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Part Butler & Part Buddy, Aide Keeps Kerry Running (NY Times interviews Kerry's Butler)
NY Times ^ | 4/28/04

Posted on 04/28/2004 11:38:37 AM PDT by areafiftyone

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, April 27 — The man who would be president takes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — on whole wheat, strawberry jelly preferred to grape — twice a day on the campaign trail. He wears $15 reading glasses, off the rack at CVS. Before bedtime, he starts but rarely finishes movies like "Seabiscuit" and "The Blues Brothers" in his hotel suite. Come morning, he leaves $20 for the maid.

Voters do not learn these tidbits about Senator John Kerry, the all-but-crowned Democratic nominee for president, from his campaign Web site, his public speeches or his television advertisements. These and other details make up the portfolio of the man literally behind the man, ready with an uncapped bottle of water whenever Mr. Kerry's throat runs dry.

Meet Marvin Nicholson Jr., chief of stuff.

"I can't help with policy, I don't do press," said Mr. Nicholson, 32, a former bartender and golf caddie who never voted before meeting Mr. Kerry in 1998. "When he wants that peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I'm ready."

So Mr. Nicholson crisscrosses the country with a loaf of bread in his bag. He makes most of the sandwiches himself, sometimes supplementing with room service. An exploration of the bursting black satchel always affixed to his shoulder turns up one of those sandwiches, wrapped in foil, protected by Ziploc bag, as well as an empty, jelly-pocked bag, vintage unknown. "Kind of gross," Mr. Nicholson acknowledged.

To spend a day in Mr. Nicholson's shadow is to see the minutiae underpinning the multimedia production that is a modern-day presidential campaign. It also gives a rare look at a candidate entering an increasingly scripted and sheltered phase of the campaign. Mr. Kerry is comfortable being catered to. He has his moods and his myriad personal needs. A social loner, he is happy with an aide half his age.

Having risen 45 minutes earlier, Mr. Nicholson rouses Mr. Kerry each morning with a phone call, then heads down the hall to ferry the newspapers outside his door into his hands. He orders, delivers and usually lays out Mr. Kerry's meals.

He keeps little black books filled with the names and numbers of people Mr. Kerry meets; dials many of his telephone calls; helps select his neckties and opening one-liners; collects gifts from well-wishers; transports his leather briefcase, three hunter-green duffels and two navy suit bags; and, at night, often stays by his side until he is ready to go to sleep. Here in Youngstown on Tuesday morning, as rain threatened an outdoor rally, Mr. Nicholson had a large green-and-black umbrella at the ready.

If he sounds like a glorified valet, Mr. Nicholson is also Mr. Kerry's ambassador, spreading smiles, remembering names for a candidate known to fumble them, and reading his reactions for other aides. In an entourage of politicos and policy wonks, Mr. Nicholson is Mr. Kerry's buddy, going long to catch the football when he feels like tossing it on the tarmac.

"There are not many staff members who go snowboarding with the principal," David Morehouse, a senior adviser, said, referring to Mr. Kerry's recent ski vacation in Idaho, on which Mr. Nicholson accompanied him. "John Kerry wanted Marvin to go snowboarding with him."

Every modern presidential candidate has a factotum, or "body man," typically an ambitious Washington junkie, overqualified to schlep bags but eager to shake high-powered hands.

Greg Schneiders, an international political consultant, was President Jimmy Carter's administrative assistant in the 1976 campaign. He cites that fact in the first paragraph of his biography, even though he went on to run the day-to-day operations of the White House communications office, serve as a Senate press secretary and teach at Georgetown. Two of President Bill Clinton's former aides became executives at USA Networks and Starbucks; one of Mr. Gore's aides is engaged to his daughter.

Mr. Nicholson, who earned a geography degree at the University of Western Ontario and once aspired to be on the Weather Channel, seems a different breed.

Raised in Toronto and on Vancouver Island by an American mother — his father died when he was 9 — he was working at a windsurfing shop in Cambridge, Mass., when he befriended Senator Kerry, a customer. Then he caddied for Mr. Kerry two summers on Nantucket, including a round with Mr. Clinton. Asked which politician had the better swing, Mr. Nicholson said: "I think Clinton only because he plays more. Say they took a year and they golfed every day, Kerry'd be a better golfer."

