i mean, i used to rail against george mcgovern. today i can't do that anymore because i have such enormous respect for george mcgovern and the genuine -- i'm going to say love and respect between bob and george mcgovern. it's a beautiful friendship and i sat down after the dole announcement in lawrence when they had that big dinner and my wife and i were having a late night snack and george mcgovern came in. and we sat down with him and talked for about an hour-and-a- half. and i just came to see that bob had more influence on him than he had on bob. >> where did you do it and when did you do this? he's now deceased. >> that's right, we did it about three years ago and boy, jack kemp -- we miss jack kemp. jack kemp was a happy warrior. jack kemp was a man all about ideas, principles. you didn't have to agree with him but the fact is he respected those who disagreed with him, and he believed that politics, in fact, were supposed to be about ideas and not, you know, character assassination or trivial, you know, tactics of the moment.

his long history with pat moynihan in george mcgovern robert c. byrd, tom harkin and that is to build the work they've done and 10 kennedy on voting rights. i mean, on the other side of the as well as his own colleagues. i think an acknowledgment of a change that would occur with his departure. >> mike, what did you feel? >> for me it was more of a -- while i would say we shocked. in particular because i felt it more to canada. if it was really a palpable lost for our state because i knew -- you know i learned enough by then that the leverage in the power of the seniority that under dole had arrived to the congress and representing our state was so significant and probably would never be replicated. so from my days, it was as a campaign operative i frankly was happy on one hand because i knew that it would be easier to concentrate and focus on the general election that we were facing, which was an uphill battle to start with. the more somebody from home i felt a sense of loss of the representation that he had built up for estate over the years. wo

it is bob dole talking about george mcgovern. we'll let you talk about what role they play. >> he had a very compassionate attitude. how else could you explain mcgovern? i used to rail against mcgovern and i cannot do that because i have such respect for him. it is a beautiful friendship. i sat down after the bill announcement when we had that big dinner. we had a late-night snack and george mcgovern came in and we sat down and talked for about an hour and a half. i just came to see that bob had more influence on him than he had on bob. >> where did you do it were to mark what we did it about three years ago. we missed jack kemp. he was a happy warrior. he was a man about ideas, principals. >> you did not have to agree with them, but he believed politics was supposed to be about ideas and not character assassination or trivial tactics of the moment. we could use more people like him. >> what is this project about? >> it was an oral history project. he did not want to be a biographical project, he wanted it to be about policy. he

the same is true of the food stamp program and the work he did with george mcgovern. it was recognizing the extraordinary need in the role that government can play in a responsible way. -- to help people help themselves. i think both of those are evidence of his ability to cross the aisle and to do things that were at odds with his party at the time. but his acknowledgement of the balancing act for the appropriate role for government. in the right way. >> one of his other great accomplishment that he remains proud of is hit -- solving social security. >> -- salvaging social security. >> i often hear today that we need to put together the greenspan commission that salt social security. the greenspan commission was about to put out a report that made no recommendation because they could not solve the problem. senator dole was a member of that commission, as was senator daniel patrick moynihan from new york. senator moynihan and loved the social security program. he was a devoted to it. he and senator dole got together, and senator moynihan said, we cannot let this go li

i've talked to george mcgovern at length about this. he said, john, i couldn't get two reporters together in this a room to talk about watergate. i was convinced something was astray, and i would tell them about "the washington post." ah, they say, no one cares outside washington. so there was no national attention until haldeman, ehrlichman and yours truly were sent packing from the white house. and then the national media says, ooh, there must be something here. and at that point it starts getting, becoming a story. at that point it starts becoming a headline every other day. enormous, i mean, shattering headlines. that one copying another and another. the network pick it up at that time, and it becomes nightly news. it's not a two-minute segment, it's a ten, sometimes thirty-minute segment so it did get covered. i'm not sure that cable would have changed it much. i don't know. what would have been interesting would be that the president might have found a defender in fox news. but he might have been too liberal for fox news. >> host:

and incidentally i voted for george mcgovern solely because i felt the watergate break-in had been done of nixon's m compulco compulsive desire to win by a landslide worth. >> host: mcgovern who knew him before -- and when i was doing a profile for rolling stone in '76 for the republican convention. and he was wearing a blue suit and sitting in his chair.c[ñ and i said, you know, this man in many regards is so much more presidential than the president i worked for. in recent -- in the recent years, he and i have shared a stage. he was out in california recently. and i had an event. and we have an awful lot of fun and we have no preprogrammed and we seem to interact well. i think he's 85 -- >> host: 87. >> guest: 87, yes. and may we all be half as sharp as he is 87. so as i say, we had a pleasant friendship. >> host: in his book "courage and consequence" karl rove who was working door rnc chair george herbert walker bush in 1973 asked one of the most fundamental questions that is asked about watergate. he said, quote, i found it increasingly difficult to defend nixon. what good could ha

