ith the next gubernatorial election a year away, the upcoming months promise to be trying for first-term Governor and Penn alumnus Ed Rendell. But fortunately for the state's highest elected official, he has a cushion to fall back on.
And this is a cushion that has been 40 years in the making.
Also described as an influential clique, it includes Pennsylvania Governor Rendell, Philadelphia Phillies President Dave Montgomery and former U.S. Attorney Mike Stiles.
Since graduation, these figures and several of their friends have become entwined in a web of history, politics, business and influence. But they value one connection more than the others -- their 40-year friendship.
The early years
Their story begins in 1963, when Stiles met Rendell in Spanish class.
"We would see each other socially even though he was a big-deal upperclassman and I was a young, wide-eyed freshman," Stiles says. "He didn't come to class often, and he borrowed my Spanish notes right before exams."
Stiles met Montgomery -- who is one year younger -- at an off-campus party during the summer after his freshman year. He introduced Montgomery to Rendell that fall.
"We met on campus my freshman year," Montgomery says of Rendell. "We only overlap as undergraduates one year, but then he was at [nearby] Villanova Law School, so I remained friends with him."
Montgomery says the two have been close ever since.
Stiles joined Rendell at Villanova law after graduating from Penn in 1967 but still kept ties with Montgomery -- who went on to Wharton for his MBA.
Following law school and a brief hiatus for military training, Stiles and Rendell both began to work in the district attorney's office under Sen. Arlen Specter, another Penn graduate, who was district attorney at the time.
Already, interests and ties from Penn were beginning to seep into the professional lives of these figures.
But the web had only just begun to be spun.
Executive Vice President of Comcast David Cohen -- who joined this selective group after graduating from Penn Law in 1981 -- said the University was a springboard for the governor's political career.
"Penn created the connection between Ed Rendell and Philadelphia in the first place," said Cohen, who served twice as Rendell's chief of staff and is now a trustee of the University. "It created a web of connections that have sustained him throughout his personal and professional career in Philadelphia."
Montgomery added that Rendell's political potential showed during his college years.
"He ran for student-government office, and you had an idea that he was interested in politics," Montgomery said.
Peter Greenberg -- a Philadelphia lawyer who spent one year of high school and four years at Penn with Rendell -- says the University is one of the main reasons that he and the governor remained in the city at all.
"Did we stay in Philadelphia because we wanted to keep going to the Palestra? I would hesitate to say that, but I think it was not irrelevant," Greenberg says.
Politics tie hard
As Rendell's political career solidified, the social and political connections of this group crystallized around it.
Cohen met Rendell through Arthur Makadon -- Rendell's friend and a former Penn adjunct Law professor and trustee -- around the time when Rendell was first running for mayor.
"[Ed] showed Arthur a bunch of drafts of announcements that [Arthur] thought were terrible," Cohen says.
Cohen says Makadon asked him, "'Do you want to have some fun? Why don't you try writing a draft of this announcement speech?'"
So Cohen wrote the speech, thus entering the web of friendships that has defined him ever since.
Ironically, Makadon is now the chairman of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP -- the legal firm which represents the Phillies -- and he has consequentially developed relationships with both Montgomery and Stiles.
Though Montgomery started with the Phillies directly after receiving his MBA, he became involved with Rendell's career as well, though more casually.
In 1977, when Rendell first ran for district attorney, Montgomery spent the day driving him to all of the polling places and did it again when Rendell ran for mayor in 1991.
"The first place we stopped was out at Market Street, and I'll never forget that. ... I was his handler," Montgomery says. "We happened to run into the other candidate there, and I just saw the distinct difference.
"He didn't need anyone to go up to people and say, 'Hi, would you like to meet Ed Rendell?' He would just go up to them and say, 'Hi, I'm Ed Rendell.'"
Montgomery adds that Rendell gave reciprocal professional support to him.
"He convinced me to get a job in baseball. ... He gets credit for that."
Around the same time, Montgomery introduced Rendell to his wife, Midge, who Montgomery was dating at the time.
"Ed had a party in his apartment in town, and David had just started to date Midge and brought Midge to the party ... and Ed was pretty much smitten with Midge the first time he laid eyes on her," Stiles says.
"He called David after that party and asked him if he was serious about his relationship with Midge," he says. With Montgomery's permission, Rendell began to pursue his future wife.
Showing his support for their relationship, Montgomery participated in the couple's wedding. Rendell, Stiles and Montgomery were all members of each other's weddings.
Still going strong
Cohen said it is no coincidence that his friends have all encountered such great amounts of success.
"You can see that the closeness and the fact that they have all become successful in the city is not a complete coincidence," Cohen said. "Mike Stiles ends up at the Phillies because Dave Montgomery is at the Phillies. Leslie Stiles is the executive director of the Commission of Women for the Commonwealth because Ed is governor. These connections are not artificial."
Stiles jokingly agrees that the success is not by chance.
"I want everyone to understand ... how bright and perceptive someone would have to be as a young undergraduate ... to figure out the guy who was going to be mayor and then the governor and then to figure out the guy who was going to be the president of the Phillies," he says.
But the influence of this circle is truly unavoidable on both the local and state levels.
Rendell said he sees his most prevalent influence in state schools.
"I have only been governor for 33 months, less than three years," he said. "But I think we've made an impact first and foremost in education."
Stiles, on the other hand, says his tenure as judge allowed him to make changes on more individual levels.
But when they aren't making important political and business decisions, friends are on the agenda -- and so are Penn basketball games.
The governor's friends agree that Rendell is by far the most rowdy fan in the group.
"Some of the best stories, certainly the fondest memories of the group, are Penn basketball stories and watching the supposedly restrained mayor of Philadelphia almost get thrown out of the Palestra for berating officials," Cohen said.
All say they hope to attend at least a few games this season -- for old time's sake.
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