Leadership -- And "Doing The Right Thing": Retired Merck Chairman Kenneth Frazier -- Still Very Solid.

As regular readers remember, we did follow it all, in real time about six years ago -- but this is a fresh reminder of just what a rare bird Mr. Frazier is.

Not mentioned in this Fortune interview is his work almost two decades ago now, to free "Bo" Cochran from death row -- entirely pro bono -- a man wrongly condemned to die, and in prison in fetid conditions in Alabama. But it is also who he is. Do read the links, and this current one, to read or listen to a podcast (or, watch a video) of the interview:

. . .Frazier tells Murray why the decisions he made to leave former U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidential advisory council, and to vocally support voting rights, were a matter of principle, not politics.

Frazier also discusses the challenges he faced in his first few years as CEO of Merck—and the shareholders who trusted his vision enough to support him. Finally, Frazier, who is also the cofounder and former CEO of the the OneTen Coalition and current chairman of health assurance initiatives at General Catalyst, talks about starting the OneTen Coalition after the murder of George Floyd, and because he identified a need to find a common language to talk about ESG and DEI. . . .

Mr. Frazier: ". . .So if people have a responsibility to stand up for principle, then I think CEOs ought to stand up for those principles. And from my perspective, that’s one of those things that a lot of people will disagree with, because they’ll say that was political. And I said, wait a minute, the right to vote isn’t inherently a political issue. If somebody wants to politicize that principle, that doesn’t mean I have to be quiet about it. And the example that I’ve used recently in talking to CEOs is the American business community has stood in unison for democracy in Ukraine. But we can’t speak to it in Georgia? I mean, come on. . . .

". . .[I]f I can be so direct as an African-American. I compare George Floyd to Rodney King, when the Rodney King thing happened, Black people were in the streets. When the George Floyd thing happened, everybody was in the streets, I would see these stories about places in North Dakota, where there were no Black people living, and people were protesting. Right.

And, you know, frankly, I’m being a little political here myself, I actually believe that shows that the country is moving to a place where we can empathize with one another. . . ."

Now you know. Is he perfect? Of course not -- some of the early Merck litigation tactics (while he was outside litigation chief counsel), in denying allegedly injured people their day in court. . . were very heavy-handed.

But the balance of his career. . . is exemplary. He truly is. . . a fine American. . . original. Onward, grinning.

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