J A N E. M. S W I F T '87

The following feature article appeared in the campus publication MOSAIC in May, 1999.

A POLITICAL DYNAMO BLAZING NEW TRAILS

Like virtually all new mothers, Jane M. Swift ’87 is exuberant today when she describes her six-month-old daughter, Elizabeth Ruth. Maternal bias aside, the infant is indeed special. Her birth, announced on her mother’s campaign stationery two weeks before Swift was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts last year, capped a tidal wave of political and national media attention on the issues of family and work.

A Republican from North Adams, MA, Swift began her career in politics in 1990 at age 25 when she became the youngest woman ever elected to the Massachusetts State Senate. After serving in the Senate for six years, she left the legislature to challenge the incumbent in the heavily Democratic First Congressional District. She lost by 6 percentage points but won praise for her energetic campaigning style. From 1997 to early 1998, she served as director of regional airport development at the Massachusetts Port Authority and director of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.

Swift’s "expectant" run, which drew the attention of the national television program "20/20" and coverage in newspapers from Montana to Florida, marked the first time a candidate delivered a baby while running for office in Massachusetts. How does she respond to all the hoopla? "If you have a young man who decides to run for the State Senate at 25, he’s ambitious and he’s headed for great things," she observes. "You have a young woman and people question her sanity."

Many have lauded Swift’s decision to choose politics as a career. The Washington Post called her a "political dynamo," and Glamour magazine listed her as one of the "Eleven Women Who Could Change the Country." This month’s issues of Working Woman magazine and Glamour both feature stories about her as a politician, mother, and wife.

A public policy focus

An American studies major at Trinity, Swift took full advantage of the College’s liberal arts curriculum but found that courses in political science reaffirmed and intensified her already established interest in politics. Specifically, a course in "Administration and Public Policy," taught by Professor of Political Science Clyde McKee, provided her with an inkling of what her future calling might be. "It came so easy to me; it was just a joy," she recalls. "I think back on many of the casework examples and the decision-making paradigms as something I utilize to this day."

In the summer after her sophomore year, Swift made her first foray into public service by interning with State Sen. Peter C. Webber (R-Pittsfield) in which position she helped solve constituents’ problems. One problem, in particular, had special resonance with her. "A young woman from my hometown had changed schools and was having problems transferring her [Massachusetts] state scholarship," Swift recalls. "One of those scholarships helped me finance my Trinity education, so I understood the relevance of whether or not that $800 got billed in a timely way and whether you could register for courses on time. I was able to help her. It always stood out for me as a stark demonstration of the importance of public service to an individual’s life."

Following graduation, Swift made a detour from her political track and participated in the management training program at the well-known (but since closed) Hartford department store G. Fox. The yearlong experience, she says, indirectly but significantly contributed to her political success by helping her to develop her people-management skills. "I was probably the only member of the state Senate who wrote job descriptions for their staff and conducted employee evaluations on a regular basis," she notes.

Relenting to the lure of politics, in 1988 she rejoined Senator Webber’s staff as a legislative aide and ran for his seat when he left office. While campaigning for office in 1990, she met her husband, Charles Hunt III, and they married five years ago. Presently, Hunt is taking a respite from his job running the family farm and operating heavy equipment in order to stay at home in Boston to care for their daughter.

Today, Swift says she has accomplished two of her lifelong dreams: to become a mother and to serve in high office. What goals remain for a person who describes herself as someone who consistently burns the candle at both ends? "After I left the congressional race, I was invited for a monthlong fellowship at Williams College and enjoyed that as much as anything I’ve done in public service," Swift says. "I can see myself being a college professor at some point. I also theorize that being elected to a statewide office at 33 will create a lot of opportunities for elective office in the future. The string of firsts that I have amassed certainly would be capped if I were the first woman governor of Massachusetts."

-Suzanne Zack