This is the first time ive had to wait for him. [laughter] but he will be here shortly. I thought i might take this chance to thank you for coming out. A couple things we should get to is how the book i came about and what its like being a coauth coauthor. Somebody said gettin getting twe together to write a book is like getting three people together to make a baby. [laughter] [laughter] it really wasnt like that for us. I think we work pretty i well together. The governor reached out to me in 2011 and we met on the north side and had a late breakfast and talked about the collaboration. That went pretty well and then he decided to run for the senate and never really got engaged until about three or five years ago so it still took quite a while. In the various locations but also in the car sometimes and then of course i transcribed the tapes. I always do that myself. Its horrible but its a way if the material gets ingrained a little bit, and i found when i have had transcription done even by good transcribers, they miss some things and just the material isnt as ingrained as it is when you doityourself. It is a firstperson book. It is his autobiography, but i supplemented my interviews with him with a number of interviews with friends and family and associates of his. In an effort to check his teversion of events against the printed record and other peoplein other peoplesrecollef thing. In the end, if there was a discrepancy we usually went with the way you remember it, but that was helpful. Its interesting that from my standpoint i was appreciative of the fact. For the longest time itra still continues its credited sometimes but thats changed a lot now. But i remember a story about he won the grand slam and got a book contract and a writer named charlie price wrote the whole thing and in a letter to his publisher. We would write a chapter and go over it. [applause] i told everybody that hes the bestat writer anybody could ever have a could put lipstick on an 800pound sow and make it look good. Thats what he did in this regard. I want to tell you when he was governor and the secretary i didnt get a chance to go to my son and daughters basketball and Football Games because hes always busy so today i went to florida to see my grandson. I was doing the grandfather duties. [applause] my relatives, did you know them . You know oconnor . We would love to hear how a kid from elroy got into politics and your father was the county board and you used to have meetings on fridays at his store. The little Thompson Grocery store was about the size of the two families that weve are open seven days a week and it was very small but it was the center of political actions for elroy wisconsin so every friday night a couple six packs of beer and a lot o of cheese and raw hamburgr which was my fathers favorite they would talk about building roads and bridges and they would come in and find out where the roads were going to be built so i got to witness my father was quite a negotiator trying to figure out where the roads and bridges were unable to travel around and look at them on a saturday afternoon. Andater i got excited about thee and take more importantly, getting things done. I tried to look at how to get things done and that is what he picked up when he was interviewing me for many hours and she did a great job. The guidance counselor tried to talk you out of going to uw madison. William claire was the guidance counselor and have played football and tried to make sure every graduate went to the university of platteville endive is no exception. I said i was going to go to madison. He said its too big. You are not smart enough and you cant play football there. He said thats where youre supposed to go. And he was a very good guidance counselor and good friend of myself and teacher and my parents but he was very upset that i didnt go to platteville. He never mentioned my name in the whole thing. Only mentioned my father and had with the great politicians was the county board, and i always resented the fact i didnt even make befor the floor i wasnt en mentioned in the history so thats my story of elroy. During your time if matheson yoat madisonyou worked at the cr the sergeant at arms and there was one story they asked you to kind of take care of the senators. When i was going t through school and didnt have any money my father said go see the representatives from the counties so i called up and he wouldnt see me. That was a little strange but i found out he did it because if he gave me a job i would run against him, which i did. [laughter] so i went over to the senate. He knew my father but he didnt know me. M was on his deathbed somebody called him and said tommy thompsothompson is a universityt and we have money to hire a quirk that he would like to know if you would hire him and he said sure that this Alan Thompsons son. I never met the man or god chance to thank him but he hired me so i was a clerk for the senator, the last republican elected but i learned a lot from bim and also learned how to be bipartisan and make compromises. He taught me a few things. He said two things i will tell you always read the bill didnt know whats in them which i did and the second thing he said i stalby stalk and put the money n thintotopdrawer. Ive done that and theyve done very well and he was pretty wealthy. After six months w or a year i s working with the sergeant of arms and then the senate was going a little bit longer during the days and sometimes they