Saying Goodlije to
Frank t McCarthy
Frank E. McCarthy had a
thing about facts. He fig­
ured that with facts used
properly he could do a bet­
ter job of representing his
people, the 20,000 members
of the National Automobile
Dealers Association, as their
president and chief execu­
tive officer. It always made
sense to try to know as
much as McCarthy did
before meeting with him for
an interview.
That was practically
impossible. McCarthy had
been with NADA since
1968. I started covering the
automotive beat in 1982.
He not only had more
experience, but he had a
passion for doing his job
that I did not understand
until years later. I say "pas­
sion.” Perhaps “belief’ is a
better word.
McCarthy believed in
the value of the franchised
dealer system. He knew it
was flawed, especially in the
area of ethnic diversity. But
he believed it could change,
and he worked with the
National Association of
Minority
Automobile
Dealers and others to help
bring those changes about.
McCarthy cared little for bombast. He was a
lawyer by training, a politician by instinct and a
very decent human being at his spiritual core.
McCarthy believed that you could change
minds more quickly with facts than insults. 1
know this because I used to needle him just for
the heck of it. I’d find a real case of dealership
wrongdoing. I'd say, “Hey, Frank, if your guys
are so good, what’s this all about?”
He never responded in anger, and never
attacked the dealer in question. He'd point to
NADA’s best practices, talk about the value of
treating all customers fairly, direct me to
“McCarthy believed
you could change
minds more quickly
with facts than
insults."
NADA staffers who had facts on the econom­
ic impact of dealerships on local communities,
and discuss candidly what steps NADA was
taking to end current abuses of consumers,
and to prevent their reoccurrence. It was hard
to ignore a presentation like that. McCarthy
knew it. His approach was simple. You might
not agree with him but, if you had an ounce of
professionalism, you’d at least have to write a
balanced story.
He worked similar magic on a variety of
issues and campaigns, including NADA’s suc­
cess in protecting franchised dealers from what
many of them viewed as unfair sales competi­
tion from Internet companies. But McCarthy
succeeded most in his efforts to give the auto
retail business a credible face, and he did this
the old-fashioned way. He simply told the
truth, as best he could, as best he knew it.
McCarthy, 66, died February 25th at the
African Americans On Wheels
Washington Hospital Center from complica­
tions related to kidney cancer. A funeral for
him was held here March 2nd at St. Elizabeth
Catholic Church. NAMAD president, Sheila
Vaden-Williams, was among the hundreds of
mourners in attendance.
“McCarthy succeeded
most in his efforts to
give the auto retail
business a credible
face, and he did this the
old-fashioned way."
The NADA board of directors will choose a
successor to McCarthy at its meeting in June.
In the interim, Bruce Kelleher, NADA’s chief
administrative officer who worked with
McCarthy since 1970, will serve as president.
NADA's leadership search actually began
several months ago in anticipation of
McCarthy’s planned retirement, which was
scheduled for December 31,2001.
"McCarthy will be missed,” Vaden-Williams
stated. "He w’as a good man,” she said, echoing
the words of many who had worked with
McCarthy over the years.
McCarthy was a native of Indiana and a
graduate of the University of Notre Dame in
South Bend. He also held a law degree from
the Georgetown University School of Law in
the District of Columbia. His numerous
awards, including the International Freedom of
Mobility Award he received this year at the
NADA convention in Las Vegas, are tributes to
his success as the leader of the association.
I learned a lot from McCarthy. He was a
good teacher, a good friend, a man of his word.
I salute his life and his work.
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