Portrait of outgoing R.I. Governor Carcieri unveiled at State House
01:00 AM EST on Friday, December 31, 2010
By Randal Edgar Journal State House Bureau

Governor Carcieri holds his granddaughter Susannah Compton, 3, as he admires the just-unveiled official portrait of himself by Scituate artist Harley W. Bartlett that will hang in the State House.
The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

PROVIDENCE — One speaker told Governor Carcieri it was an "honor and a privilege" to serve with him. Another said the outgoing governor showed a willingness to "confront tough choices." Another recalled late-night meetings "when those hard decisions" were "being made."

"They were his at the end of the day, but I can tell you that he always made them with dignity, and honor and compassion," said Jeffrey Grybowski, one of Carcieri's former chiefs of staff. "And I'm a better person for having sat in that room with him."

The speakers came, along with more than 100 others, for the official unveiling of Carcieri's portrait, which is expected to hang near the governor's office on the second floor of the State House.

Painted by Rhode Island artist Harley W. Bartlett, of Scituate, the portrait shows Carcieri in his office, perched against a desk that holds a picture of his wife, Suzanne, and a recent family photo with the couple's children and grandchildren. Behind the desk, to the left is an American flag, and behind to the right is a Rhode Island flag.

"It will capture an image forever, for all of us to recall," said Andrew Hodgkin, the governor's current chief of staff, who admitted that he "peeped at the portrait" before Thursday evening's ceremony.

Carcieri, sitting next to his wife, listened for nearly 30 minutes while current and former staff members talked about his place in history. Then he took his turn at the podium.

"You keep being asked about legacies, and this and that," he said, adding that the final analysis will be left to "the sweep of history."
"People will look back with hindsight … they'll make their judgments about what we did and the things we did right and the things we didn't do right," he said. "All I want you to know, we've worked our hearts out to do the right thing."

The 68-year-old Republican governor steps down on Tuesday after two four-year terms that saw him push for pension reform, reduce the size of state government, try without success to eliminate structural deficits in the state budget, take sharp criticism — as well as praise — for his stance on illegal immigration and champion an offshore wind project that is expected to put turbines off the state's coast.

Grybowski and others said that while it is easy to focus on the problems, many of Carcieri's successes, such as pushing for a clearer division of powers between the executive and legislative branches and reducing the state's welfare rolls, are easy to overlook.
"I think that Donald Carcieri will be, in the long arc of history, remembered as a transformational governor," he said.

The standing-room-only gathering in the State Room of the State House included the first couple's children and grandchildren — all 14, said spokeswoman Amy Kempe, as well as dozens of relatives and friends. Also on hand were several state department heads, including Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist and Corrections Director A. T. Wall.

"It's very special to us tonight, because when I look out, it's family and friends, and we are here today in large measure because of family and friends," Carcieri said. "All of us, if you really analyze where you get in life, at some point, you really realize that it's mostly your family and close friends that are there to encourage you and support you, and that's what gets you through."

Kempe said the portrait cost $15,000, the same price as the one for former Gov. Lincoln Almond, who left office when Carcieri was sworn in, in January 2003.

Carcieri said that he and his wife "will go on, we will have a life."

"Wherever that leads, who knows, but it is very special to have you here on this occasion," he said. "It's because of all of you that we are here, and thank-you."

redgar@projo.com
Providence Journal

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