How The “Gotcha”Culture is Destroying American Politics

Photo by Tbenzinger

American politics has become a minefield of “gotcha ”.

The media do it to politicians, politicians do it to each other, even the media do it to each other.

And it’s eroding our entire system, says one man who was once a participant.

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Washington DC attorney Lanny Davis was formerly special counsel to President Bill Clinton, but has also represented other politicians, billionaires, and a wide range of other clients.

In 2006 Davis wrote a book that he called Scandal: How Gotcha Politics Is Destroying America.

He and I sat down for a conversation about the book in his k Street office in August of 2006.

So here now, from 2006, Lanny Davis.

Lanny Davis is 79 now.

Christine Todd Whitman: Left Behind By The Radicalized GOP

There was a time in American politics, not that long ago, when there were actually liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats, and a broad range of moderates.

But the landscape has changed, and the parties have become much more polarized – reciprocally, it seems, the MAGA-dominated GOP.

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Twenty years ago a prominent Republican warned us about the divide and what it was doing to the country.

Christine Todd Whitman, the two-term Governor of New Jersey and Rockefeller Republican, former EPA Administrator, said the 21st century GOP was turning away from the party she had grown up in.

Get your copy of Christine Todd Whitman’s book

Whitman wrote a book in 2005 called It’s My Party, Too – The Battle For the Heart of the GOP. She and I talked about the book in February of 2005, just a couple of weeks after George W. Bush’s second term began.

So here now, from 2005, Christine Todd Whitman .

Christine Todd Whitman is 78 now. In 2022 she and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang co-founded the centrist “Forward Party.”

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An Admiring Look at Ronald Reagan by His Top Speechwriter Peggy Noonan

Broadly speaking there are two schools of thought about the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

On the one hand some see Reagan as the personification of all that was wrong with the 1980s, an era characterized by that line from a movie: “Greed is good.”

But then there are those who revere our 40th president as not just a great president but as a rare and exceptional leader of great principle and virtue.

https://amzn.to/41iG3LfGet your copy of Peggy Noonan’s book

Into that latter category falls Peggy Noonan, Reagan’s top speechwriter, who crafted some of Ronald Reagan[‘s most memorable orations.

In 2001, a dozen years after he left office, Reagan was the subject of an admiring book by Peggy Noonan called When Character Was King. That’s when she and I had one of our many conversations.

So here now, from 2001, Peggy Noonan.

Peggy Noonan Is 74 now. She writes a column for the Wall Street Journal.

John Kasich And His Plea: Stand For Something

Whatever happened to honesty, Integrity, and accountability?

And not just among our politicians, but our sports heroes, our entertainers, and all leaders.

Longtime Ohio politician John Kasich recognized years ago that the country is in a battle, of sorts, to reclaim personal responsibility.

Get your copy of John Kasich’s book

It was a message that Kasich put forward in a 2006 book he called Stand For Something.

The conversation you’re about to hear took place that spring, six years after his first run for president, and four years before he ran for governor of Ohio.

So here now, from 2006, John Kasich.

John Kasich is now 72. He lives in Ohio.

Revisiting Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 Presidential Bid

The 2024 Democratic National Convention is taking place this week in Chicago.

Back in 1968, Democrats also held their convention in Chicago. That year, the incumbent president had decided not to seek reelection.

With Lyndon Johnson out of the picture, one of the leading contenders for the nomination that year was Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy. His anti-Vietnam War position resonated with a large segment of Americans.

Ultimately, of course, the nomination went to vice President Hubert Humphrey, who lost to Richard Nixon in the November election.

McCarthy remained in the Senate until 1970, and ran for president three more times, but never again held public office.

Get your copy of Eugene McCarthy’s book

In 1987 McCarthy wrote a political memoir called Up ‘Til Now. When I met him that spring to talk about it, it was the first of several conversations he and I would have.

For context, in 1987 the Reagan administration was involved in the war in Nicaragua which at the time some were comparing to the quagmire of Vietnam. McCarthy talks about that, and the 1988 presidential race that would ultimately pit Vice President George H.W. Bush against Democrat Mike Dukakis.

So here now, from 1987, Eugene McCarthy.

Eugene McCarthy died in 2005 at age 89.

An Extraordinary Couple: William Cohen & Janet Langhart Cohen

We’re all familiar with the old saw that “opposites attract.” But how opposite is too opposite?

At first glance it might have seemed that William Cohen and Janet Langhart were just too opposite to succeed as a couple

Cohen was white, Jewish, Republican.

Langhart was black, Christian, and Democrat.

But when journalist Langhart interviewed Senator Cohen, something sparked. And in 1996, they were married. The following year President Bill Clinton appointed Cohen his Defense Secretary.

Get your copy of William Cohen & Janet Langhart’s book

The Cohens’ marriage has been sustained by a mutual empathy, as both have
faced racial or religious discrimination each has experienced since childhood.

In 2007 William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen co-wrote a book called Love in Black And White. That’s when I had the chance to sit down for a few minutes with both of them to talk about it.

So here now from 2007, William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen.

William Cohen is now 82. Janet Langhart is also 82. They celebrated their 28th anniversary last February.

Barry Goldwater: 1964 GOP Nominee’s Optimism

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

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

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

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.