Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Collection

Document Type

Oral History

Publication Date

8-9-2007

Interview Number

MOH 447

Abstract

Bob Barrett was born in Bangor, Maine July 23, 1944 and was Governor of the Dirigo Boy’s State in 1961. In 1962 he graduated valedictorian of John Bapst High School, and then attended Ecole Acadie Francaise. He graduated from Georgetown University, Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude, and Phi Alpha Theta (History honors) in 1966. He attended Columbia Law School and Harvard Business School, receiving honors in finance and accounting in 1971. He received certification at Merrill Lynch’s Program for Institutional Money Managers/Financial Analysts in 1992.

Barrett worked in the investment banking business for 35 years. After retiring from Wall Street in 1992, Barrett has been involved in investment banking as Chairman of CrossKeys Capital of Boca Raton, Florida, a merger and acquisitions firm, and in real estate. From 1992 to 1996, Barrett was Senior Financial Consultant for Merrill Lynch in Florida. Prior to that he was a Member of the Board of Directors of Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. in New York City, Co-
Head of the Investment Banking Department, Member of the Underwriting Commitment Committee, Head of the International Utilities Group, Head of the Telecommunications Group, Head of the Privatization Team, Head of the Eastern European Team and Head of the New York/Connecticut Group. Previously, he was in the Corporate Finance Department of Morgan Stanley.

He is a member of the Bar of the States of New York and Maine, and was previously a Member of the Board of Boston Capital Ventures, a Boston venture capital fund associated with The Prudential Insurance Company of America. Mr. Barrett has been Senior Investment Banker in numerous international transactions, including transactions for AT&T, Compagnie General D’Electricite, British Telecom, British Gas, British Airways, British Water and British Electricity, and has acted as Senior Financial Advisor for numerous governments, including the Treasury of the United States of America, the State of Israel, the United Kingdom and France, among others.

Barrett is a Trustee of the Barrett Scholarship Fund at the University of Maine, past Director of the Senator George Mitchell Educational Institute, and is past Director of Alnabak Enterprises Inc., the investment company of the Penobscot Indian Nation. He is a past member of the Business Review Board of the Maine Technology Institute, and the Maine Center for Innovation in Biotechnology. He has been a Trustee of Husson College, Bangor, Maine and is a past Member of the Honor’s Program Development Committee of the University of Maine. He is
also Chairman of the Columbia Law School Association of Palm Beach, past President of the Georgetown University Club of Palm Beach, and a Founder and Director of the Bar Harbor, Maine Preservation Trust.

Scope and Content Note

Interview includes discussions of: Bob’s childhood in Bangor and his parents; anti-Catholicism in Maine; how Ed Muskie changed Maine; Muskie’s ability to speak to anyone and everyone; working in Muskie’s Senate office; working for the Kennedys; Bobby Kennedy; Muskie’s pro-business stance and his belief in protecting the “small guy”.

Use Restrictions

Copyright Bates College. This transcript is provided for individual Research Purposes Only; for all other uses, including publication, reproduction and quotation beyond fair use, permission must be obtained in writing from: The Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Bates College, 70 Campus Avenue, Lewiston, Maine 04240-6018.

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