"America is the land of second and third chances," says David Wu. He should know. A Stanford premed student, Wu went on to Harvard Medical School, then switched to Yale Law School and practiced as an attorney for 15 years. Now he's on his third track: politics.
Last fall, Wu became the first Chinese-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, winning Oregon's 1st District by a 3 percent margin. Only one other Chinese-American has served in Congress: Hiram Leong Fong, the senator from Hawaii who retired in 1977.
At 44, the freshman lawmaker sees public office as his best opportunity to help change the world. "I know from my own experience that public decisions can make a profound impact on people's lives," says Taiwan-born Wu, whose family managed to join his father in America only after John F. Kennedy eased immigration restrictions in 1961.
Wu spoke no English when he arrived at age 6 in Westminster, Calif. Eager to fit in, he learned the language quickly but felt hampered by his small size. As a 99-pound freshman in high school, he struggled against his shyness by shooting photos for the school newspaper and lifting weights to make the football team. By senior year, he weighed 175 pounds and was the team's co-captain.
Reinventing himself as a journalist-jock was only the first sign of Wu's ambition. "Dave likes to pursue the impossible dream," says his freshman roommate, Steve Fugaro, '77. Fugaro recalls the young lawyer's pursuit of the woman who would become his first wife. They had just begun dating when she left on an extended tour through China. Wu arranged to meet her, but signals got crossed, and they failed to rendezvous. Undeterred, he tracked her down in Tibet by combing through flight logs. Four days later, the couple married.
The once-shy schoolboy is now known for his gregariousness. He throws such unforgettable Super Bowl parties that his buddies were disappointed when he had to cancel this year's bash to be sworn in.
Still adjusting to life on Capitol Hill, Wu flies home to Portland nearly every weekend to join his second wife, Michelle, and their 2-year-old son, Matthew. As a legislator, the Oregon Democrat terms himself "pragmatically progressive." He hopes to improve public education by reducing class size and to promote economic growth by investing in job training. He's a strong supporter of abortion rights and human rights.
Wu also works to draw other Chinese-Americans into politics, urging Asian-Americans to vote and to nurture their children's interest in the political process. "The only way to have a voice at the table is to be at the table," he explains. The lawyer who's still officially on leave from medical school seems finally to have found his true voice.
-- Tracy Jan, '98