hav night sessions so they asked another student and myself if we would take over the job of running the senate when he wasnt there and run errands and do things for the senators and i jumped at the occasion because what we could do is work for four hours and study and get paid if the senate wasnt in session or we didnt have anything to do, so it was a fantastic job. But sometimes, the senate was in sessionth and this one night the oenate was in session and when the senate or the Assembly Goes on call, they have a call in the senate or the call to the assembly means any senator unless they are excused has got toy come and vote. A senator by the name of mike farland was a boxer in his younger days and like like to ha few starts and that afternoon he started a little early and was at the park we knew where he w was. John gable and i went over there to get him and he was in no mood to come back and vote. Wevo said you have to. He said im not going. Finally, we convinced him. We got hi out on the front stret right there by the stop and go line and senator mcfarland decided when he was going to step on the curb to go into the capital they thought maybe he should go back and haveve anothr drink. So he decidedde to turn on john and me. Hehe started out here, but he hd so many in him you could see it coming but he wanted to hit us so he doubled his fist and went like that. I ducked and he swung at me and went all the way around, fell on his back and hit his head. I thought he was really hurt but he had enough alcohol in him it didnt even phase him. Finally, we woke him up and brought him up on his feet and took him in. He voted and then harry asked us to take him to his office where he slepter it off. Today that would never happen. The press would have picked it up. Here are two republican pages taking care of a democrat senator. This would have made the Capital Times and state journal and so on and so forth. But at that time it was just a way to get things done. It was funny but it was part of the book is about in some of the stories. Thats the way i go. [laughter] graduate in 1966. And planning on joining the corps later that fall. You kind of got a free summer. You decide go i have three credits to go to law school. And jake fleischer, great guy on water law and land rights. I have to free credits and she took me under his wing and said he would give me an opportunity to write a story on the water law and riparian voter boat or ship. He was helpful. And louis, the guy that wouldnt give me the job, i announced i was going to run against him because i wasnt going to go into the air force jag until january. And so, i decided, you know, by way of thinking was i didnt have a chance because this guy was in for 16 years. And so, i decided i was going to run against him for the state assembly, and so i did. Now, louis didnt think i was very serious because i was still in law school and i didnt move back home. E so he went to alaska on a cruise. So i graduated from law school, ggolgot my three credits done d was in the first week in august, second week in september when the primary was. So i have six week i didnt have any money and so i borrowed 500 from the bank of illinois, bought a 100dollar car that had 225,000 miles on it. You could look through the floorboards and see the street. Iran on highway safety. [laughter] i dont know, but i did. And then i went all over. My dad would give me 10 a day, 5 for gas and fired to eat. It wasnt districts then it was counties. I went all over and starts at 7 00 in the morning. Wasnt married, living with my parents, so i went to all these small communities, and i learned early on that the town drunk was in the bar at 8 00 in the morning. I could go into the bar and find him i learned this from louis he said go by that guy a beer and he will talk about you all day. [laughter] you can do that today that here was the town drunk and louis with a democrat but he didnt like louis romero, said he wanted to help me. Itll do you a lot of good. So i bought him a beer and i heard later he says about 2 00, 3 00 when the bar was full, you should have been here this morning, that Young Tommy Thompson came in and bought the whole bar a beer. [laughter] and so, i left the bar at 9 00. I didnt have any drinks of course. Nobody knocked on any doors back then. So, adams, marquette, my friends who ran against me one time, he is a good friend. I went doortodoor and nobody ever did this. I was scared to death. Afraid of speaking, afraid of introducing myself, but after a whilesp you knock on enough doos and people say you know, they liked you and aslike you and ass and you d had an answer, you hae to think on your feet which hope to be a great deal. So i went around and then i would go to the businesses. I learned a story that i tell other young politicians that want to get elected. I went into this chevrolet dealer and was talking to the owner. I waited for the owner and so i went in to meet the owner, mr. Connor. Though this one was freitag on the montel, chevrolet dealersh dealership. I sat down in his office across fromel him, introduced myself ad said i was running but i didnt have much money, but i have a lot of spirit and good ideas and i i am for Small Businesses andi would like you to help me. So you know, ive been supporting louis romero all these years and hes never come in. Youre the first one to ask me for my vote. I thinkr im going to vote foru you. And id said mr. Freitag, thats great. Thank you very much. And