Bill Bennett: “on the passing of former President Reagan, my mind, like everyone else's, goes back to a personal experience--not one…”

“on the passing of former President Reagan, my mind, like everyone else's, goes back to a personal experience--not one that I had with Ronald Reagan himself because I did not know him that well, but in 1976, I was being interviewed for a job in the Reagan campaign for President. The individual, the former President's campaign manager at the time, who was conducting the interview, went through all of the specifics of the job he wanted me to take. The interview went very well. I seemed to have the credentials they wanted, and it was clear that a job offer was sitting there on the table. But I was a little troubled, even though things were going well, because I wanted to make something very clear. I did not know Ronald Reagan. I had met him, but I did not know him. I only knew the caricature of Reagan which was out there in the media, which was that he was a rigid, ideological, hard-line conservative who would never, ever budge from an ideological position. So I said, in the spirit of full disclosure in this job interview, I want to make one thing clear. I said: I am not a true believer. The individual conducting the interview smiled a little and he said: That's all right, neither is the Governor. That was my first glimpse into what made Ronald Reagan a truly successful politician. He was a politician of absolutely firm resolve, there is no question about that.…”