Volume 79, Issue 4 Web Edition SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
+ American
Red Cross
Sept. 20, 2013
David Gergen; Learning from the
past and giving hope to the future
By Kyle Jackola
staff Writer
A n informed and intelligent discussion
about politics is an increasingly rare
colloquial art in the 21 st century. Even more
rare is the opportunity to have that discussion
with a former Senior White House Advisor.
The Transylvania Country Library
Foundation and Brevard College partnered
together to bring CNN political analyst and
former White House Advisor David Gergen to
speak at the Porter Center as part of the 2013
J.R. McDowell Speaker Series on Thursday.
Gergen’s lecture “Eyewitness to Power;
Leadership in America” allegorized stories
from past campaigns and administrations to
give audience members a sense of where the
current political scene in America has come
from, as well as the direction it is headed.
Gergen’s political background as a White
House Advisor and political commentator
spans backwards over four decades when
he began as a staff researcher for the Nixon
Administration, and served in several
other senior advisory positions under both
Republican and Democratic administrations
including former Presidents Ford, Reagan,
and Clinton.
In his lecture to the public, Gergen recounted
“Not every reader is
a leader, but every
leader is a reader.”
personal experiences with and inspiring
stories about other past Presidents, many
of whom he admired for their dedication to
strong leadership and education. “I remember
traveling to Missouri to visit the Harry S.
Truman Library,” said Gergen. “Truman was
the only president of the 20th century who
didn’t have a college education.. .but he had
a wonderful library growing up.”
David Gergen, a CNN political analyst and former advisor to four U.S. ° ^
presidents, spoke with around 30 Brevard College students, staff and faculty Thursday
afternoon in MG 125. Gergen was on campus to deliver a lecture that evening in the Porter
Center titled “Eyewitness to Power: Leadership in America.”
He told the story of Truman being advised
by his foreign policy team about whether
or not to recognize Israel as an independent
nation during the late 1940s. After hearing
arguments from both sides, Truman interjected
and gave them a two-hour lecture, from
memory, on the entire history of the Middle-
East and it’s political structures. Gergen said
a leader is more than a just a person who
surrounds his or herself with educated people;
leaders need to have a passion for education
as well.
“Not every reader is a leader, but every
leader is a reader,” he said.
Gergen spoke highly of America’s mid
twentieth century leaders. His eloquent
descriptions detailed the leadership of
presidents who served in both World Wars,
and painted a picture of intelligent men who
cared deeply for the well-being country
above their own political agendas and party
platforms.
“There was something bigger about their
person,” said Gergen. “They were certainly
strong Republicans and Democrats, but they
all thought of themselves as strong Americans
first.”
While visiting former President Nixon
right before he passed away, Gergen recalled
something Nixon said that summed up the
analogous attitudes of the WWII generation
Presidents. “When the chips are down, as
Americans we stand up together,” said Nixon.
Gergen echoed the sentiment, saying their
willingness to defy bipartisan boundaries and
stand up for America and her people helped
shape an era of strong effective leaders,
and rightly earned them the moniker “The
Greatest Generation.”
While Gergen had criticisms for his
generation of politicians, the ones in office
over the last two decades, he said he remains
a short-term pessimist, but an overall long
term optimist.
“The baby-boomer generation, which I am
a part of, had great moments to be sure, but
See 'Gergen,' page 3