Reagan’s ‘microphone’ man

Jerry Carmen was a major player in NH business and politics

Gerald P. Carmen died in early September, at age 93. For those too young to remember him, or who have moved to New Hampshire since Jerry Carmen was in his heyday, the significance of his passing is unknown. During his time, however, Carmen was a major player.

A Manchester native, Carmen attended UNH and returned to Manchester to open a car repair, tire sales and automotive business, known as Car-Go Home and Auto Centers, originally on Canal Street, and then on Elm Street after Canal was widened and made four lanes.  He later expanded to locations across southern New Hampshire.

When I joined our law firm, I was assigned the Car-Go files, and I got to know Jerry Carmen as a tough client, who could bargain hard, but then would discuss politics and public policy on an intellectual basis while riding home from the tough negotiations.

During the 1950s, Carmen, along with Kimon Zachos, Richard Morse and David Nixon, was one of the “young bucks” of Republican politics in Manchester and the state. Carmen ran for alderman and mayor, losing both offices, but made many connections. When the others migrated to the Walter Peterson “moderate” side of the party, Carmen turned to the more conservative wing, supporting Meldrim Thomson when he defeated Peterson in the 1972 primary and went on the become governor.

When Thomson later supported Carmen for chairman of the Republican State Committee, and he was elected, Carmen named me counsel to the state committee, which gave me an inside look at the direction of the party, selection of candidates and strategy. For a young attorney, this was heady stuff. Seeing the inside discussions of recruitment, and private opinions of GOP office holders, demonstrated the practical side of politics, to say the least, and Carmen’s dedication and hard work were obvious.

At the state convention in 1976, Carmen named me and a state representative as the parliamentarians. He made a ruling from the chair that those who came after a certain hour could not vote, and that ruling was challenged by those affected, who thought he had done so since they were from a part of the state more liberal than he. We searched the rules and could find no support for his action, and so ruled.

He accepted the ruling without comment, but later I read in the Union Leader that someone else, W. Stephen Thayer, had been named counsel to the state committee. Jerry never commented on it to me again, and I continued to represent his businesses! Thayer went on to work with Carmen in presidential campaigns and became U.S. Attorney and a NH Supreme Court justice.

In 1980, Carmen supported Ronald Reagan for president, and reportedly was part of the planning in the famous “I paid for this microphone, Mr. Green” exchange with the Bush supporters in Nashua, which was a turning point. Named New England chairman for Reagan, Carmen worked tirelessly for his candidate who, when president-elect, named Carmen director of the General Services Administration, the agency responsible for all government vehicles, facilities and support. About the same time, we helped Carmen sell his businesses.

It was fascinating helping Jerry fill out the forms he needed to submit to support his nomination, and Bill Green and I spent hours with him helping. He was confirmed to the job, heading an agency he may never have heard of prior to being named.

As a lobbyist in those days for the motion picture industry, as part of my practice, I was invited to a fundraiser on Capitol Hill for Gov. John H. Sununu. I got there with one of the heads of the client in a large car with a driver, just as Jerry Carmen was arriving in the smallest Chevy subcompact, since he assigned himself the smallest automobile in the GSA fleet, as an example to other employees.

We laughed at his remark that his lawyer came in the limo, and he came in the Vega.  He received accolades for streamlining the agency and saving the government money as a tough negotiator.

After several years in the GSA job, Reagan named Carmen ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. Those who knew Jerry did not think of him as a diplomat. Again, Bill Green and I spent hours with him, filling out the supporting documentation for his appointment to be considered by the Senate.

After his confirmation to the job, Carmen did well in Geneva, playing a significant part in the meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev that resulted in agreements that led to the unraveling of the Soviet Union.

Retiring to New Hampshire and Washington after public service, Carmen started a government relations firm He lived in the Seacoast quietly until his death.

Jerry Carmen, like so many NH people, had a significant life and made many contributions to his state and country, not without controversy. However, his passing and accomplishments should not go without notice. I am glad I knew him.

Brad Cook is a Manchester attorney. The views expressed in this column are his own. He can be reached at bradfordcook01@gmail.com.