The Importance of Individual Freedom

Though the product of a modest, Midwestern provenance, Iowa native Bob Barr gained a wider world view early on. His father, a civil engineer who often received lengthy assignments in places as far-ranging as Malaysia, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Iraq and Iran, chose to bring his family with him rather than be separated. Living abroad for nearly a decade was an experience that made a lasting impression on Barr.

“Having grown up overseas from third grade through high school graduation in Tehran, I was exposed to a lot of different cultures and political environments — everything from military dictatorships to monarchies,” the former U.S. congressman said. “At a very early age, through those experiences, I gained a deep appreciation for the freedoms we have here in America.”

Barr’s political views put a premium on, in his words, “the absolute importance of protecting, to the greatest extent that we can, individual freedom.”

His ideologies continued to develop when he came to USC Dornsife to study international relations. Discovering philosopher Ayn Rand as a junior deepened Barr’s appreciation for conservatism and prompted him to join the Trojan Young Republican Club and the Objectivist Society. He was also a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

“Through the fraternity I learned a great deal about individual responsibility and leadership,” Barr said. “That, coupled with the broader experience at USC, with its large and diverse student body, helped prepare me for politics and being involved in a very complex environment with a diversity of backgrounds and political views.”

Following his graduation in 1970, Barr began his career as an analyst of Latin American issues for the Central Intelligence Agency. Though he lived at the epicenter of national political activity in Washington, D.C., his job prohibited partisan involvement. By the time he earned his J.D. and moved to Georgia to practice law in 1978, he “had a tremendous amount of pent-up interest in politics.”

In Atlanta, Barr got heavily involved with the local — and eventually state — Republican Party. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed Barr U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. During his tenure, he led prosecutions against state officials and members of the Medellín drug cartel, and indicted a sitting Republican congressman for perjury.

Barr entered the congressional arena in 1994 with his election to the U.S. House of Representatives and served four terms between 1995 and 2003. He was a member of several legislative committees during this time.

Following his initial service as a Republican congressman, Barr spent two years as an Independent before joining the Libertarian Party in 2006. He served on its national committee before being nominated as the party’s 2008 presidential candidate. He returned to the Republican Party in 2011.

Barr said he is particularly proud of several accomplishments during his time in Congress. These include his role in balancing the federal budget — the first time in 40 years — through the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Though it only lasted a few years, he said, at least it set a standard and showed the country that it can be done.

Also a leader in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Barr said he succeeded against tremendous odds in holding Clinton to the standard of “we are a nation of laws, not of men” when he passed articles of impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice in 1998. Despite this victory, Barr experienced how brutal politics can be.

“[During the impeachment process] the political maneuvering and the media became extremely personal and nasty,” he said. “That affected my family as well as me, which I think emphasized to me just how important it is to develop a very thick skin.

“The downside of that is that you learn to be very skeptical, almost cynical about people and things that happen in the political arena. It teaches you to be very tough, but on the other hand, it can develop callouses against perhaps the better side of humanity.”

Barr tries to resist the temptation of cynicism in this era of staunchly partisan politics.

“My philosophy of public service and politics generally is that if you cave in to a sense of absolute pessimism and cynicism, which is fairly easy to do, then you are admitting that you’ve lost and you have no ability to change the direction in which our political system is going.”

Barr said he works to maintain a sense of optimism and encourages young people in particular to do the same. He also noted that politicians must learn to deal with failure as well as success.

“Nobody is going to go through life without experiencing failure. It’s extremely important to recognize that and to learn how to deal with it. It’s no fun losing an election but sooner or later it does happen — it happened to me when I lost my election as an incumbent member of Congress in 2002 — and you have to deal with it.

“It was also important to me to convey to my two sons, who had worked very, very hard for the campaign, that you can’t take it personally. You have to learn from it and then move on and look for new opportunities.”

Read more stories from USC Dornsife Magazine’s Fall 2016-Spring 2017 issue >>