Who is Governor Bill Clinton?

In November of 1991 I was producing the Michael Jackson Show (not the gloved one) on KABC Radio when I received a call from Mickey Kantor, a political strategist, asking me if we’d like to have the Governor of Arkansas as guest because he was going to run for President. He also added that this would be one his first interviews in his quest for the White House.

For those of you not familiar with the show, it was very popular that featured A list guests from all walks of life many of whom were politicians. As a producer this was a no brainer, so despite not knowing who this guy was I said “sure bring him into the studio when he was in Los Angeles.”

At the time President George H. Bush had something like a 90 percent approval rating due the quick Gulf War victory and there were no democrats with the backbone to take him on. At 9am on that fall morning we got our first glimpse of Governor Bill Clinton. He was very personable, sharp, engaging and a great storyteller. As interviews go, it was very good, not great, but then again this was our first glimpse of the man.

Once the interview was over and he left the studio, Michael in his eloquent British accent said to me…”Nice man, but he has no shot.” Well as we all know Bill Clinton did win the election and become President of the United States.

You hear that the Clintons have long memories of those they like and dislike. Due to that interview for next eight years we all received Christmas cards from the White House. The President did call into the show several times during those years and Hillary joined us in the studio on several occasions.