Political Leaders

Barry Goldwater: 1964 GOP Nominee’s Optimism

Bill Thompson

The 2024 Republican National Convention begins Monday in Milwaukee. Donald Trump will be formally nominated as the GOP standard bearer, and we expect to learn who his running mate will be.

Sixty years ago, convening in San Francisco, Republicans nominated firebrand Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater as their party’s nominee against incumbent Democrat Lyndon Johnson.

But ,many Republicans in 1964 saw Goldwater as too extreme. And Goldwater himself didn’t do much to calm those concerns, with his acceptance speech.

Get your copy of Barry Goldwater’s book

After being trounced by LBJ that fall, Goldwater remained in the Senate for another 22 years, helping shape the conservative policies of the GOP.

After his retirement, he wrote a memoir called simply Goldwater. And when I met him in 1988, the country was in the thick of the George H.W. Bush vs Michael Dukakis race. And as you’re about to hear, Goldwater had some very specific ideas about that contest.

So, here now, from 1988, Barry Goldwater.

Barry Goldwater died in 1998. He was 89.

Breaking Barriers: Arlene Violet, America’s First Female Attorney General

Bill Thompson

Up until the mid-1980s, no U.S. state had ever elected a woman to be attorney general

It took a former Roman Catholic nun in America’s smallest state to shatter that glass ceiling.

In 1984, Arlene Violet – running as a Republican in deep blue Rhode Island – was elected attorney general. Her goals were to strengthen victims’ rights, and to try to root out the state’s entrenched public corruption .

Get your copy of Arlene Violet ‘s book

She did make progress, but was defeated for reelection in 1986.

Two years later she wrote her memoir, a book called Convictions. I had covered Violet’s career when I was news director of a major radio station in Providence, so I was delighted to have the chance to reconnect when her book tour brought her to my studio.

So here now, from 1988, Arlene Violet.

Arlene Violet is 81 now. And remains politically outspoken.

Breaking Barriers: Jim McGreevey, America’s First Openly Gay Governor

Bill Thompson
Photo by David Shankbone

In August 2004 the governor of New Jersey resigned. Big deal, you say. politicians resign from office all the time.

But Jim McGreevey’s resignation was unique, as he outed himself as the nation’s first openly gay governor:.

Get your copy of Jim McGreevey’s book

McGreevey resigned, however, not because of his sexuality, but because he had an affair with a male state employee.

Two years later McGreevey wrote a book called The Confession. That’s when I got a few minutes with him.

So here now, from 2006, Jim McGreevey.

Jim McGreevey. Will be 67 in August. He is executive director of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation.

Tom Hayden: From Freedom Rider to Chicago Seven

Bill Thompson

The political turbulence of the 1960s has been well documented. and one name that appears prominently in that story is Tom Hayden.

One of the founders of the Students For a Democratic Society, Hayden was also a Freedom Rider in the south, fighting for civil rights, but also became one of the leading young voices against the Vietnam War.

Chicago Seven in 1970. Photo by Don Casper

In the historically tumultuous 1968, Hayden was among several high profile demonstrators at the notorious Democratic National Convention in Chicago. They were eventually brought to trial and became known as The Chicago Seven. Abby Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were also among them

Hayden was also married for many years to another high-profile anti-war activist, actress Jane Fonda.

In subsequent years, Hayden entered politics. He was elected to the California State Assembly and the California State Senate.

And in 1988, some 20 years after the Chicago Seven experience, Hayden wrote a memoir called Reunion. That’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1988, Tom Hayden.

Tom Hayden died in 2016. He was 76.

The Unforgettable ‘I am not a witch’ Moment in Christine O’Donnell’s Campaign

Bill Thompson

Sometimes we say something stupid that comes back to haunt us years later. That can be especially difficult for someone who’s running for political office.

In 2010, Christine O’Donnell, in her third campaign, rode the Tea Party wave to an upset victory in the Republican primary for US Senate from Delaware.

And then something stupid came back to haunt her.

Years earlier, O’Donnell had appeared on Bill Maher’s TV show and admitted that she had once dabbled in witchcraft.

And before long, that was almost all that some people knew about Christina. O’Donnell, was that she had once dabbled in witchcraft.

Against her own better judgment, she claims, she made a TV commercial in which she declared. “I am not a witch.”

But the damage had been done, and O’Donnell was trounced in the general election.

