Political Leaders

Andrew Cuomo

Bill Thompson

New York governor, or more precisely, soon-to-be ex governor, Andrew Cuomo has certainly had a rough few weeks.

In the face of a scathing report accusing him of sexual misconduct, Cuomo last week announced his resignation. It was a breathtaking fall from his Emmy award-winning performance during the pandemic in 2020.

And now the political future looks very murky for a man once considered the future of the Democratic Party.

I met Andrew Cuomo in 2003, when he was promoting a book, an anthology of essays by Democrats and Republicans on politics in America.

And Cuomo’s comments from 18 years ago still sounds very current.

So here now, from 2003, Andrew Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo is 63. He’ll leave office nexxt week.

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Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter

Bill Thompson

In November 1980, after serving just one term as President, Jimmy Carter was voted out of office. The following January he and First Lady Rosalynn Carter moved back to their hometown of Plains, Georgia.

But they didn’t simply settle into a quiet life of retirement and leisure. Quite the opposite.

Just a few years later, in 1987, the two of them wrote a book called Everything to Gain. Their aim was to help people in all walks of life — not just former presidents — navigate their later years.

Amd tjat’s how I met them.

So here now, from 1987, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.

Earlier this month the Carters celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary, with a star-studded party in .. of course .. Plains, Georgia. Jimmy Catter is 96 now. Rosalynn Carter is 93.

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Dan Bongino

Bill Thompson

A new nationally syndicated radio talk show is debuting this week.

Photo: Gage Skidmore

Its host is conservative commentator Dan Bongino, who was, for several years, a Secret Service agent who’s assignments included the presidentia protective l detail.

After unsuccessful bids for US Senate and the US House, bongino turned to writing books .. and radio.

I met him in the fall of 2013, after he wrote a book called Life Inside the Bubble.

So here now, from 2013, Dan bongino.

“The Dan Bongino Show,” debuting today, is heard from noon to 3 Eastern Time.

George Shultz

Bill Thompson

George Shulz served in various positions under three U.S. presidents — in fact Shultz held four different cabinet-level posts over the years.

An economist by training, Shultz came to Washington as Richard Nixon’s first Labor Secretary. He became Director of the Office of Management and Budget a year later, and a year after that Nixon appointed him Treasury Secretary.

Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. and in 1982 chose Shultz as his Secretary of State. Shultz became a key shaper of foreign policy during the Reagan’s administration.

I met him in the spring of 1993, when he wrote a long memoir of his years at the State Department.

So here now, from 1993, George Shultz.

George Shultz died this past February at the age of 100.

Barbara Bush

Bill Thompson

Sometimes when I interview celebrities, they are exactly the way I thought they would be.

And sometimes, a celebrity would surprise me a little. I was surprised a little by former First Lady Barbara Bush, wife of George H.W. Bush, our 41st president.

When I met her in 1994, when she published her Memoir, I was unprepared for how simple, straightforward, and folksy Mrs. Bush was. It was like talking to my mom or one of her friends over a cup of coffee.

It’s important to remember that Barbara Bush holds a rare distinction in American history: she is only the second woman, behind Abigail Adams, to be the wife of one president and the mother of another.

Now, one thing you will hear us refer to in this interview is a small plane crashing into the White House lawn. It happened just a couple of days before our interview, when a young man stole a light plane and crash landed on the South Lawn.

Oh, and also, you’ll hear why Barbara Bush quit smoking.

So here now, from 1994, Barbara Bush.

Barbara Bush died in April 2018. She was 92. George H.W. Bush died seven montrhs later at age 94.

Dick Armey

Bill Thompson

Economist and Texas Republican politician Dick Armey was first elected to Congress in 1984. By 1995, he has risen to the post of Majority Leader, as the Republican Revolution swept Washington.

He remained in that post until his election defeat in 2002.

The following year, Armey wrote a little book of wit and wisdom called Armey’s Axioms.

So here now, from 2003, Dick Armey:

Dick Armey is 80 now, and works as a consultant and lobbyist.

Andrew Young

Bill Thompson

Was the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s a social or political movement? It was, but it was also a religious or spiritual movement, says former Congressman and UN Ambassador Andrew Young.

In a 1994 book called A Way Out of No Way, Young, a confidant of Martin Luther King jr., a former preacher, former Atlanta mayor, told his own story against the backdrop of the movement that he was a key part of.

So here now, from 1994, Andrew Young:

Ambassador Andrew Young will be 89 next month.

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Ann Richards

Bill Thompson
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel

In the summer of 1988 leaders of the Democratic party invited Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards to deliver a prime-time address at the Democratic National Convention.

Richards delivered. all right, in a big way, targeting Republican presidential nominee George H.W. Bush, who had just spent eight years as Ronald Reagan’s vice president. Richards delivered a takedown line that has lived forever: “He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

I met Ann Richards in the fall of 1989 when she had just launched her campaign for governor of Texas.

So here now from 1989 Ann Richards.

Ann Richards won the election for governor in 1990, but served just one term.

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She died in 2006 at age 73.

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Egil Krogh

Bill Thompson
Egil “Bud” Krogh

Next Monday, December 21, marks the 50th anniversary of a very strange day in White House history.

It was on December 21, 1970 that the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, showed up unannounced at the White House gate, asking for a personal meeting with President Richard M.Nixon.

The man who put that meeting together that day was Nixon aide Egil “Bud” Krogh. Officially, Krogh was head of the White House special investigations unit, later colloquially known as the “Plumbers” – it was the unit assembled to plug leaks of information from the Nixon White House.

In 1994, krogh wrote a book about that famous 1970 meeting. And that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1994, Egil “Bud” Krogh.

Egil “Bud” Krogh eventually was implicated in the Watergate scandal, and served a short prisoin sentence for his role in it.

He died earlier this year, at age 80.

Bob Dole

Bill Thompson

Tomorrow is the presidential election. It’s been a tough campaign, with not a lot of humor.

But politicians, and their constituents, need a good sense of humor. In 1998, Bob Dole, the unsuccessful GOP nominee in 1996, compiled a book of presidential and political humor.

Now, Dole himself was hardly known for his comic genius. But when I interviewed him in 1998, I found out how funny even conservative Republicans can be.

So here now, from 1998, Bob Dole.

Bob Dole is 97.

He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal iun 2017.