As I stood on the floor watching the speech with the Georgia delegation, I saw Governor Joe Frank Harris look like his dog had just died. Mondale won’t get any help trying to win Georgia from Joe Frank!
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
The latest addition to the bag is a floor pass to the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which would put Donald Trump back on track for a second term in the White House.
In the years between these two events, I covered many conventions. But something changed in me while I was in Milwaukee. Walking through halls filled with red, white, and blue bunting, passing delegates in colorful hats, and listening to speakers promising a better tomorrow once sent me with adrenaline and a sense of purpose. For the first time, I realized that the high energy of a national convention had once existed. Running through it was just exhausting.
It’s time to move on.
Credit: Bill Nigat
Credit: Bill Nigat
Over the next few weeks, it became clear that conventions weren’t the only thing I was trying to forget.
I have had a rich and fulfilling career as a political journalist. I’ve traveled the country covering dozens of presidential campaigns.
I’ve traveled with presidents and vice presidents. When a story of national importance was unfolding, I would hop on a plane and go to the White House or the Capitol.
I’ve crisscrossed Georgia following candidates for governor, senator, and other statewide offices, walked the marble floors of the state capitol, reported for 19 legislative sessions, and covered Georgia and national politics. I have had the good fortune to witness many historical moments. .
Now, in just a few days, it will be my final turn as host of the Politically Georgia podcast and radio show.
As I wrote this farewell column, I was watching President Trump’s inauguration. My first thought was to the people in my audience over the years who, like me, were showing signs of aging. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and Laura Bush, Newt Gingrich, Dan Quayle and his wife Marilyn. There are many others.
And I was thinking about the people I interviewed who are no longer in this world. Paul Coverdell, Max Cleland, John Lewis, Zell Miller, George H.W. Bush, John McCain, Mondale, and of course Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
As a reporter, I knew it was important to maintain a certain distance from my subjects. However, while I will admit that I came to really like and respect some of the people I reported to, my feelings had little to do with their political affiliation or their positions on issues. .
Zell Miller had a difficult personality that belied his kind heart. He cried easily. The week my father died, Miller somehow tracked me down to my brother’s house in Chicago. He called my brother’s home phone and expressed his condolences to me. When he hung up the phone, he said: “Bill, I love you.” I was surprised, but I was so moved by the kindness he showed me in that moment.
Paul Coverdell always behaved like a gentleman. Although Max Cleland achieved political heights, he was always realistic with the people he met. John Lewis had a humility that contrasted with his original status as an American hero. Johnny Isaacson made sure to mention his name and ask me about my children. During his time in the Senate, Sam Nunn was the very image of a politician. Roy Burns is as funny as he is smart. Shirley Franklin had great political wisdom, which she shared with me frequently. Andy Young was a civil rights hero who surprisingly became a friend of mine. And Brian Kemp’s political acumen really impressed me.
Early in his career as a backbencher in the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich approached difficult questions in a spirit of goodwill. But when he climbed to the top of the mountain to become speaker of the House, he became vulnerable and combative when asked tough questions.
Jesse Jackson is battling Parkinson’s disease and is very sad. He was a more powerful and caring person than many people realize.
One of the biggest campaign events I covered was a rally at a black church in Cleveland, Ohio. To quote a cliché, Jackson blew the roof off the sanctuary, delivering a gut-wrenching sermon on behalf of the disenfranchised.
And then there were the memories about the president.
George H.W. Bush treated everyone with kindness and respect, and for whatever reason, he was especially kind to me.
On the eve of the 1992 election, when polls showed he was almost certain to lose, his campaign contacted me to say they hoped to interview me one last time before Election Day. The request came as he was en route to his final rally in Houston aboard Air Force One.
In a last minute rush, I was able to arrange an interview with President Bush. He concluded the conversation by saying that this was his last interview as a presidential candidate and that he was “so glad I did it with you.”
To this day, I don’t know what prompted him to do that interview, but it is one of my fondest memories.
Like many others, as Bill Clinton walked through the snowy regions of Iowa and New Hampshire knocking on doors asking for votes, I was struck by the great appeal that would propel him to the White House. I saw charisma.
I’ll never forget the night he came to WSB-TV after I arranged with his campaign to host a live town meeting with Mr. Clinton in front of an undecided audience. . More than an hour after our live show ended, Bill and Hillary Clinton sat backstage with me and a few of the network’s executives, looking as though they had been given a temporary reprieve from the rigors of campaigning. They were just chatting as if they were happy.
I met George W. Bush while flying on his father’s campaign plane in 1988, so we had already established a brief relationship by the time he became a presidential candidate. He had nicknames for reporters who covered him, and my nickname was “Ugly,” until he told me he used it because I always asked “ugly” questions. I took that as an insult.
I carried it around as a badge of honor.
It was a whirlwind year for me. But as I approach age 78, I’m seriously considering a question that’s been bothering me for some time. “Why do I always have this obsessive need to do more?” But I think I’ve finally found the answer.
I was finally able to accept the fact that I had done work that I was proud of. If I fail, it’s too late to change it now.
As I prepared for the final edition of Politically Georgia this Friday, my fondest memories are without a doubt of the people who have listened to and watched me over the years. is.
I am honored that so many of you have told me that you believe I have been a voice for reason and decency. That’s how I’ve tried to conduct myself. I hope to treat those with whom I disagree with respect and bring transparency to the often confusing world of politics.
Once I do that, I plan to leave with no regrets.
Bill Nigat is the host of the AJC’s podcast and radio show “Politically Georgia.”
