Transcripts For BLOOMBERG Charlie Rose 20150324

From our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. Charlie a young man named don keough worked for the butternut Coffee Company when it was acquired by coca cola in 1960. His life after that was never the same. Don keough would go on to lead coke as president and cfo from 1981 until he retired in 1993. During that period, revenue rose to 14 billion from 5. 9 billion and the average earnings gain was about 15 annually. Reflecting on his time at the company, don said, i kept my head down. I jumped into a little creek which became a river, which turned into a gulf, which grew into an ocean. All i ever did was swim. He went on to become nonexecutive chairman of allen and co. Where he loved meeting young entrepreneurs from around the world who had plans for businesses. He remarked, it is a lot of people betting on the future. It keeps me young. Don keough died last month at the age of 88 after a brief bout with pneumonia. Today, we look back with an appreciation of his life. Joining me now, four men who knew him. Muhtar kent is ceo of coke father john jenkins is president of the university of notre dame, Timothy Shriver is chairman of the Special Olympics, and from omaha, nebraska is warren buffett, chairman and ceo of birkshore hathaway. I am pleased to have them here. Don keough was a friend of this program as well and a good friend of mine so friends celebrate and appreciate him this evening so i would like to begin with you, warren. Tell me what he meant to you because you go back further than any of us in knowing don who became a neighbor. Warren don moved in right across the street from where i live now in about 1960. His front door was 100 feet from ours and believe me, there was a lot of movement between those two doors. He was a wonderful friend 55 years ago and that friendship continued every day until just a week or two ago. Charlie here is an interview he did with me talking about buying the house next to you. It is part of a documentary i did about you. Roll tape. How close did you live to the buffets . Don i lived across the street. I bought a house there around 1959. It was a three story house brick house. I paid 27,500 for it. There was a young fellow living across the street living in another house, a big house. He paid 30,000, i think for his. His name was warren buffett. Nobody knew who he was. He was a nice guy. He had said he had three kids. We had four working on five. I got to know him. He was not easy to know because you did not see much of him but my kids did. The real story is that he came across the street one day and said, i love your kids. I said, i know. He said, i was thinking about in college. A getting kids through college is not easy. I said, im working on grade school. I will get around to college a little later. He said, i have started a little fund. If you gave me 10,000, i could build that into something. Well charlie, i did not give it to him. [laughter] for two reasons. One, i did not have it. I could have borrowed it from my father but i went to mickey and said, can you imagine giving 10,000 to a guy who does not get up and go to work in the morning . It was one of my great decisions of my life. Charlie if you had given him that 10,000 don dont ask. Warren probably 400 million. We are still friends today. [laughter] charlie remember that . Warren i remember very well because i worked out of my house for about six years. It was a little sewing room off of the bedroom so every morning when don went off to sell, his oldest daughter kathy would come over and we had this jungle gym on the side with a slide and the last thing he would see before going to work was me pushing kathy on the swings or her pushing me and i think it made him wary of giving me the 10,000. When he came along later, he asked if he could give it to me retroactively. [laughter] charlie did you ever remind him of how much it was . Warren well, he seemed to do pretty well himself but it is kind of interesting that two guys living across from each other, both living in 30,000 houses and he ends up being president of the Cocacola Company and we ended up buying a lot of stock in it. Charlie and we have the ceo tonight to talk about that. You said three words describe him. Everybody loved him. Warren that is absolutely true. How many people at 88 can you make that statement about . Everybody did love him. It was intergenerational. I loved him, my two wives loved him, my kids loved him, my grandchildren. He could connect with anyone and he connected immediately and he knew more about people and human nature when he was 20 then i have learned and 84 years. An incredible man. Charlie muhtar, what about you . Muhtar warren is right. Everybody loved him. Everybody respected him. Everybody. Not just the customer or the truck driver or the store owner, heads of government respected him. He was such a wide giant of a person. I dont think i will ever meet someone like that in my life. I think if you are really lucky, someone like that comes across your life once if you are really, really lucky. And that is who don was and i met him very early on in the early 80s when i joined the Cocacola Company in 1978. Ever sense that time, we had an incredible bond and close relationship. He taught me all i knew about what i had to know. When you think of the effective executive, i think that was don keough. He was an incredible father, an incredible statesman. He knew he could go up and down from 50,000 feet all the way down to zero and go right back up again. Those are things that are not always learned. I think he used to learn until the day he passed. Every single day. He would say, your brain is like a sponge. You have to open it so you can get more information every day. Again, when i told my wife he passed, she cried. People so loved him. Charlie fair to say you would not be in the position you are in without