He postponed Mr. Kerry's offer of a Senate internship to caddie at Augusta National, then landed in Washington the week before the 2000 election. By New Year's, he had become Mr. Kerry's driver. A few months ago, he inherited the candidate's 1984 Dodge 600 ES convertible when it was replaced by a 2002 Chrysler.

They hit the campaign trail together last winter.

Mr. Nicholson's role has evolved. He is no longer the guy who gets the toothpaste. Instead, Mr. Nicholson, who earned $45,000 last year, is the guy who asks the guy to get the toothpaste. Plenty of people are around, now, to help lug Mr. Kerry's Spanish guitar to his room and tote his Serotta racing bicycle.

But it is the 6-foot-8 Mr. Nicholson who anticipates Mr. Kerry's needs as they make eye contact across the crowds. It is Mr. Nicholson ready with a fresh shirt after a rally in 100 degrees. When Mr. Kerry stays overnight at supporters' homes, it is Mr. Nicholson who accompanies him; in Iowa once, they shared a bathroom. When Mr. Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, joins him on the road, Mr. Nicholson's routine hardly changes.

And it is Mr. Nicholson who decides what and when Mr. Kerry eats, no longer needing to even ask.

"Can I have that prepared dry with peanut butter on the side?" he asked the other morning in Tampa, Fla., leaning back on the hotel bed as he ordered two eggs over easy, bacon, whole wheat toast and apple juice from room service.

"Do you have any sort of bran cereal, like Total?

"Could I get a whole banana?

"Do you guys have any yogurt? Raspberry yogurt? Is it in, like, little containers? Could I get two containers?"

That was for Mr. Kerry. Mr. Nicholson swallowed a mini Krackle chocolate bar, smoked a couple of cigarettes, then washed down two nut-covered brownies with a Coke.

"Marvin takes care of everything," Milton Ferrell, a fund-raiser for Mr. Kerry in Florida, said as he introduced him to a donor at a reception that afternoon. "He's the reason Senator Kerry is here and alive."

He and his ubiquitous shoulder satchel, which Mr. Nicholson said weighs a bit more than a full golf bag. The contents included these:

Imodium: "Traveler's best friend," Mr. Nicholson said.

Post-it notes: "We don't," he said when asked how he uses them. "I just carry them because once he asked me for them."

A sewing kit: Mr. Kerry once lost a button on his blazer, and it might work better than the staples Mr. Nicholson tried on his suit pocket.

The other night at the Atlanta airport, Mr. Nicholson was headed for the plane. His left hand stretched over two copies of a new hardcover book on the middle class, a paper bag of cookies and an orange hat someone had given Mr. Kerry. His right reached for Mr. Kerry's briefcase and one of those green duffels.

Suddenly, Mr. Kerry turned from veterans who had shown up to shake his hand. "Marv," he whispered urgently, "do you have a——?"

Before the candidate could complete the question, Mr. Nicholson slipped a marker from his suit pocket and uncapped it with his teeth. Another hat signed, Mr. Nicholson followed his boss, Sherpa-like, onto the plane bound for Tampa.

Three hours later, having bid the candidate good night, he sipped a beer and sucked a cigarette poolside, explaining his front-row seat for history to a local police officer, who marveled at the constant travel and lack of time off.

"It's not like I'm carrying around 50-pound bags of rocks every day," Mr. Nicholson said. "Well," he added after a pause, "not all the time."


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: butler; kerry; kerryy; lurch; manservant; valet
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To: Howlin
LOL! The only movie where every line is funny.

(well, Liza had a couple lame ones, but nobody else did)

21 posted on 04/28/2004 12:06:47 PM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: dead
"I do so love a chicken cooked at home."

I swear, if you hum the theme song, my entire family can act it out.

BTW, don't you hate Perry's wife? :-)
22 posted on 04/28/2004 12:08:33 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: areafiftyone
Ya know, I love to read how these other people live, even the opposition.

I'd bet President Bush's body man has similar stories, like his quirks and traits. Unfortunately, he is probably sworn to silence, and for good reason.

It is one of the reasons that I like to watch the "West Wing". Hate the politics, hate the left wing agenda, but love the inside stories of the power and how it is used.