shared a hospital when debose came home from world war ii, his long history with pat moynihan and george mcgovern and george mitchell, robert byrd, you know, tom harkin and the work they had done, ted kennedy on voting rights. there was a -- on the other side of the aisle as well as his own colleagues i think an acknowledgment of change that would occur with his departure. >> like, what did you feel that they? >> for me, it was more of a -- it was shocked. in particular i felt it more as a kansan and was a palpable sense of loss for the state because i knew -- i had learned enough by then to know that the leverage and the power seniority that sadr -- senator dole brought to our state was so significant and would never be replicated so from that perspective it was as a campaign operative i frankly was heavy on one hand because i knew it would be easier to concentrate and focus on the general election we were facing which was an uphill bell to start with. but somebody from home i felt a sense of loss of representation that he had built up for the state over the years. one other thing i want to add

a hospital when they both came home from world war ii, his long history with pat moynihan and george mcgovern, george mitchell, robert c. byrd, you know, tom harkin and the disability work they'd done, ted kennedy on voting rights -- i mean, there was -- on the other own colleagues. an acknowledgement of really a change that would occur with his departure. >> mike, what did you feel that day? >> for me it was more of a -- well, i would say it was shock. because in particular because i felt it more as a kansasan. and it was really a palpable sense of loss for our state. because i knew -- you know, i had learned enough by then to know that, you know, the leverage and the power of the seniority that senator dole had brought to the congress in representing our state was so significant. and probably would never be replicated. so from that perspective, it was -- as a campaign operative, i frankly was happy on one hand because i knew that it would be easier to concentrate and focus on the general election that we were facing, which was an uphill battle to start with. but, you know, more as somebody

and incidentally i voted for george mcgovern solely because i felt the watergate break-in had been donexon's compulsive desire to win by a landslide. thank you. >> guest: you know, it's interesting. mcgovern who i have come to know over the years, met him first when i was doing a profile for rolling stone in 76 on the republican convention. went in to see him, and sitting there, he was wearing a blue suit and sitting in his chair. and i said you know this many, many regard to so much more presidential than the president i worked for. in recent come in the recent years he and i have shared a stage. he was out in california and i had an event. invited him to join me. he had an event and invited me to join him. and we have an awful lot of fun up there. we had no preplanned program and we seem to interact well, and i think he is 85? >> host: eighty-seven. >> guest: and may we all be half as sharp as he is at 87. so as i say, we had a pleasant friendship. >> host: in his book courage and consequence our world is working at the time for than rnc chair george walker bush in 1973 is asked about

some people may can sitter me an elder produced a guide that i really admire was senator george mcgoverntement that he opposed card check. i would have been opposed to that as well. senator mcgovern, if you like to know about his life, you can get the book. it is a great story. he served in the senate for about 30 years. when he got out of the senate, he went back to north dakota and one is to open a business. he said at that time that if he had had any idea abou the votes that he cast while he was in the senate and how they really impact small business, he would not have done half of them. that is my point. a lot of the people in washington are out of touch with main street and the folks here. that is a good example. >> thank you. our next question is from christopher smith. senator lincoln will be first. >> what kind of judicial nominees to the supreme court would you support with your vote? would you consider a judicial activist or a very progressive nominee? >> one of the most important responsibilities we have as a senator is to judge those nominees that the president brings before

george mcgovern. bobby kennedy.ctually set the ncaa record for concession speeches written for losing candidates. but i love politics. i think politics is nothing more and nothing less than the peaceable resolution and conflict. i don't know how else in a nation as big as brawling and diverse as ours we resolve our difference except through the political process. the passion and commitment of people like yourselves and since the like yourselves and those who care about public office. i don't know how else we have fortuned the compromises except through that political office. i like people who run for political office. most of us, myself included go to great lengths to avoid rejection of any kind. political candidates risk it every time they put their name on the ballot. anybody you ever sat next to at study hall, double dated with, knows whether you won or lost. i've always admired particularly candidates who can lose with grace and with humor my half century in this business i've never seen anybody do it better tha

some people may can sitter me an elder produced a guide that i really admire was senator george mcgovern. last year he made a statement that he opposed card check. that he opposed card check. i would have been opposed that as well. senator mcgovern, if you like to know about his life, you can get the book. it is a great story. he served in the senate for about 30 years. when he got out of the senate, he went back to north dakota and one is to open a business. he said at that time that if he had had any idea abou the votes that he cast while he was in the senate and how they really impact small business, he would not have done half of them. that is my point. a lot of the people in washington are out of touch with main street and the folks here. that is a good example. >> thank you. our next question is from christopher smith. senator lincoln will be first. >> what kind of judicial nominees to the supreme court would you support with your vote? would you consider a judicial activist or a very progressive nominee? >> one of the most important responsibilities we have as a senator is to judg

some people may can sitter me an elder produced a guide that i really admire was senator george mcgovern last year he made a statement that he opposed card check. i would have been opposed to that as well. senator mcgovern, if you like to know about his life, you can get the book. it is a great story. he served in the senate for about 30 years. when he got out of the senate, he went back to north dakota and one is to open a business. he said at that time that if he had had any idea abou the votes that he cast while he was in the senate and how they really impact small business, he would not have done half of them. that is my point. a lot of the people in washington are out of touch with main street and the folks here. that is a good example. >> thank you. our next question is from christopher smith. senator lincoln will be first. >> what kind of judicial nominees to the supreme court would you support with your vote? would you consider a judicial activist or a very progressive nominee? >> one of the most important responsibilities we have as a senator is to judge those nominees that the