muhtar i have become what i am as a result of that. Charlie you had a close relationship. Father jenkins he was a great mentor. I have been president for 10 years and he said, stay nervous, avoid complacency. He was very generous with his vision. He challenged you to be better and he had an inspirational way about him that made us better. Every st. Patricks day, we have a great irish study center because don insisted on it. Charlie he said to you, this Great University does not have a great irish program. Father jenkins that is what he gave, he inspired you to do great. Charlie the Special Olympics started in 1968 . Leon we owe our success to this catastrophic situation with warren buffett. My mother probably effect on my have about 10,000 athletes and i want to grow it and he probably heard an echo saying, i am not making this mistake twice. [laughter] leon two things jump out at me. First, listening to people talk about don and going to his general, the thing that struck the was how many people talked about him as a dad. This is a generation of men who grew up to be powerful. They were not really known to be honest, most of them. As dads. This is a man who when you look at the full story of his life, almost everybody refers to his children and grandchildren, to the fact he was always there at the Little League game, at the show. This was a man who somehow came through the 50s and 60s and 70s when the role of men was changing, and the most competitive businesses in the world. It challenged the notion. He still managed to convince everyone around him at the family was most important thing in his life. I find it so inspiring. Charlie he had a close relationship with your mother . Leon he did. He saw that business had to be built on values, not just autumn bottom line. He knew he could build his business if he had people bottom line. He knew he could build his business if you people that understood the promise. My mother was enormously charmed. The Special Olympics Movement Today is 5 million athletes. It would not be where it is now if it were not for don. Charlie the heart that was there was reflected in all of the global trips he made where you would go and see coke employees around the world and bring the heart of the company. Muhtar don got involved with the globe when he became the president chief operating officer and from that minute on, it was like he was the goto person for everyone of what is happening in the world. So quickly, how can someone just starting this journey and become so quickly have that knowledge, that inspired knowledge . He basically always had wisdom that he was willing to share with everyone. Another thing is, there was a time when after he retired, i willing to share with everyone. Another thing is, there was a time when after he retired, i would meet Prime Ministers, president s of poland, the czech republic. Prime ministers all across the world. They would ask, how is don keough . Please give him my best. Years after he retired. It still happens today. We got letters from all kinds of statesman in their 80s, 90s, retired saying they just heard and they offer their condolences. It is very unusual. It is who he is. Charlie what was the relationship he had in the partnership he had with roberto . Some have said they became a perfect combination. Warren they were a perfect partnership. I have seen three or four partnerships and business that really stand out from the rest. Certainly, when roberto and don combine their strengths, it was a case of 2 plus 2 equaling a lot more than four. Neither would have achieved the success they did without the other. Don was indispensable through roberto. I watched that for many years. Let me tell you one story that i feel i o it to don to tell that i feel i owe it to don to tell us. We were in sun valley one time playing a golf match and we really wanted to beat these young guys. We were three down and i forget whether it was the fifth or sixth hole. We got to this par 3 and i said, the only way we turned the tide is if you knock this in and he hit a hole in the and totally destroyed these kids. Donna never told that story but you can confirm it with clark and alan. Charlie there is also the story you told me about discovering your investment and cocacola. Somehow, roberto may have asked don who was buying the stock. He said, let me make a phone call. I know a guy. And he calls you to say warren we bought about 6 of the company. I dont like any want to know what we are buying because the price goes up so id not tell anybody. One day, i pick up the phone and i can remember his exact words. He said, you wouldnt be buying a share or two of cocacola stock would you . And the cat was out of the bag. Charlie there is also the sense of understanding of the company and its brand. No one was a better communicator of what the brand meant and what it meant to him. He said i defined my role as protecting and enhancing the trademark of the company. Muhtar he always said he had a very simple job. He said, i polish the brand a little more each day. That is what he would say and that is what the dead and he did and that is was he did and it so masterfully there was nobody living that personified the brand better than don. There was just no one that came close. That is why we named a Leadership Academy the don keough academy. It teaches Young Leaders of the company, young entrepreneurs about leadership and how it was personified in don and his values, wisdom, wit, humbleness and his way of Clear Communication and how he would set priorities. It just came so naturally to him. Charlie one thing he said is that success made him nervous because it scared him that that would bring arrogance and complacency. Father jenkins stay nervous is what he told me and it is good advice. He was always pushing. Leon to the issue of the notforprofit sector, the initial sponsorship of the Special Olympics movement in the 70s, you want to did do something good for people. He bought 100,000 tshirts for about 1. 