My first recorded political interview — uncovered this week buried in an old box under the stairwell — happened my junior year in High School in 1983.
I had sent a letter to Sen. Barry Goldwater asking if I could ask him ten questions about various topics.
From a young age I loved politics and broadcasting, and had a miniature radio station set up in my room.
A few weeks after sending the letter, Goldwater responded that he would be happy to do it.
At the time I didn’t think much of it.
Today, thirty plus years later, I listen in awe, realizing I’m talking to a true American political giant.
At one point I asked him, “what would have been the main difference had you been elected president in 1964 instead of Lyndon Johnson?”
The answer is historically priceless.
“Well, I guess not too much except the war in Vietnam would have ended in a matter of a week,” said Goldwater. “We would not be in the financial trouble we are in today because I could have controlled inflation better. I think even though I would have had a Democratically controlled Congress I could have controlled spending. In fact I don’t know how I could have gotten the country into as much trouble as Lyndon Johnson did if I worked at it twenty-four hours a day for four years, period.”
Goldwater was never shy to point out Republicans he disliked either.
At the top of the list was former President Richard Nixon, and I asked Goldwater why he had such a negative view.
“I dislike him, to be honest with you, because he didn’t tell the truth in the matter of Watergate, and he has not yet told the truth,” said Goldwater. “He lied to me, and I remember telling him in February of that year that if he would come out and tell the American people everything he knew about it, the matter would drop in a minute. But he never did that, he just kept telling lies about the incident, so I finally had to turn against him and I’ve just never changed.”
Goldwater also taught me a very important lesson about knowing your material before an interview.
At one point I asked him, “isn’t it true the American system may be headed to a socialist, and then possibly, communistic system more than ever?”
I thought the question was a bit of a softball for a conservative, but Goldwater clearly didn’t like it.
“Well, now, you know what’s wrong with that,” said Goldwater. “Socialism deprives the American businessman of freedom, and communism deprives all of us with freedom. I really don’t have to answer that, Jim, if you don’t know the answer yourself you shouldn’t be asking these questions.”
I nervously laughed.
All I knew was that I never wanted to be unprepared like that again.
During the interview he also surprised me with an answer about abortion rights.
Goldwater, considered the “father of the modern conservative movement,” was actually very libertarian on social issues like abortion.
“Frankly, I think it’s up to the woman,” said Goldwater. “If she and her doctor feel that an abortion is in the best interest of the woman, and her family, or just herself, then that is where the decision should be made.”
Goldwater and I also discussed the Equal Rights Amendment, which he opposed, the controversy surrounding nuclear power plants, and the differences between the two major political parties.
My final question to him was about what he did for leisure.
“Gosh, I don’t know Jim,” he chuckled. “I have so many hobbies it’s hard to pick them out. I’m an amateur radio operator, I like photography, I like history, I like my grandchildren, I love my wife, I love Arizona. In fact, I’ve often said that hobbies are my hobby and I can’t even begin to tell you.”
He signed off our interview by saying, “hasta luego amigos!”
Without further ado, here is my first political interview with Sen. Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican presidential nominee.
AFTERMATH:
I had first met Barry Goldwater at one his campaign rallies in 1980. Six years later, I was emceeing an appreciation dinner for him as he retired from public life.
As I wrote about Goldwater in my book Front Row Seat at the Circus:
A quick side note here about Barry Goldwater. As a college student at the age of twenty I emceed the final appreciation dinner for Goldwater, held in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, before he retired from public life. The 1964 Republican presidential nominee had become an icon in Arizona and around the nation.
During the dinner, seated next to him, I asked about his vote on the 1964 Civil Rights Act and whether he regretted voting against it. Goldwater, who led the integration of the Arizona Air National Guard and was a member of the NAACP, pointed out that he had supported earlier civil rights bills, including the one in 1957 which Thurmond had filibustered, and other previous bills his opponent Lyndon Johnson had not, but by 1964 he felt, if left up to the basic intelligence of the American people, racism would be eliminated without further legislation. He did not believe smart business owners would turn away commerce or economic opportunity because of one’s skin color. He then shook his head and said perhaps he had been overly optimistic.
Goldwater, unlike Thurmond, did not oppose the 1964 Civil Rights bill on racial grounds. He was a libertarian at heart on issues of race and religion and on this one he made a principled mistake in my view. By 1968, Goldwater was putting distance between himself and Thurmond, declining to write a foreword for Thurmond’s book, The Faith We Have Not Kept. Goldwater specifically cited Thurmond’s continuing hostility to the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
In later years, perhaps in a way to make up for the civil rights vote, Goldwater embraced gay rights—one of the first Republicans or Democrats to do so—and also supported a woman’s right to choose an abortion and backed the legalization of medical marijuana.
Goldwater didn’t care about polls, or what the extreme elements in his own party would say about him. He just did what he felt was right. Of all the public servants I’ve been around and covered through many years, Barry Goldwater remains the finest statesman I’ve ever met.