Second Time the Charm for Sam Graves?

I wonder if Sam Graves is the shoo-in a lot of people seem to think he is as AOPA’s next CEO.

Last week, the 13-term Republican representative for Missouri’s 6th Congressional District (he claimed the seat in 2000) announced 26 years was enough for him and, considering his track record, there are few goals or challenges left for him in politics. He already had his dream job as chair of the powerful Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and actually got a rare extension to stay in that job because he was doing such a good job.

He was universally lauded for the various general aviation initiatives he saw through during his tenure as chair of the overall committee and the aviation subcommittee prior to that. He can legitimately claim BasicMed, MOSAIC and the SFAR covering the certification and integration of advanced air mobility vehicles as initiatives concluded under his watch. He was respected by his Democratic counterparts for the bipartisan approach he took to committee issues, and he was considered a trusted ally in Washington of aviation groups. Among the effusive alphabet groups’ tributes to Graves, I thought EAA’s hit all the high points.

“The EAA community is grateful for Chairman Graves’ tireless efforts on behalf of all aspects of general aviation, and working with members of both parties in the House and with Senate leadership to pass important legislation,” said EAA CEO Jack Pelton. “We wish him a fulfilling retirement and look forward to seeing him often at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in his favorite role, that of enthusiastic aviator.”

Most of the others were in a similar vein and delivered seemingly within seconds of the official word going out. After all, it’s been common knowledge that he was pulling the pin for at least a year and probably longer than that. I don’t know Graves and have never talked to him, but from what I’ve heard he’s a straight shooter who is genuinely interested in preserving and advancing GA as an industry and pastime.

AOPA likely had more contact with Graves over the past few years than any of the other groups and will genuinely miss that friendly ear in Washington. But will their gratitude towards Graves take a tangible form?

I hadn’t even opened the email announcing Graves’ departure when I got the first message from someone who knows everything about GA offering to put money on how long it would be until Graves was sitting in the suddenly vacant corner office in Frederick. Some folks are talking about it like the vetting process is a formality and the job is his if he wants it. Given what’s been going on for the last couple of months in Frederick, some might consider that a big “if.” But after being at the center of what’s going on in Washington, I hardly think Graves would be intimidated by some governance controversies at AOPA.

And on the face of it, Graves would seem to have the credentials to settle into the big chair at AOPA with little difficulty. But that’s not the reason vetting him would be a formality. You see, from what I’ve been told, he’s already been vetted for that job and he lost it to Darren Pleasance.

Graves apparently made it known he wanted the job when former CEO Mark Baker was on his way out. From what I’ve been able to piece together, he was neck and neck with Pleasance among board members but as well known and well connected as Graves is, it was his lack of business experience that sunk him in the end. His 26 years in the House wasn’t his entire resumé. He’d been a state representative before that. So, other than running the family farm (a significant enterprise to be sure) he’d never had a “real job” since he was 27 years old. The fact that, at the time, he was going to be tied up for 18 months as one of Washington’s most powerful politicians could also have been a factor.

Pleasance, while he’d never been a CEO, had at least spent a lot of time around them in his high-profile careers at McKinsey, Google, and Cisco. The board, which has a lot of CEOs, figured that with some mentorship Pleasance was trainable.

Well, we all know how that turned out.

So, it turns out that Graves’ reputation as a “get it done” dynamo and confident decision maker may actually be a death knell for a second bid for that job. Pleasance had significant differences with the board on some big issues and, while his opinions seemed to be supported by the membership, it was his refusal to accept the board’s direction that lost him his job.

Although circumstances may have changed a little at the board level, membership of that board has not materially changed and they’ve already turned Graves down once. I’m also pretty sure they’re looking for someone who will do as he’s told.

There’s also a side issue to this. For all the power and influence he wielded in Washington, Graves lacked something members of the AOPA board respect even more and that’s money. Some say that after living on the $170,000 a year paid to Representatives (for most of the people who went, cap in hand, through his door in Washington that was couch cushion change), Graves was looking for “real money” like the $2 million former AOPA CEO Mark Baker received in 2023. Pleasance apparently took a lot less than that but it was still a healthy paycheck.

So it would appear that Graves has an uphill battle to convert his second-place finish to Pleasance into a victory in the next competition for AOPA’s top job. Maybe I should take the odds being offered by those willing to put money on what they see as a slam dunk for Graves.

But I can’t afford to gamble. I make even less than Graves.