50 each. That summer, every single local Special Olympics event all over the u. S. , every single volunteer became an ambassador. The brand was over it. He polished the brand with 100,000 times. He said, you have to grow this. When i saw him in my 30s, i looked to him for advice and his challenge to me was, how do you grow this . How do you make a difference for more children . Talk to the folks. He said, dont take too much of their time. Just ask them for what you need and get out of the way. I have tried to follow that advice, not always successful. Charlie lets talk about new coke. He was part of that disaster but he said we are not as smart to have thought it would be perfect, not too dumb to have realized the mistake. Muhtar it is about having the courage to do something rather than watch things happen. Take destiny into your hands, do something, and have the courage. He always used to say, where there is no risk, there is no reward. I repeat that all the time. Yes, not everything you do have to work but making decisions and standing behind those decisions and the willing to admit that something is not working and go and change. Have the flexibility. The brand and the company got stronger and better as a result of all of that put together. That is why people say to you, we did not do it on purpose. We are not as stupid or clever as all of that seems. He was exactly talking about how we felt. Charlie did he talk to you about that decision on the time . Warren i was not on the board at that time. None of us were there. [laughter] charlie you dont know anybody that was there. Warren you was talking to me about it afterwards and said one letter started arriving at headquarters addressed to supreme idiot, i started to get the idea that maybe we had lost a Little Something here. [laughter] charlie here is don talking about that decision with the act that table. Don our u. S. Business had some challenges. A new formulation was built. Roberto had said from the day we started coming he said lets get a separate car every day. Dont be afraid to bring anything in. A group of our technicians and u. S. Management developed what they thought was a formulation that would take over the world. We sat at the corporate headquarters, isolating ourselves a bit and saying, we needed to go away but they cap kept doing more taste tests. Sooner or later, these things started to take on a life of their own. We ultimately bought into it. Charlie you recognize a mistake. Cocacola did ok after that. Muhtar where there is no risk there is no reward. Be flexible and fast. Then, of course, don had the structure to go on television nationwide. Don all of the time and money and skill toward into Consumer Research on the new cocacola could not measure or reveal the depth and abiding emotional attachment to original cocacola held by so many people. They said they wanted the original taste of cocacola back and they wanted it soon. Charlie i was based overseas at that time but that night, it was first news on all three anchors. He was there in person talking about it to consumers. That is the way to have a Something Like that. That is a perfect example of how to handle Something Like that. Not everything has to work. Stand behind your decisions. Know what you have made a mistake. Charlie he said, some woman got a hold of them and asked how we could destroy cocacola. He said, when was the last time you had cocacola . She said 20 years. He said, why are you so concerned . She said, you are destroying my youth. It was a memory. Warren the people owned the brand. The people owned the brand. Taking it away from them, they found out how important the brand was to people. Just like that woman. Don was in touch with people. They may have made a mistake temporarily but he could feel what people were feeling. He did not have to put it into words. He had the ability to just connect with you in all ways. That book he wrote we have a group that met every two years since 1968. We called it the graham group. Tom murphy and bill gates was in it. Don was in it and every time we met, the group wanted to hear don speak so i kind of wanted to things but they did not want me to. We suggested, you have to put this in a book. The world is better for it. Charlie Herbert Allen and i were talking about that earlier today. He said to me, don combines the best values of a great teacher and listener. He never held a long meeting always leaving with you wanting more. He had the unusual combination of needing to be needed but ever needing to be recognized. I heard the speech at sun valley. It became the basis of the book which was released in 2008 called the 10 commandments for business failure. They are quit taking risk, the inflexible, isolate yourself assume infallibility, play to the foul line, dont take time to thank him and put all your fate and experts dont take time to think, love your bureaucracy, send this messages. That summed hi up. Warren it was a great way to present it. He had the way of presenting things that grabbed you in the first minute. You hoped he would not stop talking. Charlie he wrote a letter to you when your mother died. Leon i think the veneer was they were great i wish americans. There was a certain sense of faith underpinned in their lives. Don was tough, raucous, funny, wise, took risks, but he had a deep faith and i think that is what connected him with my mother. Whenever he would see her and she was not a touchy person he would always hold her hand. No one did that. I will never forget it. My father did not hold her hand. [laughter] she was not that kind of girl, you know . But, don did. He would hold her hand and look at her in the eye and they just had an energetic connection. I think he knew that she brought something to him that was important to his life. Not a great, huge University