Robert J. Wager always believed that the purpose of government was to make the lives of Americans better and wanted to be part of making that happen. Over a long career in public service, he became a legislative specialist in consumer protection, automobile safety and energy. He died on Oct. 14 after a long illness.
Born in Rockford, Illinois, in 1934, Bob Wager was raised in Glencoe, Illinois, and graduated from New Trier High School and Pomona College. After receiving his law degree from Stanford Law School and then Harvard Law School, Bob was recruited into the Justice Department Honor Law Graduates program. It was about the time John F. Kennedy became president, and in a letter to a friend, Bob wrote that “I felt that it was ‘my’ administration. I came here with it. I identified closely with Kennedy; his goals and aspirations were mine.”
Bob’s first job in the Congress was as legislative assistant to Rep. Jim Corman (D-CA), where he was active in helping to ensure that separation of church and state was preserved. He also worked on civil rights legislation after a memorable car trip with the congressman through the segregated South. After the 1964 election, he became a counsel at the Democratic National Committee.
He next worked for Sen. Abraham Ribicoff (D-CT), rising to staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Executive Reorganization. Based on the Senator’s long-standing interest in traffic safety, Bob drafted a mandatory defect notification and recall provision amendment to the 1966 Traffic Safety bill which required auto manufacturers to notify their customers of safety defects, something that had previously been voluntary. It is as a result of this law that millions of cars have been recalled in the past several decades for repair of safety defects.
Bob also drafted an amendment that authorized the Department of Transportation to develop a prototype safe car to explore potential advances in vehicle safety. This resulted in the crash safety standards and other advances in vehicle safety that we have today. Another issue was the safety of the Chevrolet Corvair automobile, which Ralph Nader had raised in his best-selling book, “Unsafe at Any Speed.” So Wager and John Koskinen, the Senator’s administrative assistant, undertook a two-year investigation of Nader’s charges.
In January 1973, they submitted a 30,000-word report to Senator Ribicoff which found that the safety challenges of the Corvair were similar to those of some other cars, all of which needed to be addressed. Bob went to the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago to testify to the Platform Committee in support of a program for college scholarships for police officers. It was later included in the legislation establishing the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, and was found to be the most popular and successful provision of the law. He was one of lead drafters of the bill to establish an independent Federal Energy Agency, passed in 1974, which became the forerunner of the Department of Energy.
Not all of Bob’s career was in public service. He was president of the American Bakers Association, the trade association of the wholesale baking industry for many years – where one TV appearance called attention to the shocking (at that time) prediction that if the industry didn’t receive relief from the results of expanding wheat sales to the Soviet Union, the price of a loaf of bread could reach one dollar a loaf! He also spent some time as a partner at the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips law firm. Wager wrote an op-ed piece for The New York Times; he established the first trade association political action committee, “Bread Pac,” and also wrote a guide to government relations widely circulated in the trade association community.
Bob returned to public service in the Clinton Administration as director of congressional relations for the Consumer Product Safety Commission for seven years under Chairman Ann Brown, who knew that Wager had been one of the lead drafters of the original legislation that established the commission in 1972. After the 2000 election, he also became head of congressional relations at the Chemical Safety Board, which investigates industrial chemical accidents.
Bob was a lover and owner of several sports cars, including a DeLorean; a longtime member of Woodmont Country Club; a current member of the Cosmos Club and an avid and enthusiastic tennis player and fan who served on the board of the Washington Tennis Patrons. He was also on the board of the American League of Lobbyists. He loved politics — was a real “political junkie” — and thought that “the test of anyone’s public service career is whether when you left, the organization was in a better place than it was when you started, as a result of your contributions. As I look back, I am proud to say that the organizations I served in both the legislative and executive branches met that test.”
He is survived by his devoted wife of 58 years, Debbie Wager, his adored son Jamie Wager, of Los Angeles, and his loyal cat, Mickey. His family would like to thank the fine care he received from his devoted caregivers. Bob Wager was a good man; gentle, honorable and enthusiastic; a loyal friend and hard worker. He will be truly missed. Memorial contributions in his memory may be made to Alley Cat Rescue, 3906 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood, Maryland, 20722 Att: Rose Dixon; or the nonprofit of your choice.
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