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Wesley Clark Expected to Enter Race
Aired September 16, 2003 - 14:11 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So far, Edwards has only been attracting single digit support in the polls despite a well-funded and organized campaign.
Well, joining us now Doug Brinkley, a presidential historian and director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans. He wrote President Carter's biography, and his current book is entitled "The American Heritage: History of the United States."
Hi, Doug.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Hi, How are you doing?
PHILLIPS: Very good.
Let's talk about Wesley Clark, and let's also talk about candidates historically. Bragging about military experience was a common thing?
BRINKLEY: Well, absolutely. In the early republic, of course, George Washington was our first hero as a revolutionary war hero and a surveyor. He parlayed that into becoming the first president. There became a tradition of the Washington-like soldier statesperson, most famously Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison. After the Civil War, we had Ulysses S. Grant as president, and of course Dwight Eisenhower, the mastermind of D-Day.
Other people that have become president have used their service in the military to really help define their biography. I'm thinking of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, or John F. Kennedy with the PT boat 109 and off the Solomon Islands, in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War. So it's often very advantageous to show that you have served in the military and served admirably, and if the higher rank you are, the better off it can be for you.
PHILLIPS: Well, Clark definitely has that higher rank.
Now, my question to you is, this is definitely a warrior with a number of honors does, but does he really understand American politics?
BRINKLEY: Well,, we'll find out quickly, won't we? I think most people believe that General Clark -- we listened to him do CNN commentary during the Iraq wars. Very, very smart and astute on international affairs. He is a coalition builder, he does understand the United Nations and NATO and how to make the U.S. a partner in the world. The other side of that equation is what does he know and think about issues pertaining to Social Security, or prescription drugs or education, women's rights to choose. Those issues he's going to have to confront and convince audiences that he's just not a behind the desk general who worked for NATO and is most known for being Clinton's general, if you like. He's the going to have to show he's an on the campaign trail, on the husk orator, and that' going to be a challenge.
PHILLIPS: And what do we know about that. He did this interview with "Newsweek," and was asked by the reporter, what do you see as the top problem here in the U.S., and Wesley Clark said jobs, unemployment. What does this general know about jobs and unemployment?
BRINKLEY: Well, when he says that, that tells you he has a lot of smart advisers telling him that better be what he says, the employment, economy is No. 1 when we're pick somebody as president.
I think the advantage Clark has is we trust him in the post 9/11 world. He is somebody who understands issues of homeland security and international affairs, but there's a giant question mark on whether he's really going to be able to connect with working-class people.
You know, Alexander Haig was a former NATO commander and American general, and he tried to get the Republican nomination, and once went to New Hampshire to a factory, and a worker kind of brushed him off, and Haig complained about him, and the media heard it. And sometimes these generals are so used to being saluted that they don't stop and really have the ear for the common person, and Clark's going to have to humble himself, not look for salutes and try hear the anguish of the people that are unemployed, or losing their jobs or that are suffering right now due to our stagnant economy. He's going to have to somehow voice their feelings the way, say, a Robert Kennedy was able to when he ran for president in 1968.
PHILLIPS: Doug, really quickly, because we got to go. Is it too late? Did he get in the race too late, or does he have a chance?
BRINKLEY: He has a chance, but he did get in awful, awful late. On one hand, you know, it's a bit like spiting in the face of the other nine Democrats, saying I've looked at all you other guys, you don't seem to cut the muster, hence I'm entering it. There's a touch of arrogance with that. And also in places Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire, most of the candidates like Kerry, and Gephardt, and Lieberman and Dean, the leaders, have built quite a team there already, and they have a grassroots infrastructure he's going to have to swoop in in a herculean superhero fashion, and I'm not sure he's going to be able to do that.
PHILLIPS: He does have the weaponry. All presidential historian Doug Brinkley.
BRINKLEY: Thanks.
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 September 16, 2003 - 14:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So far, Edwards has only been attracting single digit support in the polls despite a well-funded and organized campaign.
Well, joining us now Doug Brinkley, a presidential historian and director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans. He wrote President Carter's biography, and his current book is entitled "The American Heritage: History of the United States."
Hi, Doug.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Hi, How are you doing?
PHILLIPS: Very good.
Let's talk about Wesley Clark, and let's also talk about candidates historically. Bragging about military experience was a common thing?
BRINKLEY: Well, absolutely. In the early republic, of course, George Washington was our first hero as a revolutionary war hero and a surveyor. He parlayed that into becoming the first president. There became a tradition of the Washington-like soldier statesperson, most famously Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison. After the Civil War, we had Ulysses S. Grant as president, and of course Dwight Eisenhower, the mastermind of D-Day.
Other people that have become president have used their service in the military to really help define their biography. I'm thinking of Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, or John F. Kennedy with the PT boat 109 and off the Solomon Islands, in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War. So it's often very advantageous to show that you have served in the military and served admirably, and if the higher rank you are, the better off it can be for you.
PHILLIPS: Well, Clark definitely has that higher rank.
Now, my question to you is, this is definitely a warrior with a number of honors does, but does he really understand American politics?
BRINKLEY: Well,, we'll find out quickly, won't we? I think most people believe that General Clark -- we listened to him do CNN commentary during the Iraq wars. Very, very smart and astute on international affairs. He is a coalition builder, he does understand the United Nations and NATO and how to make the U.S. a partner in the world. The other side of that equation is what does he know and think about issues pertaining to Social Security, or prescription drugs or education, women's rights to choose. Those issues he's going to have to confront and convince audiences that he's just not a behind the desk general who worked for NATO and is most known for being Clinton's general, if you like. He's the going to have to show he's an on the campaign trail, on the husk orator, and that' going to be a challenge.
PHILLIPS: And what do we know about that. He did this interview with "Newsweek," and was asked by the reporter, what do you see as the top problem here in the U.S., and Wesley Clark said jobs, unemployment. What does this general know about jobs and unemployment?
BRINKLEY: Well, when he says that, that tells you he has a lot of smart advisers telling him that better be what he says, the employment, economy is No. 1 when we're pick somebody as president.
I think the advantage Clark has is we trust him in the post 9/11 world. He is somebody who understands issues of homeland security and international affairs, but there's a giant question mark on whether he's really going to be able to connect with working-class people.
You know, Alexander Haig was a former NATO commander and American general, and he tried to get the Republican nomination, and once went to New Hampshire to a factory, and a worker kind of brushed him off, and Haig complained about him, and the media heard it. And sometimes these generals are so used to being saluted that they don't stop and really have the ear for the common person, and Clark's going to have to humble himself, not look for salutes and try hear the anguish of the people that are unemployed, or losing their jobs or that are suffering right now due to our stagnant economy. He's going to have to somehow voice their feelings the way, say, a Robert Kennedy was able to when he ran for president in 1968.
PHILLIPS: Doug, really quickly, because we got to go. Is it too late? Did he get in the race too late, or does he have a chance?
BRINKLEY: He has a chance, but he did get in awful, awful late. On one hand, you know, it's a bit like spiting in the face of the other nine Democrats, saying I've looked at all you other guys, you don't seem to cut the muster, hence I'm entering it. There's a touch of arrogance with that. And also in places Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire, most of the candidates like Kerry, and Gephardt, and Lieberman and Dean, the leaders, have built quite a team there already, and they have a grassroots infrastructure he's going to have to swoop in in a herculean superhero fashion, and I'm not sure he's going to be able to do that.
PHILLIPS: He does have the weaponry. All presidential historian Doug Brinkley.
BRINKLEY: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
