David Brooks: David Gergen Was “A Good PBS Conservative” Like Me
New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join Amna Nawaz to discuss the week in politics and reflect on the life and career of David Gergen.
AMNA NAWAZ, PBS NEWSHOUR: Before we go, I want to let each of you say whatever you would like to share. You saw the lovely remembrance about the life and legacy of David Gergen before. What do you take away from his work and the way that he lived? DAVID BROOKS, NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, first, prudence. It’s worth remembering that he was hired by Bill Clinton because the Clinton administration was wobbling all over the place, and they needed somebody wise. And so they called David in. And then just decency. Somewhere, somebody once said the primary political virtue is just decency. And he was a wonderfully decent, warm guy with a twinkle in his eye. And especially that twinkle showed up when he was teaching or talking about teaching his kids at the Kennedy school. He loved that job. And anybody who just wants to pass on to the next generation, I have got a lot of time for that. JONATHAN CAPEHART, WASHINGTON POST: Whenever I saw him in the green room or out, the number one thing that jumped out at me is, he is an incredibly elegant man, a decent man, someone who, just watching those old tapes of him, is literally out of another era. And it makes me long for someone like him, more people like him, conservatives, folks on the right who could work with people on the other side of the aisle to move things along. We are a long way away from the elegance of David Gergen. BROOKS: When I was watching the obituary, I thought, Yale, Harvard law degree, military service, like, I am so underqualified for this job. [LAUGHTER] BROOKS: I took his chair. But it’s worth remembering, he had – first, he started with communication skills. And he was the guy who told Ronald Reagan to ask in one of the debates against Jimmy Carter, are you better off now than you were four years ago? Which turned out to be one of the key moments of that campaign. But then he was not just a communications guy by the Bill Clinton came along. He was doing policy. He was doing all sorts of advice. And so he was, like, almost out of another era of Washington, of people who serve both parties, who do it for national service. And then he was a centrist, a good PBS conservative like me. [LAUGHTER]
