Inside Doherty: Congressional Profile

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

David Pepin, GoLocalProv News Contributor

 

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What's behind that stiff upper lip? Congressional candidate Brendan Doherty.

Brendan Doherty's stiff-upper-lip reputation may not be all there is to the candidate for US Congress in Rhode Island's First District. Friends who've known Doherty since they were teenagers at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro point to their friends' sense of humor and devotion to playing games... especially basketball. 

While Doherty is not necessarily the one cracking the jokes at get-togethers, “He loves to laugh with his close friends, and he’ll always remind of us stuff from high school,” says Richard Kirby, a lawyer and fellow high school athlete who went to Feehan with Doherty.

“People don’t know he’s actually very funny,” adds his wife, Michele Doherty.

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Brendan Doherty and... David Letterman?

While many are familiar with Doherty’s rise through the ranks of the state police and eventual appointment to the top post in April 2007, he first caught the eye of Rhode Islanders in 1986 on a comedy show, Late Night with David Letterman. Letterman had heard about RI's State Trooper uniforms being named the best in the US by the National Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors, and invited some of the RI troopers on the show to model the award-winning gear. Doherty was among the modeling crew that night, and was chosen to wear the uniform's overcoat that had been worn by Col. Walter Stone, the department’s longtime superintendent.

“Colonel Stone let him take his nice custom-made overcoat with the number "1", and when Brendan returned it, he said, ‘Someday I hope you’ll be able to wear it,’" Michele says. “If you ask him to tell that story, he’ll get choked up about it. He had a lot of respect for Colonel Stone.” Michele Doherty knows her husband. They were high school sweethearts, and eventually married after he joined the force and she graduated from Bentley College in Waltham, MA,

Teammates and sparring partners

Richard Kirby got to know Doherty through high school sports. “He was a senior when I was a sophomore. I became a starter on the football team as a sophomore and got to know a lot of the seniors that way,” says Kirby, who became part of a group, including Doherty, a basketball star, that took boxing lessons at Grundy’s Gym in Central Falls.

When they eventually moved into the same Cumberland neighborhood, Kirby says, they frequently worked out together at Fore Court in Cumberland. “A lot of long-term friendships were built at that school,” says Kirby, adding that he and Doherty remain close with many of their Feehan classmates.

Kirby also benefited from Doherty’s determination on the job, even as a young trooper. “When I was in college, my father had a heart attack, and my family couldn’t find me. He heard it come over the radio while he was on the road, and he made sure he tracked me down. He did that for a lot of people,” Kirby remembers.

Friends for life

Peter Grundy, whose father owned the legendary boxing gym in Central Falls, recalls how Doherty wouldn't step into the ring until he was ready. "He didn’t want to come down to the gym until he was sure he could really fight," says Grundy, who now owns Dome Construction Company in Central Falls. "So we fought so much in my backyard in the summer, setting up benches as the ring, that we wore the lawn out. He said he wanted to know what he was getting into.”

Grundy and Doherty have remained best friends, and engaged in a different kind of sparring when Doherty floated the idea of running for Congress. “We battled for a year like you wouldn’t believe," Grundy says. "He would say he hit the point of diminishing returns. ‘There’s nothing more I can do for the State Police than I’ve already done. I’ve been colonel. I’ve straightened morale issues out. There’s nothing more I can do.’ I finally came around.”

A thirst for public life

Doherty’s decision to run for Congress appears to be a natural outgrowth of the interest in public life he gained as a police officer. “We kind of talked about it, and when he saw people running with young children we always wondered how they did it,” Michele Doherty says. The couple has two children, Matthew, 25, and Shelby, 22. “He was being wooed by a lot of people egging him on to do something with public service,” she adds. “He still felt he had something to give the state.”

“He used to express frustration with politicians and waste and things like that,” says Kirby. “I knew he absolutely loved working in public service. He worked 24/7 as a colonel – he drank and slept the job.” Kirby adds that as basketball was Doherty's "thing", he was always volunteering at the YMCA, Chad Brown or the Boys’ Club. "He was a big believer in the work ethic you build through sports and teamwork,” he says.

Michele Doherty feels the greatest strengths her husband would bring to Congress would be the abilities to bring people together and to get them to do the right thing. “That’s what he wants on his tombstone. ‘He always did the right thing,’ ” she says.

A leader, even behind the scenes

Mirlen Martinez, assistant vice president of human resources at Roger Williams University in Bristol, participated in many community outreach programs with Doherty during his three years as director of public safety at the school. “We would give presentations to high school students in the inner city and talk about how we grew up, how to be role models and make the right decisions,” she says.

That experience, Martinez says, gave her a firsthand look at Doherty’s leadership skills, which were also applied within the university. “He listened to all different groups of people, received feedback, and made sure their voices were heard,” she says. “He’s always had an interest in public issues, demonstrated in his commitment to the state police,” Martinez says. “He’s very humble, approachable, and has a genuine interest in listening to folks and what they have to say.”

"Make it happen"

There is another phrase those who deal with him will hear often, Michele Doherty says: “When he’s barking orders around the house, he always ends it, ‘Make it happen.'"

Kirby echoes the theme of doing the right thing, adding that Doherty’s training enables him to evaluate situations and take the proper action. “A lot of people want a smooth-talking gladhander. He’s not that guy,” he says. “He’s the kind of guy people look up to literally and figuratively. If he got elected to public office, people would be lucky to have him.”

Bottom line from his best friend, Peter Grundy: “You can’t buy or him or make a deal with him because he won’t allow it. I’ve been his best friend for 25 years, but even when we’re out of state, I can’t buy him a cup of coffee or a sandwich. He says, ‘Would you stop already?’"

 

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