Gary Hart has perhaps the most unique political career of his generation...staffer for Robert Kennedy's Justice Department...manager of George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign...two-term US Senator...nearly becoming the Democratic nominee for President in 1984...starting 1988 as the Democratic frontrunner before leaving the race amid a media frenzy...and 5+ decades as a forward-looking thinker on the challenges facing the U.S. and the world.
(To donate to support The Pro Politics Podcast, you may use this venmo link or inquire by email at mccrary.zachary@gmail.com)
IN THIS EPISODE…
Growing up in a farming town in Eastern Kansas and his roots in the Church of the Nazarene…
How a connection to Robert Kennedy leads to managing the McGovern campaign in 1972…
The Iowa strategy that helped McGovern win the ’72 Democratic nomination…
The one word that defined the success of the McGovern primary campaign…
Inside the chaotic Tom Eagleton / Sargent Shriver '72 VP process…
How he made the jump from campaign manager to a winning first-time US Senate candidate…
Senator Hart remembers his Colorado Democratic colleague, the late Congresswoman Pat Schroeder…
Early memories as a 36-year old U.S. Senator…
How he forged a path as a new breed of Democrat…
What led him to run for President in 1984 and how he nearly won the nomination….
Who might have been Gary Hart’s 1984 VP choice?
Why he didn’t run for re-election in 1986?
What he will and won’t say about the short-lived '88 campaign and why the “true story” may never come out…
How he tackled his career after leaving the national stage as a candidate…
The current issue Senator Hart believes is most under-discussed…
Reflecting on his 50+ year friendship with Joe Biden…
His confusion over the current state of US politics…
His lifelong affinity for used-book stores…
AND Atari Democrats, Matt Bai, Michael Bennet, Brumus, Carnegie libraries, clever journalistic shorthands, Bill Clinton, cool and aloof, Walter Cronkite, Detroit, Eisenhower Republicans, The Fairness Doctrine, Geraldine Ferraro, generational friction, Dick Gephardt, Newt Gingrich, John Glenn, Al Gore, Happy Days, hinges of history, Hubert Humphrey, Hugh Jackman, Jacob Javits, JFK, Pat Leahy, Mike Mansfield, Mac Mathias, the McGovern Army, Ed Muskie, the Military Reform Caucus, the National Security Division, The New York Times, Richard Nixon, peanut butter sandwiches, Warren Rudman, the Sermon on the Mount, Silicon Valley, super-delegates, Rick Stearns, Stu Symington, tremendous ferment, Stewart Udall, Watergate, Theodore White, Tim Wirth & more!