PolitiQuips
Jim Boren's Wit Silenced, but Lives On
Although his career spanned education, politics and government, Boren's claim to worldwide fame was achieved as a humorist, speaker and author dedicated to reforming bureaucracy.
He was the founder of the National Association of Professional Bureaucrats (later expanded to the International Association of Professional Bureaucrats) and coined the slogan: "When in charge, ponder. When in trouble, delegate. When in doubt, mumble."
Boren launched his crusade as a reformer after serving as campaign manager and later chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough, D-Texas. After engaging in the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, he was apponted in 1961 as the deputy director of the U.S. Economic Mission to Peru. He conceived the Partners of the Alliance, which brought together private sectors of the U.S. and Latin America in a grass-roots people-oriented program.
As a political satirist, Boren became a popular speaker and traveled widely sharing such witticisms as "bureaucracy is the epoxy that greases the wheels of govenment" and as a talented artist he created the "Order of the Bird", a potbellied bird sculpture which he awarded to various government and private agencies and individuals.
For years he maintained a presence in Washington, sharing an office with John Cosgrove, a fellow veteran of World War II who served with him on the USS William C. Cole destroyer escort in several Pacific battles.
When he ran a spoof campaign for president in 1991, his slogan was, "I've got what it takes to take what you've got." He also made serious runs for Congress in Virginia and Oklahoma. He was a cousin of David Boren, a former governor and U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, who now is president of the University of Oklahoma.
Boren was the author of seven books, including "When in Doubt, Mumble", "Fuzzify!" and "How to Be a Sincere Phony: A Handbook for Politicians and Bureaucrats."
Returning to his home state of Oklahoma, he became a scholar-in-residence in 1991 at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. After he retired from teaching, Boren and his wife, Norma, moved to Whitesboro, Texas.
Boren was a luncheon speaker as a member of the faculty of the 2007 Will Rogers Writers' Workshop in Oklahoma City.
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Washington has lost one of its favorite funnymen.
Dr. James H. Boren, better known as Jim Boren, died April 24 in Tahlequah, Okla. He was 84 and had been in failing health.
Although his career spanned education, politics and government, Boren's claim to worldwide fame was achieved as a humorist, speaker and author dedicated to reforming bureaucracy.
He was the founder of the National Association of Professional Bureaucrats (later expanded to the International Association of Professional Bureaucrats) and coined the slogan: "When in charge, ponder. When in trouble, delegate. When in doubt, mumble."
Boren launched his crusade as a reformer after serving as campaign manager and later chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough, D-Texas. After engaging in the presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, he was apponted in 1961 as the deputy director of the U.S. Economic Mission to Peru. He conceived the Partners of the Alliance, which brought together private sectors of the U.S. and Latin America in a grass-roots people-oriented program.
As a political satirist, Boren became a popular speaker and traveled widely sharing such witticisms as "bureaucracy is the epoxy that greases the wheels of govenment" and as a talented artist he created the "Order of the Bird", a potbellied bird sculpture which he awarded to various government and private agencies and individuals.
For years he maintained a presence in Washington, sharing an office with John Cosgrove, a fellow veteran of World War II who served with him on the USS William C. Cole destroyer escort in several Pacific battles.
When he ran a spoof campaign for president in 1991, his slogan was, "I've got what it takes to take what you've got." He also made serious runs for Congress in Virginia and Oklahoma. He was a cousin of David Boren, a former governor and U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, who now is president of the University of Oklahoma.
Boren was the author of seven books, including "When in Doubt, Mumble", "Fuzzify!" and "How to Be a Sincere Phony: A Handbook for Politicians and Bureaucrats."
Returning to his home state of Oklahoma, he became a scholar-in-residence in 1991 at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. After he retired from teaching, Boren and his wife, Norma, moved to Whitesboro, Texas.
Boren was a luncheon speaker as a member of the faculty of the 2007 Will Rogers Writers' Workshop in Oklahoma City.
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