Like notre dame and a powerful center for Higher Education but these little humble people she represented also met something dear to him and they formed a beautiful friendship. Charlie here is what he said about notre dame versus nebraska when i asked him about the competition. Roll tape. Charlie what happened when they were playing nebraska . Don i have to tell you, the truth. I was kind of pulling for notre dame. Charlie of course. Don lauren is a great fan of warren is a great fan of the university of nebraska. Charlie you were rooting for opposite teams. Warren don broadcasted Brusca Warren don broadcast nebraska football at the very beginning of television. He had a 15 Minute Program on the local tv station at the time. We have 15 minutes where we drink a little coffee and meet a lot of interesting people. Warren he was followed by johnny carson. When i saw don 30 or 40 years later, he would say, what ever happened to carson . [laughter] charlie he was on the board until when . Muhtar a couple of years ago. Then, he retired and stayed on as advisor until he passed away. To warrens point about the intellect he put in, i have kept every letter he has written to me over the last 30 years. There would be one letter that came him him always on st. Patricks day. I obviously received many other letters. I put them all in a file and i opened that file and read through it and i had to hold my breath because it is so current whatever was written 30 years ago, 20 years ago. It has incredible relevance and meaning today. And they are just beautiful words put together by a deep strong intellect and passion. Charlie heres a picture of you and don meeting the austrian Prime Minister. This was in 1992. You can see the picture in a moment. Muhtar that was Prime Minister chancellor of austria for 10 years from 19861996. There we are opening our office for eastern and Central Europe and don visited us. I traveled with don a lot and met with a lot of dignitaries. As i said earlier, it was a bond like tim said between shriver and himself. It was just a bond. Those big hands would hold and the eyes would lock in. There was just a deep intellect, humor, wit, understanding, ability to listen to people. And contribute. And so whether it is the chancellor of austria or president s all around, his was just just care about the person and just remember, even if just one meeting. Charlie let me give a final word from each of you, tim. As we remember and appreciate a friend. Tim the great thing, where business is going today. You see brands all over the world trying to find ways to capture the power of the product and delivering Value Proposition at the same time. About being something more something bigger. Don knew that 40 years ago and he created the worlds most powerful brand because he linked it with a deep of value. What he brought to individuals he brought to the company. There will be Business Leaders who will study what don keough believed, the heart and soul of a business is just as important as the operations. Father jenkins building on what tim said, that don you look for a technique or trick he did, it was just him, it was don. And the values he espoused and what he lived by and the way he connected people in a deep level. That gave him the power of being a great leader. It was not a gimmick. It was don. Thats what he taught me. Muhtar he was the most special person that came through my life. I will always remember and love him for that and what he did to make everyone he touched a better person. Warren i just say again everybody loved him and them were 100 right. Charlie for all of you who came here to remember don, thank you. For all who knew him and knew of him and wish they knew him and for whose lives he touched, we remember him. And our thoughts and sympathies are with his wife and daughters and his sons. 18 grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. A remarkable man who understood the power of friendship. We remember don keough tonight. Charlie Leon Wieseltier is here, the former literary editor of the new republic. He steered it through 30 years of politics, literature, and controversy. He resigned last december due to managerial changes. He has since joined the atlantic as a contributing editor. James bennett, the editor said for a generation of editors leon has helped define the standards of criticism of society. He joined the Brookings Institution as the senior fellow and i am very pleased to have him back at this table. I consider him a great friend. Leon welcome to be here. Charlie lets talk about israel first. I just read a bbc account, i think probably it was on msnbc probably andrea mitchell. She is over there. In which Benjamin Netanyahu said he is not against a twoparty state. Leon lets me get it straight. It is time to take it back. Charlie in the end, its probably a good thing. I have not read the interview but i read the bbc account. They have to figure out a way to get to a good two state solution. Leon first of all, that is not what he said, what he summoned the base before the election. Charlie the weekend before the election . Leon that he delegitimated the two state solution which is about the most dangerous thing anybody can do in terms of reconciliation. And as soon as he won, 10 minutes away from learning he really is for the two state solution. I think he treats the subject with total cynicism and i think whether he is for the two state solution or isnt for the two state solution, whether if this bbc interview is the real Netanyahu Charlie msnbc. Leon he has done nothing to advance the prospects of a two state solution. Personally, i do not like being played for a fool. And i do not know what to believe when it comes to him. My own sense is that he is not capable of presiding of the establishment of the palestinian state, which is one of the reasons why his base support charlie you do not think he is capable . Lee at