Spartan Profiles: John Walters

NATION’S DRUG CZAR

            Last June, President George W. Bush nominated John Walters, ’74, to be the nation’s Drug Czar—that is, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).   “We’re eager to get to work because there’s lots of work to be done,” says Walters, after being sworn into office on Dec. 7.  “We need to reduce drug use in America in all its forms, from experimental use to dependency.”  

            The importance of the fight against drugs has risen since 9-11, given that some drug profits are laundered into terrorist hands, and John believes that only a balanced strategy that attacks both supply and demand can be effective.  “We need to revitalize the ongoing effort,” he notes.  “Every day many unsung people are working to tackle the problem.  We need to support them in a more effective way.” 

            A native of Lansing, John chose to attend MSU over Michigan because he like the concept of James Madison College.  “At MSU I encountered genuinely challenging academic work,” he recalls.  “It was rigorous.  I really learned to write.  More importantly, I learned the meaning of a serious life of the mind.  I learned to think clearly and to understand issues with depth.”  John names Dick Zinman and Jerry Weinberger as two role models, “examples of the kind of life and dedication I aspired to.” 

            After a teaching career at MSU and Boston College, John was recruited by William Bennett, U.S. Secretary of Education under President Reagan, to develop anti-drug programs and later, to serve as ONDCP’s chief of staff from 1989-91 and deputy director of supply reduction from 1991-93.  By 1993, drug use in the U.S. had reached its lowest level in the previous 23 years.  Walters, Bennett and John J. Dilulio Jr. co-authored Body Count: Moral Poverty and How to Win America’s War Against Crime and Drugs.  With that tremendous background, the chances are good that John will make a significance difference.