Jimmy Carter

Historian Allan Lichtman on Why Presidential Campaigns Don’t Matter

Bill Thompson

Kamala Harris is going to be our next president. So says the historian who has correctly predicted every presidential election except one since 1984.

American University professor Allan Lichtman,along with a noted expert in earthquake prediction, came up with a method of forecasting elections that Lichtman calls “the 13 keys.”

He explained them in his 1990 book Thirteen Keys to the Presidency. I talked with him when that book was first published.

Get your copy of Allan Lichtman’s book

As you listen to this interview, you have to put yourself back in 1990, less than halfway through George H.W. Bush’s term. And listen as Lichtman hints that Bush may already be set up to lose in ;92 – an election two and a half years in the future.

Sol here now, from 1990, Allan Lichtman.

By the way, the only election Lichtman got wrong in the last 40 years was the 2000 Bush v. Gore contest. Lichtman did correctly predicted that Al Gore would win the popular vote.

Allan Lichtman is 77 now. He has taught at American University.since 1973.

What Does The First Family Eat? The Scoop From Former WH Chef Henry Haller

Bill Thompson

No matter who wins the presidential election in November, new occupants will be moving into the White House next January.

And beyond the issues of policy and politics will be food. The White House employs a staff to prepare meals for the president and their family.

For 21 years, starting in 1966, through five administrations, Swiss-born Henry Haller was the White House executive chef .

Get your copy of Henry Haller’s book

In that role Haller had to learn the “right way” to prepare First Families’ favorite dishes, and to keep track of their culinary likes and dislikes.

Not to mention preparing huge meals for major White House events.

After his retirement in 1987 Haller wrote a book that was part memoir, part cookbook. He called it simply The White House Family Cookbook.

In a moment, my 1987 conversation with Henry Haller.

Henry Haller died in 2020.at the age of 97.

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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Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter

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Sam Donaldson

Bill Thompson

If Donald Trump thinks he’s getting a rough time from the journalist who cover him at the White House, he’s never met Sam Donaldson.

From 1977 to 1989 — the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan years — Donaldson was was Chief White House correspondent for ABC News.

During those twelve years, Donaldson proved to be a relentless, aggressive reporter, never letting the president get away with a vague, evasive, or unsatisfactory answer to a question.

Ironically, the title of Donaldson’s 1987 book was a phrase he never actually said. The book was called
“Hold On, Mr. President.”

But listen to this interview that’s more than 30 years old and see if it doesn’t have a lot of relevance to what we see going on right now today.

So here now, from 1987, Sam Donaldson.

Sam Donaldson retired from ABC News in 2009. He is 86 now. and serves on the Board of New Mexico First, a bipartisan booster organization.