Former Obama Foundation President: How to Lead Through the Toughest Moments | David Simas | E90
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Who is David Simas and what shaped his early life?
So my parents, who are still alive and still live in Taunton, Massachusetts, are two Portuguese immigrants. My mom grew up in rural southern part of Portugal. My dad grew up in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean in the Azores Archipelago in an island called São Miguel, St. Michael. His village was probably 300 people, literally in the middle of nowhere. The furthest that they went in school, their formal education ended at the age of 10. Hard workers, folks who left everything behind to start something new in a country that they had never been in. It is the American story, which is so amazing. And so the piece of Taunton, my hometown that stays with me, is I have a very vivid recollection of living in two cultures always.
When I went to school, it was as if I was going to America. When I came back home at the end of the school day, I was going back to Portugal. And when I went back home, the food was Portuguese. The radio was Portuguese music. My aunts, my uncles, my mom, my dad, my grandparents, my cousins, everyone was talking in Portuguese with an English mixed in, but then you would leave and I'd be with my parents and we'd go to McDonald's or we'd go to someplace else. And it was this, I have a vivid memory of trying to like reconcile wanting to be American, but also being anchored and tethered to the very different way of being of my parents. And so that bicultural tension, that bicultural, how do I fit in? What do I retain?
How did David Simas's family and community influence his values?
And I guess as many young people that have had that experience, I wanted so desperately to be American that I bristled. I didn't like the Portuguese aspect and wanted to leave it all behind until I was in my 20s and then now in my mid-50s. And oh my goodness, Ilana, that part of me.
That's a big part of you.
And I adore it now. It's something that's so, but that biculturalism and that desire to fit in was always something that I think to this day, I carry with me a little bit.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Who is David Simas and what shaped his early life?
2:37–4:37
2
How did David Simas's family and community influence his values?
4:37–8:31
3
What lessons did David Simas learn from his legal training?
8:31–17:05
4
How did David Simas transition from law to politics?
17:05–23:39
5
What was David Simas's journey to the White House?
23:39–55:26
Speakers
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