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Interview With Senator Evan Bayh

Aired June 13, 2003 - 15:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh knows firsthand the pressures of raising a family in the public spotlight. His father, Birch Bayh, was also a U.S. senator. Evan Bayh writes about his parents, his childhood and his own family, including two 7- year-old twin boys in his new book, "From Father to Son: A Private Life in the Public Eye." I spoke with Senator Bayh a short time ago and I asked him why he took the time to write the book.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: I care about family issues. And we need to do more in our country to nurture families. And in particular, as I get into the book, the role of fathers. And too many young men who abandon their families, and that hurts both the mothers of their children and the children. So I have a public policy interest in this.

And secondly, I wanted to leave something for my own sons. My mother wrote a book. Unfortunately it ended up being published posthumously. But I'm glad she did, because it taught me a lot about my family that otherwise I probably wouldn't know. So there are both public reasons and some personal reasons.

WOODRUFF: Your father was obviously a prominent United States senator, and before that, very active in politics. You write I think you were just 2 years old when you write that he made the decision to devote all of his energy to politics.

He went on to hold some very powerful positions. That must have taken a toll on your relationship with him, his relationship with you.

BAYH: Well, it meant that he was gone, I suppose, more than a lot of fathers would have been. But, you know, Judy, it's a question of priorities. And I'm trying to do this in my own life with my own sons.

One of the things I'll always remember and cherish that I'd have little league games, not infrequently, and he'd be the only father there. Now he might have to take the red eye back from California to get there, but he'd do it because he thought it was important to me and to him. And I try to do the same for my boys. So sure he was gone more than otherwise might have been the case, but I always knew that I was important to him.

WOODRUFF: You write about the absence of many fathers in America today. What does that mean for these kids growing up? BAYH: Our nation's capital, where we're sitting, more than half the homes with young children, no father. And the mothers are doing heroic work. But it would be easier for them and better for the kids if some of these fathers did their part, too.

And so the consequences -- if you look at the statistics, the odds of a child becoming involved with drugs or alcohol, getting involved with juvenile violence, dropping out of school, a young girl becoming a teen mother are much, much higher when the father doesn't play a role in the child's life.

WOODRUFF: You also write very lovingly that your late mother, Marvella (ph), who died back in the late 1970s, and there was one particular poignant anecdote about a paper that you wrote in college. You mentioned her, and you said you deeply regretted it later on.

BAYH: Judy, I did. We all have things in life we'd do over again. This would be one.

My father was running for president. I actually took a semester off from college to go to Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts. It was sort of a formative experience for me, and it really kindled for the first time my interest in public life.

And I was so committed to that, so absorbed in that. And I was young; I was 20 at the time. Didn't understand what I now know would be the natural reticence that she might have, particularly given some of the health issues that she had to face with cancer and that sort of thing.

So it was a question of me being not as so mature at that time as I am today. And if I had to write that paper over again, I'd do it differently.

WOODRUFF: Very understandable, though, for somebody in your shoes. But you're right, we all learn those lessons.

Your father ran for president. You've decided you're not running this time. But does this book, is this maybe a little signal down the line that's something you're interested in, or even the vice presidency?

BAYH: Well, I know it's not uncommon for people who are seeking national office to write books, but that has nothing to do with why I wrote this book. As a matter of fact, as you pointed out, I expressly decided to not do that, principally because my children are in their formative years right now, and I didn't want to just be gone when it was most important to them.

This is all about what I care about in terms of helping families. Trying to deal with the root causes of some of the issues that we face, Judy. And I mention that in the book, too.

We spend so much money and so much time dealing with the manifestations of what really is a deeper underlying problem. So I'd like to deal with it at its roots. And then, as I mentioned, the personal aspect of wanting to leave something for my boys. What happens down the line politically, time will tell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh talking about sons and fathers on this Friday before Father's Day. It's coming up Sunday.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 13, 2003 - 15:20   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh knows firsthand the pressures of raising a family in the public spotlight. His father, Birch Bayh, was also a U.S. senator. Evan Bayh writes about his parents, his childhood and his own family, including two 7- year-old twin boys in his new book, "From Father to Son: A Private Life in the Public Eye." I spoke with Senator Bayh a short time ago and I asked him why he took the time to write the book.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: I care about family issues. And we need to do more in our country to nurture families. And in particular, as I get into the book, the role of fathers. And too many young men who abandon their families, and that hurts both the mothers of their children and the children. So I have a public policy interest in this.

And secondly, I wanted to leave something for my own sons. My mother wrote a book. Unfortunately it ended up being published posthumously. But I'm glad she did, because it taught me a lot about my family that otherwise I probably wouldn't know. So there are both public reasons and some personal reasons.

WOODRUFF: Your father was obviously a prominent United States senator, and before that, very active in politics. You write I think you were just 2 years old when you write that he made the decision to devote all of his energy to politics.

He went on to hold some very powerful positions. That must have taken a toll on your relationship with him, his relationship with you.

BAYH: Well, it meant that he was gone, I suppose, more than a lot of fathers would have been. But, you know, Judy, it's a question of priorities. And I'm trying to do this in my own life with my own sons.

One of the things I'll always remember and cherish that I'd have little league games, not infrequently, and he'd be the only father there. Now he might have to take the red eye back from California to get there, but he'd do it because he thought it was important to me and to him. And I try to do the same for my boys. So sure he was gone more than otherwise might have been the case, but I always knew that I was important to him.

WOODRUFF: You write about the absence of many fathers in America today. What does that mean for these kids growing up? BAYH: Our nation's capital, where we're sitting, more than half the homes with young children, no father. And the mothers are doing heroic work. But it would be easier for them and better for the kids if some of these fathers did their part, too.

And so the consequences -- if you look at the statistics, the odds of a child becoming involved with drugs or alcohol, getting involved with juvenile violence, dropping out of school, a young girl becoming a teen mother are much, much higher when the father doesn't play a role in the child's life.

WOODRUFF: You also write very lovingly that your late mother, Marvella (ph), who died back in the late 1970s, and there was one particular poignant anecdote about a paper that you wrote in college. You mentioned her, and you said you deeply regretted it later on.

BAYH: Judy, I did. We all have things in life we'd do over again. This would be one.

My father was running for president. I actually took a semester off from college to go to Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts. It was sort of a formative experience for me, and it really kindled for the first time my interest in public life.

And I was so committed to that, so absorbed in that. And I was young; I was 20 at the time. Didn't understand what I now know would be the natural reticence that she might have, particularly given some of the health issues that she had to face with cancer and that sort of thing.

So it was a question of me being not as so mature at that time as I am today. And if I had to write that paper over again, I'd do it differently.

WOODRUFF: Very understandable, though, for somebody in your shoes. But you're right, we all learn those lessons.

Your father ran for president. You've decided you're not running this time. But does this book, is this maybe a little signal down the line that's something you're interested in, or even the vice presidency?

BAYH: Well, I know it's not uncommon for people who are seeking national office to write books, but that has nothing to do with why I wrote this book. As a matter of fact, as you pointed out, I expressly decided to not do that, principally because my children are in their formative years right now, and I didn't want to just be gone when it was most important to them.

This is all about what I care about in terms of helping families. Trying to deal with the root causes of some of the issues that we face, Judy. And I mention that in the book, too.

We spend so much money and so much time dealing with the manifestations of what really is a deeper underlying problem. So I'd like to deal with it at its roots. And then, as I mentioned, the personal aspect of wanting to leave something for my boys. What happens down the line politically, time will tell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh talking about sons and fathers on this Friday before Father's Day. It's coming up Sunday.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com