Kirk Cox: Speaker, Virginia House of Delegates.

• Author: Andrade, Jane Carroll
• Position: THE FINAL WORD - Interview

First elected to the House in 1989, Kirk Cox served as majority whip and majority leader before unanimously being elected speaker in January. Cox earned a bachelor's degree in political science and general social science from James Madison University. He is a retired government teacher who spent 30 years in the classroom and 14 seasons on the field coaching youth baseball.

What lessons did you learn as a teacher and coach that helped prepare you for your position as speaker? If you're a classroom teacher, you teach about 120 kids a year, and they all have different personalities. I taught in every type of school--inner-city, rural, suburban--and legislators obviously come from all those different walks of life. I used to say to young teachers, "You really have to set the tone the first week." Students have to think you're fair across the board, but they're also individuals. Coaching is a little bit the same way. I've had teams that weren't quite as talented, but we came in first place because they pulled together as a team. They didn't care who did what--they were unselfish. I've had other teams where I had to really work on that team concept. Learning how to deal with that was really helpful for the legislature.

Are leaders born or made? It's a little bit of both, but if I had to pick one, I would say made. My parents were great role models and I think everyone can probably point to a teacher in their life who really inspired them.

Republicans went from having a large majority in the House to a slim one after the last election. Has that changed how you lead? A little bit. Political parties have different philosophies and that's a good thing--it gives people choices. The big thing you have to focus on with a 51-49 split is governing. As an old government history teacher, I feel like people are really looking for you to govern. People expect you to solve what I call "kitchen-table issues'--issues that affect them. So early on, we had three or four things that we worked on with the governor, a Democrat. One example is regulatory reform. We ended up with a very good bill to reduce regulations by 25 percent over three years, particularly in occupational licensing.

What gives you the most hope? The citizen legislators I've been able to serve with over the last 28 years. They're here for the right reasons. Not everyone, but the majority are. They have other jobs. Our salary is around $18,000 and that pretty much hasn't changed in my 28 years. We...