At 50, AARP Enters Its Golden Years

He heard that the Peace Corps was seeking a marketing expert to help redraft its image and draw volunteers who could assist developing countries. If he could market a laundry detergent, he wondered, why not an idea or a cause?

While working at the Peace Corps, he hatched an idea with his boss, Jack Porter, to form a public relations firm that would specialize in health and social issues. Their plans were interrupted by a call from the White House, which enlisted Novelli to join its November Group, the team that devised slogans such as "Nixon. Now More Than Ever" during the 1972 presidential campaign.

"I believed in the reelection of the president," Novelli said, something he came to regret as the Watergate revelations piled high.

After that, he focused on building his public relations firm, Porter Novelli, which amassed an impressive portfolio that included Kellogg's, Hewlett-Packard and Corning. But what fired him up, he said, were campaigns such as the one launched to educate the public about the dangers of high blood pressure.

At the age of 49, Novelli left Porter Novelli, hoping to devote himself full time to social issues. His first stop was CARE, which combats global poverty, then the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. He joined AARP in 2000, becoming chief executive the following year. His mission was to lasso the millions of baby boomers becoming old enough to join up.

"I looked at it as an opportunity to make social change," Novelli said. "The question was, could AARP appeal to the boomers and stay relevant?"

He took over a sprawling nonprofit group, which now has a $1.3 billion budget and 2,400 employees. It generates more than $1 billion in revenue, a stream produced by $12.50-a-year membership fees, grants and investments, royalties from endorsing everything from health insurance to motorcycle insurance, and by selling advertising space in its publications ($483,000 for a full-page ad in the magazine).

Novelli hoped to make AARP more of a player on Capitol Hill. He poured money into its lobbying operation, expanded the number of state offices and led AARP into the 2003 fight over Medicare reform. AARP's alliance with Bush prompted rebukes from a traditional ally, the Democratic Party, which painted Novelli as a Republican shill. Some 60,000 AARPers canceled their memberships, and senior citizens showed up outside headquarters to protest.

Novelli, a registered independent, maintained a pragmatist's steady hand, telling reporters that the Bush plan was not perfect, but "you're not going to get perfect legislation in this day and age."

Two years later, AARP countered the president's push to offer private Social Security accounts. AARP's $30 million campaign included ads accusing the administration of trying to "dismantle" Social Security. Bush's proposal was headed for oblivion.

The two episodes, Novelli said, are evidence that AARP is "down the middle." On display in his office are two framed quotes that he says prove his point, one of them from then-Sen. Trent Lott (R), who in 2002 called AARP a "wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party." Just below is another, from Rep. Pete Stark, a California Democrat, who two years later said that AARP stands for "Always Advocating for the Republican Party."

What's Old Is New Again, Sort of

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the elderly didn't need lobbyists fighting on their behalf in Washington. Older people controlled the land, the best seats at church and that ever-intangible commodity known as wisdom.