Loyal lieutenant finishes his term as bridge, arbiter

WASHINGTON -- When Philip Johnston, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, visited his old friend Andrew Card at the White House a few weeks ago, Card made a point of introducing him to stunned White House staffers who couldn't believe that these two ideological opponents remained close friends.

''He gets a charge out of it," Johnston said with a laugh.

It is one of those quirks of Card's life that even in hyperpolarized Washington, Card is well liked across the aisle, especially among those who share his Massachusetts roots.

Yet for five years as White House chief of staff, Card also flourished in Bush world, a place that puts a premium on loyalty and discretion as well as nerves steely enough to play rough without looking mussed. Card did all that -- almost without making enemies -- so his resignation yesterday surprised many in Washington who thought Card would serve out Bush's term while a rumored White House ''shake-up" fell elsewhere.

''If a person could be a country, Andy Card is Switzerland with principles," said Richard Bond, former chairman of the Republican National Committee. ''He's a safe harbor."

But the job of tending a president and managing his staff is an exhausting one. Card was up at 4:20 every morning, at his desk 50 yards from the Oval Office by 5:30, where he crammed news and intelligence reports, and was usually not home until 9 p.m.

Even for a guy ''who needs little sleep," as his longtime friend, Republican lobbyist Ronald Kaufman, noted, the schedule took its toll.

Colleagues said Card survived because he refused to stir up, or get drawn into, emotionally draining palace intrigues. ''He was not seen as being a faction leader," said Andrew Natsios, a fellow Massachusetts transplant who served as director of US Agency for International Development. ''He was a neutral arbiter who saw his job as getting the facts before the president."

Card, who has served in the White House under three presidents, also has a reputation as an ''iron fist in a velvet glove," as Natsios put it. First called to Washington by President Reagan to oversee intergovernmental affairs, he later became deputy chief of staff to George H. W. Bush, and carried out the task of firing his boss, John Sununu. As chief of staff to the current President Bush, he has a reputation for being a stickler for rules and having an uncanny memory that he trained by applying the precepts of a 16th-century Italian Jesuit.

''He has almost no paper on his desk," Natsios said.

Card has been attached to the Bush family for a quarter-century, displaying a fierce loyalty that they in turn have rewarded with positions at the center of power.

''He keeps his mouth shut," said Bond. ''He's the ultimate loyalist."

It was Card who was standing nearby when the elder Bush threw up on Japan's prime minister during a presidential visit to Asia. And, on a grimmer note, it was Card who interrupted the younger Bush -- then reading to Florida schoolchildren -- to whisper: ''A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."

The resignation yesterday of this former Massachusetts lawmaker prompted speculation that he might return to the Bay State to pursue a political career that was cut short in 1982, when he failed to secure the Republican nomination for governor.

Despite being in Washington for more than two decades, Card still owns a house in downtown Holbrook, across the street from where he grew up, and he is still registered to vote in Massachusetts. The president teases him about his accent ''almost daily," he told the Globe last year.

''He's a great politician, loves to campaign, loves to give speeches, loves to work the crowds," said Kaufman, who added that Card hasn't had time to think about future plans.

But other friends say Card remains rooted in Washington. His wife, Rev. Kathleene Card, is deeply involved in her Methodist church, and the couple's four grandchildren are nearby.

''I don't think he'll return," said Johnston.

Card was elected to the Massachusetts House as a moderate who supported abortion rights and gay rights, ending his tenure in 1983 after his failed governor's race. He served as Massachusetts chairman for the senior Bush's presidential run in 1980 before Reagan tapped him to run intergovernmental affairs.

After serving in the first Bush White House, he had a stint as US transportation secretary, followed by several years as an auto-industry lobbyist.

Last fall, on C-SPAN, Card explained the job of presidential chief of staff this way: ''There is great temptation to want to be the president's friend. But I fight that temptation every day and remind myself that I'm a staffer . . . Now as soon as he says goodbye to me, I want to be his friend."

On April 15, Andy Card gets that chance.