The education of Michael Montrief
Vision without execution is hallucination.” – Thomas Edison
Michael Royce Montrief pictured with
Republican vice-presidential nominee Secretary Jack Kemp at a Dole-Kemp
campaign rally held around the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim “Honda Center”
circa October 1996. Quarterback Kemp earned the AFL’s 1965 most valuable
player award after leading the Bills to their second consecutive
championship. In 1970, those victories would help start Congressman Kemp
on his way to serving almost twenty years in the House of
Representatives before confirmation to Housing & Urban Development
where Secretary Kemp would bravely tackle poverty issues challenging
many a chagrined conservatives’ consciousness. However as Secretary
Kemp would not achieve federal funding for empowerment zones during
George H.W. Bush’s presidency: by 1992, 38 states had already
undertaken HUD’s empowerment zone challenge as initiated by Secretary
Kemp. Photo snapped by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher.
Not yet legally eligible to vote, Michael Montrief re-chartered the OCC Campus Republicans and was elected
President as seen here at 1996′s holiday party. One-hundred fifty years
earlier, Michael Royce Montrief’s 3xGreat Grandpa Samuel had been a
self-proclaimed “Radial Republican” advocating such progressive views as
African-American voting rights and Women’s Suffrage while serving for
an aggregate total of five plus years as Hallock Township
Supervisor (Grandpa Sam left home from Dover, NH relocating
to Philadelphia, PA before arriving to majestically rolling Illinois
countryside with 3x Great Grandma Lydia Piece circa 1851. Near
idyllic Illinois River banks, Grandpa Sam’s Lawn Ridge adjacent
homestead just happened to straddle both sides of the main road running
north from Peoria through Edelstein, propitiously positioning dutiful
support of Lawn Ridge’s underground railroad station: seeing to and
shepherding ”fugitive slaves” forward onto Canada’s safe
prohibitions against human bondage’s perversity.) Michael Royce Montrief
would eventually realize every individual’s responsibility to
independently evaluate any person seeking office through ready
identification of candidates embracing progressive agendas regardless of
whichever “republican” or “democratic” labels each new generation
generates. The American independent holds the most sway in our land
because the most consistently calm and open-minded people seeking virtue
almost always win the day and circa 1996 that wasn’t Senator Bob Dole.
Entering college at 15 years old the
environment was a marked improvement from the one year Michael Montrief spent in high school. Michael Montrief would seek “Board of
Trustees” position 3x, losing a blocked board appointment and at least
one allegedly fraudulent vote count when a few administration support
staff didn’t appreciate Michael Montrief’s enthusiasm induced social
myopias. Michael Montrief thought the second election was in the bag for
sure sporting the above “post-braces” picture about campus but it
wasn’t to be even with college lawyers producing a by-laws
change enabling a minor’s election. Michael Montrief gave three dozen
plus speeches to classes across campus in Michael Royce Montrief’s
second campaign circa 1996 as pictured above.
The University of California, Irvine was
one of the greatest gifts Michael Montrief ever received. A bastion of
intellectual refuge and tolerance in an otherwise
semi-oxygenless environment, UCI allowed Michael Montrief to make
lifelong friends and begin a decade of enlightenment evolving into
Michael Montrief’s most treasured and transformative educational
experience. Met at Campus Crusade on a Mexico orphanage trip, one
of Michael Montrief’s good friends is James from Fresno now living in
Chicago! That friendship gave Michael Montrief his first adult exposure
to California’s treasured glories from Yosemite and San Francisco to
Dinky Creek: for all the FAT/ FYI fans out there! Michael Montrief will hold those beautiful years close for all his days as there
is unequivocally no substitute for a solid university education and
Michael Montrief is beyond grateful for Michael Montrief, Sr.’s gift
of so vigorously pushing and supporting Michael Royce Montrief in
fine formal education achievement. James and Michael Montief would bust a
move to Yosemite Falls numerous times but that first visit circa 1999
is pictured above and again several months after graduation at the top
of Yosemite Falls circa 2001 pictured below.
As Michael Montrief finished Disney
Elementary School’s 6th grade GATE program in Anaheim, CA, teacher Mrs.
