportation, sat behind his boss, Secretary Ray LaHood, as dozens of members of Congress faulted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failing to act quickly on reports that some Toyota vehicles unintentionally accelerated.

Toyota is just the latest in a string of increasingly high-profile problems Rivkin has tackled. And if Rivkin's past performance in Chicago is an indicator, LaHood will be well-served.

Rivkin's name first appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune in the early 1990s when, as a U.S. attorney, he prosecuted white-collar criminals, from socialite tax fraudsters to pension fund bilkers. Then, while general counsel at the CTA, he handled a fight with a popular Lincoln Park hot dog stand over the Fullerton "L" station renovation and the aftermath of a proposed pension increase that agency executives tried to slip through while he was on vacation.

But in 2004, only a few months after being hired as deputy general counsel at Aon, then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer slapped the giant insurance broker with subpoenas in a widespread fraud investigation, which resulted in a $190 million settlement. CEO Patrick Ryan put Rivkin in charge of the internal investigation.

"He's a guy who doesn't need to be in the limelight, and his judgment and advice is very solid," Ryan said.

In August, LaHood called Rivkin into his office and put him in charge of the clunkers program, which the agency incorrectly predicted wouldn't take off quickly. The agency faced mounting claims but lacked the staff and technology to process them.

"After a brief moment of hesitation, wordlessness, I, of course, agreed," Rivkin said when LaHood asked him to take over the program. "But to put a finer point on the counterpoint, lawyers usually provide advice and sometimes have operational responsibilities. But this was essentially, at its peak, running a 7,000-person processing business with $3 billion to spend. It was a little different from what I expected to find."

Rivkin's wife, Cindy Moelis, said the program was a wonderful moment for their family. Although the public didn't know Rivkin was running it from his corner office in southeast Washington, which has a view of the Washington Nationals' ballpark and the Anacostia River, their three children did.

"The irony sometimes is in government if you do a really good job like he did, you get no press," she said. "If things hadn't gone as well as they did, there would be an article. ... What else was cute for our kids, is that it's hard for kids to conceptualize what parents do. All of the sudden 'cash for clunkers' was on Jon Stewart. It was part of pop culture. They were so excited. 'Oh, our dad is doing that. That's what he does.'"

Always working behind the scenes

Rivkin, 49, is one of the most respected public-sector lawyers in Chicago, known for hiring top talent and rewarding performance. (For instance, Rivkin threw a party for the clunkers team at Molly Malone's Capitol Hill Saloon in Washington after the last check was cut and helped recruit CTA executive and lawyer Dorval Carter back to the Federal Transit Administration.)

But because of his Midwestern "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" personality, according to one cousin, and a revulsion to dropping names, many people who know him don't realize how deeply entrenched his family is in Democratic politics and business.

His great-grandfather founded J.K. Industries in Chicago and his grandfather, Sol Hammerman, grew it into one of the nation's largest children's clothing manufacturers. His father, William Rivkin, an Iowa native, was U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg under President John Kennedy and Gambia and Senegal under President Lyndon Johnson. He died of a heart attack when Robert was 6. Robert's godfather was Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

His younger brother, Charles Rivkin, whom President Barack Obama appointed U.S. ambassador to France, was CEO of the Jim Henson Co. His cousin, Jonathan Alter, is a columnist for Newsweek. Another cousin, Jamie Alter Lynton, is an Obama fundraiser in California and married to the CEO of Sony (NYSE:SNE) Pictures, Michael Lynton. Another cousin on their father's side, prominent Des Moines businessman Harry Bookey, was one of Iowa's earliest Obama supporters. And yet another cousin, former Illinois Solicitor General Gary Feinerman, was nominated by Obama last week to the federal bench for the Northern District of Illinois.

This doesn't even account for his wife's network. Moelis grew up in New York, met Rivkin at Stanford Law School and provided the link to the Obamas. Moelis worked with Michelle Obama at City Hall in the early 1990s on policy issues.

The couples became friends; Rivkin and Moelis attended the Obamas' wedding and Moelis threw Michelle a baby shower when she was pregnant with Malia. Moelis and Rivkin wrote their first check to Barack Obama -- Moelis says it was for $25 or $75 -- when he ran for state Senate, and the couple and their extended family have been donating ever since. She now serves as the head of the White House Fellows program.

"It's a very Chicago network, and I love all of the connections," Moelis said of the Rivkin family. "Most of them are motivated by public service. ... It's a really wonderful story because my family is much more business-oriented. I grew up. We all went to Wharton undergrad. Ask me why I did that? Well, everybody in my family did."

Family flocked to Iowa caucuses

In comparison, the Iowa caucuses could be considered something of a Rivkin tradition. About 30 family members descended on the political event in 2008 to campaign for Obama, said cousin Jennifer Alter Warden, an executive at Baird and Warner in Chicago. Rivkin said he spent 10 days there, doing everything from buying pizza for volunteers to knocking on doors in the snow. His extended family has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Obamas and raised millions -- with the Los Angeles Times describing one of his relatives as "a true believer."

"The term 'true believer' gives the impression that you see the guy on TV, and wow, you love the way he talked," Rivkin said. "But I've known (Obama) since 1991. It's different when you know the person and are a true believer."

Ambassador Charles Rivkin says his older brother was a tough act to follow.

"He was always the top of his class academically," the younger Rivkin said. "He was influenced by family history. He studied politics at Harvard, interned at the European Commission, clerked for an appellate judge, worked in the mayor's office of legal policy and was policy director for gubernatorial candidate John Schmidt. He has pursued his interest in public service since my earliest memory."

Moelis said her husband has moved between the public and private sectors due to the need for "resources" and because Rivkin knew he had to learn both industries. And perhaps his time spent at Aon, where he led a team of more than 20 lawyers collecting documents and e-mails, and touring the country interviewing employees for the investigation, will be his most valuable asset as the transportation agency delves into Toyota.

The only difference is that Rivkin no longer manages 20 lawyers. He manages 500.

Melissa Harris, who thinks the Rivkin family tree would make an excellent graphic for a political science textbook, can be reached at mmharris@tribune.com or 312-222-4582. She'll be back in Chicago next week with her usual fare.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0197-42463908