a bank i do not think he is capable. Let me say, abbas right now is not capable of presiding of the palestinian state either. What worries me is not that there is a palestinian partner and netanyahu was squandering an opportunity to conclude a deal for what worries me is in the absence of a palestinian partner, neither side of a two state solution, israel is pursuing policies and would make the solution even more difficult. Charlie heres what he said i do not want a one state solution, i want a sustainable peaceful, two state solution but for that, circumstances have to change. He says, i never changed, i never changed my speech six years ago calling for a demilitarized palestinian state, what has changed is the reality. leon he is the Prime Minister of israel. He is in the position to change some of the circumstances. It isnt going to be easy. I do not believe he is ever going to seriously cut back on the settlement program. I think the settlements are the most momentous blunder in israels history. Charlie in israels history . Leon absolutely. The population that lives where it lives is going to continue to live where it lives in israel is going to have to live with it. These are israels neighbors. Whether israel likes it or not. And anything that poisons or further poisons relationships with the Palestinian Community is counterproductive to the interest of state of israel. Unless you believe that one state is tenable for the jews of israel, but one state will not be greater israel but the greater palestine. It will mark the end of generals. Charlie you think theres one state leon it will not be greater israel. And anybody who cares about the survival of israel must support anything that could be done to bring about the two state solution. I understand we waited decades for it and it is one of the problems. There are problems in life do not know the solution. We bang our heads against the wall. This web know the solution for many decades that we cannot figure out. Charlie here are two things that netanyahu made a point of. One, abbas refused to recognize israel as a jewish date. As this is an argument that he has made for the past three or four years but not for that. Leon i do not remember when netanyahu introduced this as another standard. Well, it was another obstacle that had to be introduced in the socalled peace process. Charlie what does he mean . Leon he wants a declaration of the legitimacy of israels jewish state and i do, too. I would not hold the future of the jewish state hostage of such a declaration. A treaty in which palestine agreed to live sidebyside in peace with israel would seem to be i think so. Israel is a jewish state. But again, every time the argument goes back to the question of rights, the discussion shuts down. The beauty of the partition idea of the territorial compromise, two state solution idea, is that it suspends the argument for rights. Both have the right to the same land. There is no such thing as the right to half of something. The only way to proceed and the ancient rabbis knew it, the only way to proceed is to divide it. We can argue about the kind of division and terms of the division, but the principle of the division as the central condition for an end to the conflict seems to me indisputable. Indisputable. Charlie do you think it is possible for israelis and palestinians to live sidebyside in peace or do you believe that it is possible for there to be circumstances that can get beyond their inability to live sidebyside in peace . Leon there is no question in my mind if and when a deal is made between israel and palestine there will be radical palestine militants who will turn to violence, right . When the good friday agreement was made in ireland and that miracle was, you may recall that there appeared in organization. There appeared an Organization Called the real ira, those were the stalwarts. The real ira became a security problem, not a political problem and not a strategic problem. The communities had agreed to reconcile. Yes, there will be a problem of violence. The prestige of religion violence in the muslim world is unfortunately very high. And there are currents in the muslim world, all around israel right now that are deeply violent. This is something that israel has to live with now and maybe then. But the basic principle of the two communities for reasons of self interest but also moral reasons have to reconcile and finally put an end to this conflict seems indisputable. I do not think it will happen now and it may not happen in a lifetime. Charlie is that the opinion of the majority of israelis . Leon i do not know. I think it depends on how you ask the question. Charlie out of fear, what he was able to do was make the argument that israel is more secure . Leon israels Security Policy consists in a wall every two or three years. The wall works but it is not the symbol of what we want. And the wars we know about, the problem with these wars, i think netanyahu won this election ugly. He debased his country with some of his rhetoric, especially what he said about our citizens. Charlie should citizens demand the Palestinian Authority to not deal with hamas and not make a coalition with hamas . Leon the Israeli Government charlie you have these terrible elements. Leon i think that the problem of hamas is something the pa and now the egyptians together have got to find a solution. I do not think israel should deal with hamas even though there are contacts. No, i do not. No, i do not. I think an organization that rains rockets charlie people have dealt with their enemies for a long time. Leon if there is some evidence, sure. I do not see any of that. The Palestinian Community as far as i understand it and i do not speak arabic, so i am not as inside. It is divided. Theres a lot of violence. They have a lot of inhouse business. That is one of the reasons i do not expect it to be a deal in the short