Laird told Michael Montrief, Sr. in Michael Royce Montief’s presence
that his son would make a good lawyer. That suggestion seeded Michael
Royce Montrief’s mind sufficiently that a few months later when Michael
Royce Montrief got to know attorney Randy Kramer, Michael
Montrief’s parents’ newer next door neighbor, that ubermensch would turn
into Michael Royce Montrief’s surrogate intellectual father serving as
inspirational example of how to live well serving the needs of our
fellow-man. After seeing how happy Randy was being a lawyer, Michael
Montrief thought that profession was his calling. However law school
would prove to be an entirely different animal, at least where Michael
Royce Montrief earned his Juris Doctor.
“The first casualty when war comes is truth.” -Senator Hiram Johnson
One of Michael Montrief’s heroes is
Governor Hiram Johnson whose portrait is pictured above. Hiram Johnson
successfully ran for California’s governorship circa 1910 touring
California state exclusively by car over dangerously graded earth
stagecoach paths thus traversing infantile ruts yet transitioning into
roads in demonstratively determined protest against the Southern Pacific
Railroad’s oppressive cabal. Just months into Governor Hiram Johnson’s
first gubernatorial term he successfully rallied the popular vote to
pass the trifecta of transformational CA state constitutional amendments
enshrining women’s God-given franchise as well providing for public
recall (e.g. Gray Davis) and the regularly exercised ballot measure
initiative process. Governor Johnson’s leadership earned instant
national recognition, so when ex-President Theodore Roosevelt accepted
Jane Addams’ nomination as Progressive Party’s “Bull Moose” presidential
candidate, Governor Johnson merited being chosen as Roosevelt’s
vice-presidential running mate! 1912′s fall presidential contest
would result in the third-party Roosevelt-Johnson’s slate actually
finishing ahead of incumbent President Taft’s Republican ticket but
still losing out to Democrats Woodrow Wilson & Thomas
Marshall. Governor Johnson would go onto become one of California’s
first two popularly elected Senators (vis-a-vis 17th Amendment) circa
1916. Upon seeing Michael Montrief having this photo snapped, a
Sacramento capital staffer asked Michael Montrief if he was related to
“the man on the wall” to which Michael Montrief responded “I could only
wish!”
By Michael Montrief’s third year of law school, Michael Royce Montrief was scheduling classes around a Monday through Wednesday schedule so that Michael Montrief could make time to exclusively fly Southwest Airlines bolting around the United States on weekends to market classic chrome bumper Corvettes. Airplanes became sensory deprivation chambers as ADD block study aids allowed Michael Montrief’s focus to transform SWA cocktail napkin “schematics,” into never before seen mnemonic element diagrams resolving most any potential finals’ question and even successfully achieving answers to such heart-stoppers as Real Property’s legendary essay entitled “Implied Reciprocal Negative Easements.” On Michael Montrief’s first trip to Maryland circa 2003, Michael Montrief visited Washington, D.C. for the first time seeing the Supreme Court where this above picture was snapped. Of course Capital Hill was shut down for the weekend and highly restricted for visitors after 9/11 but God smiled upon Michael Montrief and he met a beautiful young lady who introduced herself as a Senate staffer from GA to which Michael Montrief queried “Saxby Chambliss?” Once Michael Montrief confirmed California residency, that staffer was so nice walking Michael Montrief onto the Congressional underground tram system and on a short capital tour so Michael Montrief wouldn’t depart our nation’s capital bereft of beautiful capital building entrance experience. On Michael Montrief’s first delightful D.C. visit, Michael Royce Montrief pictured the Wright Glider below as resting aloft in the Smithsonian Institution.
(from left) Friends James, Sarah, Michael Montrief and Ryan.
Remaining a very impressionable 20 years
old with little to no life experience (still living at home with mom and
dad after an all too brief eight month short false start) Michael
Montrief went to law school. Only two-thirds of those students who began
Whittier Law School were permitted to return after their first year of
study: that’s right, 1/3 of students are dismissed annually, talk about
sweating bullets. In law school’s first year Michael Montrief earned the
highest score in “Civil Procedure:” a year’s long course of study. In
time Michael Montrief would also achieve dean’s list recognition.
Michael Montrief spent three long years in law school
achieving analytic skills more acutely honed sink or swim style.