Nixon's aide or chief of staff (his name escapes me right now) wrote a book about the running of the executive branch. It was fascinating.
23 posted on 04/28/2004 12:08:59 PM PDT by Lokibob (All typos and spelling errors are mine and copyrighted!!!!)
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To: areafiftyone
I can't believe how many people here on FR missed this:

MARVIN SMOKES!!!!!!!!!

Sheesh... FReepers are getting slow on the draw....

24 posted on 04/28/2004 12:12:06 PM PDT by abner (FREE THE MIRANDA MEMOS! http://www.intelmemo.com or http://www.wintersoldier.com)
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To: Howlin
He's taking the knife from the cheese! Do you think he wants a piece of cheese?
25 posted on 04/28/2004 12:12:16 PM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

To: dead
Arthur. My wife and I saw this when it came out. I laughed out loud many times during the film.
27 posted on 04/28/2004 12:15:53 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker (When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)
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To: areafiftyone
Did the author purposely leave out the fact that Lord Kerry's butler also changes the bandages on his war wounds daily?
28 posted on 04/28/2004 12:17:16 PM PDT by hang 'em (Kerry is a war criminal, a traitor, gigolo and liar. On the other hand, he's tall and has big hair.)
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To: Phantom Lord
A few months ago, he inherited the candidate's 1984 Dodge 600 ES convertible

Inherited? This confirms my suspiscions that Kerry is deceased.

29 posted on 04/28/2004 12:17:16 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (From each according to his inability, to each according to his misdeeds - DNC Motto)
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To: areafiftyone
I'd like to see a roster of ALL the household staff in each of the Kerry/Heinz palaces! There would be an awful lot of , "Oh, those aren't my upstairs maids, they work for my wife."

I'd also like to know how many are illegal aliens. The other dems spent so much effort asking questions about Bush, they never bothered to ask the same questions about Golden Boy. Now, they are stuck with him!

30 posted on 04/28/2004 12:21:57 PM PDT by Tacis
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To: NotQuiteCricket
I'm not an X-er, but that sounds like my eating (and smoking) habits.
31 posted on 04/28/2004 12:24:08 PM PDT by EllaMinnow ("Pessimism never won any battle." - Dwight D. Eisenhower)
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To: areafiftyone
Well, now that I know about the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...I feel so at one with Him!!! This bonding could never have occurred, had I not read this beautiful piece.

I'll be back after a bit, but right now, I have to go find a place to puke!
32 posted on 04/28/2004 12:26:23 PM PDT by Gator113
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To: dead
I bet you like this one, too.


33 posted on 04/28/2004 12:28:52 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: Owl_Eagle
LOL
34 posted on 04/28/2004 12:29:18 PM PDT by areafiftyone (Democrats = the hamster is dead but the wheel is still spinning)
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To: Spann_Tillman
Funny - the non-biased Senate dining room waiters said that Kerry hardly tips 10% and often forget to sign for his tab (meaning zero tip is paid to the waiters).

And the same guy tips the maid $20? Sure.
35 posted on 04/28/2004 12:29:29 PM PDT by Notwithstanding (Good parents don't let their kids attend public school or watch most TV)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
Howie Carr has checked out the registrations on the Heinz-Kerry cars and claims that the car is still registered to JF'n. This is the car with the PH insignia. Ter-ay-za has a car with the plate Mo-zam-bique(actually a shortened version)
36 posted on 04/28/2004 12:31:05 PM PDT by surrey
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To: gubamyster
"Kerry and his butler pack peanut butter on trips together."

And just so John Boy doesn't get home sick, Mr., er Ms. Nicholson dresses the part:


37 posted on 04/28/2004 12:38:38 PM PDT by mass55th
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To: mass55th
That's lovely.

Mr. Nicholson, who earned a geography degree at the University of Western Ontario and once aspired to be on the Weather Channel, seems a different breed.

Maybe the Weather Channel didn't like his choice of dress.

38 posted on 04/28/2004 12:47:47 PM PDT by gubamyster
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To: gubamyster
Mr. Nicholson, who earned a geography degree at the University of Western Ontario

Is Mr. Nicholson a Canadian?

39 posted on 04/28/2004 12:54:18 PM PDT by Phantom Lord (Distributor of Pain, Your Loss Becomes My Gain)
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To: areafiftyone
one of Mr. Gore's aides is engaged to his daughter.

I thought that was illegal.

40 posted on 04/28/2004 12:56:11 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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