The following year she wrote a book describing that experience, and detailing the political views that she says she was never able to fully explain during the campaign. Her book was called Troublemaker, and that’s when I have the chance to meet her.

So here now, from 2011, Christine O’Donnell.

Christine O’Donnell is 54 now. She writes a column for the Washington times.

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From Poverty To Political Legend: Arkansas’s Dale Bumpers

Bill Thompson

Born and raised in a tiny rural Arkansas town, Dale Bumpers was drawn at a very early age into public service, by his encouraging father.

Service in the Marine Corps during World War II was followed by law school, and any illustrious legal career. He was, as he called his 2003 memoir, The Best Lawyer in a One-Lawyer Town.

His political career began in 1970, when he ran successfully for governor of Arkansas. He then flirted with the idea of running for president,but ran for Senate, and served there for the next 24 years.

A fiscally conservative Democrat, Bumpers earned a reputation as a powerful and influential Senator.

In one of his most memorable Senate moments, Bumpers delivered a closing argument in the Bill Clinton impeachment trial.

In 2003, four years after leaving public office, Bumpers published his memoir, and that’s when I met him. So here now, from 2003, Senator Dale Bumpers.

Dale Bumpers died on New Year’s Day 2016. He was 90.

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Wilma Mankiller: A Cherokee Chief’s Journey and Legacy

Bill Thompson

Wilma Mankiller’s journey into leadership in the Cherokee nation was not planned. She started as an advocate for rural development within her community, gradually rising through the ranks of Cherokee leadership.

In the 1980s she was the first woman elected to Principal Chief.

Her 1993 autobiography, Mankiller, gave her the opportunity to fill a void of knowledge about ANative American history and culture.

Her story, as she recountss in this interview, was not only one of personal resilience but also a testament to the strength of Native American communities.

So here now, from 1993, Wilman Mankiller.

Wilma Mankiller was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And in 2022 her likeness appeared on the quarter-dollar coin minted by the U.S. Treasury.

Mankiller died from pancreatic cancer in 2010. She was 64.

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Rosalynn Carter

Bill Thompson

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married in 1946. Both came from close knit families in which caring for the elderly was a responsibility taken seriously.

Both of the Carters devoted themselves to volunteer activities after leaving the White House. And Rosalynn took up the cause of supporting America’s caregivers, Who devoted their lives to helping the sick or elderly.

In 1994 Mrs. Carter wrote a book called Helping Yourself Help Others. And with both her and her husband in their twilight years, her words in this interview seem particularly poignant.

So here now, from 1994, Rosalynn Carter.

Rosalynn Carter. Is 96 now. Jimmy Carter will be 99 in a couple of weeks.

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John Danforth

Bill Thompson
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.65032

The US supreme Court has been under intense scrutiny the last couple of years, and perhaps no member has been in a harsher spotlight than Clarence Thomas.

But Thomas is no stranger to controversy and criticism.

The political opposition began virtually as soon as he was nominated to the high court by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, to succeed the retiring Thurgood Marshall.

About this time, Thomas coined the phrase “high-tech lynching” to describe his experience.

Helping shepherd the Thomas nomination through the US Senate was Missouri Republican John Danforth. He was a long time friend, colleague, and even mentor to Thomas, and was eager to see him win confirmation.

That opposition reached a crescendo when a former co-worker of Thomas’s, a woman named Anita Hill, came forth to testify about alleged sexual harassment by Thomas.

Thomas did, of course, ultimately when confirmation. And in 1994 Danforth wrote a book describing the Clarence Thomas episode.

And that’s when I met the Senator. So here now, from 1994, Senator John Danforth.

John Danforth will be 87 next month.

Clarence Thomas is the oldest member of the current Supreme Court, and is its longest-serving current associate justice.

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Phyllis Schlafly

Bill Thompson

She was a middle-aged housewife from Alton, Illinois. But in the 1970s, Phyllis Schlafly launched an anti-feminist crusade that would make her a household name — lauded by many, revered by some, but hated and smeared by many others.

Schlafly positioned herself as the defender of traditional motherhood, becoming virulently anti-feminist, and the leading opponent of the then still-pending Equal Rights Amendment.

As the founder of the group Eagle Forum, Schlafly also had huge influence on the direction of the conservative movement in America.

She even had a syndicated column, and in 2003 she published a collection of those columns, a book she called Feminist Fantasies.

So this is one of the several times that I interviewed her over the years. So here now, from 2003, Phyllis Schlafly.

Phyllis schlafly died in 2016. She was 92.

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