OLAF GROWALD
A walk through the downtown Fort Worth office of the co-founder of Corley Pipes is a veritable stroll through history and some priceless mementos.
Kasey Pipes serves as a public affairs specialist who focuses on media relations, crisis communication, and issue management. Before that, he spent 10 years in politics as a communications and policy adviser working for U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth), in the George W. Bush administration, as well as California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Pipes is also a historian, authoring two books on former presidents. One was a biography of Dwight Eisenhower, Ike’s Final Battle, an examination of the president’s role in race relations and desegregating Little Rock Central High School. The other was titled After the Fall, detailing the public rehabilitation of former President Richard Nixon. Both books were critical successes.
Along the way, Pipes has picked up some historic mementos. We explore it.
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Copies of Pipes’ two books.
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In the Summer of 1995, Pipes interned in President Reagan's post-presidential office in California. “He had announced he had Alzheimer's about six months prior. When I saw him that summer, he was still in good shape. He did occasionally repeat himself. But he was very much still the Gipper.”
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“This was June 5, 2002. It's what happens when the president is unhappy with a speech you wrote. He had already called me three times that morning with edits. Finally, he summoned me to the Oval Office to show me additional edits. I have other photos with him. But this remains my all-time favorite.”
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“I was at the White House in my office the morning of 9-11. So, I took it kind of personally. I sought out a military commission and was chosen as a Naval Reserve Officer in Public Affairs. This is the presidential commissioning document. I served for eight years in the Reserves.”
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A sculpture of Teddy Roosevelt, 26th president. “There are six small busts in the office representing my three favorite presidents and three favorite prime ministers: Lincoln, TR, Reagan, Disraeli, Churchill, and Thatcher. I tend to favor leaders who were communicators and those who were writers.”
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“In 1937, Winston Churchill was finishing the fourth volume of his biography of his ancestor, John Churchill, known to history as the first Duke of Marlborough. This is a letter Churchill wrote to his editor in London,” which includes handwritten notes. “I bought it from an auction house, and it wasn't cheap. But to me, it's priceless.”