Episode 981: Senator Lamar Alexander

Newt talks with former Lamar Alexander, former Governor of Tennessee, U.S. Education Secretary, and Senator about his memoir, “The Education of a Senator: From JFK to Trump.” He traces his public life from a 1963 Justice Department job under Robert Kennedy, where he heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, through the rise of “digital democracy,” social media, globalization, the Great Recession, and the Obama and Trump eras, arguing that social media and economic disruption have transformed American politics since around 2008. Alexander contrasts gubernatorial and senatorial leadership, likening governors to Moses and Senate leaders to drum majors who must recruit, align, and manage diverse “marchers,” and notes that many governors find the Senate frustrating while some senators struggle as pragmatic executives. He credits Howard Baker with teaching him to be an “eloquent listener,” to “learn to count” votes, and to remember “the other fellow might be right.” Relationships, he argues, are the essence of the Senate: he cultivated them by visiting House counterparts, maintaining courtesy, and hosting about 60 Senate couples, both Republicans and Democrats alike, at his Tennessee home. Alexander reflects on his own presidential bids, which he compares to moving from eighth-grade basketball to the NBA finals. He warns that presidential politics are increasingly dominated by “media and money,” recalling a 1999 quip predicting a Trump-like figure emerging from this environment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.