term. My main concern is in the absence of a deal, the situation between israel and palestinians do not get further poisons. The rhetoric netanyahu got to clinch the election is not going to be forgotten. He may take it back. Charlie harsh critics and one of the questions i asked, did netanyahu win or did herzog lose it . Did herzog present a resonance that would be different . Did he make the case for a two state solution . As obviously he couldve made it wouldve made, am i right . Leon they did as good as they could. Charlie and appeal to economic issues. Leon they did that. They did not make the case. Charlie security . Leon it was clear that more and more israelis cared about domestic issues. Issues of social social justice. Netanyahus base was not just confined, other parties and one of the reasons bennett did not do as well because netanyahu summoned back some of the zealous. And when they heard some good things he was seeing, i was not surprised they decide to vote for him. Charlie you know what the Obama Administration said. He said all he will be left is with a military solution military option. Leon i am not sure the obama deal will get us anywhere. When netanyahu said that a deal that was conditionally upon a recognition of the nature of the Iranian Regimes Foreign Policy upon support, the only deal there should be. Im quite sympathetic. [indiscernible] there is no reason to trust it on this question. There is no evidence that the iranians have made any Nuclear Vision to renounce Nuclear Capability for a period of 10 years. The Obama Administration talks about and the tones of a grand bargain so i ran would become a regional power. This regime would become a flourishing region. Who will on earth once this regime to become a flourishing power . Anybody who props up the regime in tehran is an enemy of iran. And the only solution that would eventually, fortunately, become a solution, the clock is ticking more slowly it would be the arrival of democratic government in tehran. Charlie when might that come. Leon i dont know. In 2009, the streets erupted. They were shouting obamas name. And, you know, i understand that the Nuclear Clock is ticking more quickly than the democracy clock. Charlie everybody i know believes a central tenet in any agreement has to be inspections. Because the likelihood of a Nuclear Capacity from iran is probably not going to come from centrifuge but by some covert program. Leon the problem is that there were inspections and we were twice surprised. They lied. I think they they lied. Listen the Iranian Regime in these negotiations is relief from sanctions and they are prepared, it seems, if they are prepared and what do they are prepared to do is restrain their Nuclear Capabilities for a limited period of time to get relief from sanctions. Objective. \the only reason they are there is because of sanctions. Charlie lets return back to israel. What is it that you study the most . What is it about israel and its history that you love the most . What is it that makes israel and different groups in israel leon israel is a genuinely lovable place in many ways. One of the reasons i am so disgusted by some the things netanyahu said at the end of his campaign is it they painted picture of a country that is much a nastier and uglier that the country israel in fact is. Israel has a somewhat dysfunctional political system. Israel is a westernstyle democracy and genuine democracy. Israel can make Human Rights Violations but has scores of its own human Rights Groups holding it into account. Israel is a society that is bursting, bursting with spirit and culture and life. Israel is a generally admirable place. But israel is being tested because it has its problem charlie it cannot deal with a palestinian state . Leon yes. , probably from the water issues. A democracy is tested, democracy is tested by many things. Israel has a free press, wildly independent judiciary. A wildly free political system. Israel in some ways not doing so well by the other test of democracy which is the national democracy. Charlie it is about israel and its cultural tradition and religious traditions. You are in a sense receive a huge prize for your writings. And comprehension and eloquent testimony to that part of the heritage. Leon the story other jewish people is one of the great human stories. And its moral force is much greater than the ethnic or religious. One of the great moments and that human story was that on it the aftermath, on the day after the jewish people suffered the most unimaginable destruction possible, the jewish people revived itself in a national, sovereign state. And even more moving and this happened before the destruction of european jews. The jewish people invented a whole new language. The history of modern hebrew is one of the most stirring cultural stories i have read ever. It is one of my great complaints against american jews, a letter in hebrew, they deny themselves. It is literacy. As a jew, i live mostly in hebrew. We have a language. The language is the air that a culture briefs. I write in hebrew. I read in hebrew sometimes. But i am very stirred by this. And the jewish story, it seems immeasurable to me. Ive always regarded it as a great honor to have been born a jew. Its a very lucky accident. You have to view them and come to possess them. Not everything given is received. It is not received until you receive it. For all of these reasons, it has been one of the great pleasures of my life. Not just want the great intellectual to equip myself well when it comes to the traditions of my people. Charlie this is part one of a twopart interview with Leon Wieseltier. When we come back later, another day, we will talk about the new republic, where he spent 30 years of his life and is not now part of his life. Except in his memory. And well talk about where he goes from here. Thats part two of a conversation with Leon Wieseltier