i walked out and left. Less than three minutes, he comes out chasing me down and he says i said im not going to vote for you. Here i am 23, no money, ive got the biggest in the world of business person going to support the now he tells me hes not. I said whatto do i do, why are u not going to support the peace that you are not very smart. I said why do you say that and he said because i am one individual that i have 45 employees, auto mechanics and the backroom, ive got people working in an office and ive got people selling cars. You didnt stop to ask for a vote from any one of the 45. How are you going to win, im onlyly onevote and there are 4. Youve got to go back and make sure you talk to everybody. So it was a lesson learned. First, go to the bar early and by the town drunk a beer. [laughter] second, you sure you always go behind and shake hands with everybody in the business. I started from that day forward and ive always done it. I will tell you a story i was in washington where george h. W. Bush is, i stayed with him and he turned me to one of his private clubs. We went down to eat and it was great. He was president , taking a young governor under his arm. Before george w. Ed bush got elected i was his favorite governor. [laughter] we went in and had lunch and i was going to go to the alfalfa club, which is a club that they have when running for president , the alfalfa ticket and some other ticket and george bush always belonged. Its a fun organization but anyway, he took me behind him into the kitchen. So here is the president of the United States, taking me by the hand going into the kitchen and he shook hands with everybody in there. Everybody that was serving him, cooking, everybody knew him because he had some not so often. He said to me what happened to me at the chevrolet dealership back and montella and president bush says never, ever forget where you come from. And thats why ive never forgotten about elroy, never forgot about my basic lessons in politics, and that is what was so good cannot talk about how i built elroy [inaudible] we wil we will get there. [laughter] am i talking too much . [laughter] i was going to ask about frederick and the assembly, well, okay. You get elected to the assembly, the republicans are in theth majority, the leadership role once your vote and needs your vote to elect them speaker. The republicans have gotten defeated by nelson and then the republicans came back and i was running. When i ran in the primary, everybody here in madison was supporting louis romero because he was the incumbent. Nobody would support me. I didnt have any money, he had plenty because first off they never expected me to when, nobody including the people of elroy. My father was the only one and sometimes i questioned whether he voted for me. [laughter] but the truth of the matter was i didnt have anybody supporting me. Everybody supported louis romero, so when i want the wante primary, everybody wanted of course to come up and ask who is Tommy Thompson. So they come to elroy to meet me. I got my first donation back then you could take cash, 50 in cash and a bunch of stamps. I dont know, i didnt know what to do so i wrote it down somebody down here in madison, so everybody was trying to find out who Tommy Thompson was because its a republican area and they thought i was going to win, so i did, but then the republicanss won control of the assembly. Wiso, the number one position in the assembly of course is the speaker. There were four candidates runningg for speaker. Maybe a name some of you remember and Harold Clemens who later became secretary of treasure. Harold freilich and curtis mccabe. Curtis mccabe dropped out and left with freilich. Harold clemens was there and paul dropped out and went with Harold Clemens. Socl there were 51 republicans. So 26 is going to win. So freilich comes to meet me. He didnt support me but he comes in and i remember i was in the front room of my mothers house and he knocked at 3 00 in the afternoon, even remember the time. He came in, sat down and said im running for speaker. I said i know, everybodys called me about it. He said i need your vote and i said thats good, so today. [laughter] says im the conservative. I said im a conservative too. He said will you support me and i said i will tell you what i will do. If you put me on the joint finance committee now as a freshman, on the joint finance committee they wouldnt put any freshman, but i knew i was young and nobody would pay any attention to me on the joint finance committee had you. So, ive been around for capital long enough that i was playing politics. So, i told freilich put me in if you want my vote, put me on the joint finance committee. He said i cant do that. No freshman gets on the joint finance. I said thats what you have to do if you want my vote. Nothing happens in about a week later he calls up and says im considering putting you on the joint. I said when you make up your mind, callback. [laughter] a week later he calls back and says i decided t ive decided tn finance. Ck okay. You are my 13th vote, remember that some of the 13th vote. Three. Days before the vote, 2 2625 and both sides thought they had one. Fraley calls me three days before the vote and says joe on the synth trust you and doesnt think youre going to vote for me. I said are you going to put me on finance and hee said yes. Well then i am voting for you. He said okay. So, the day of the election, everybody was saying frail at one and Harold Clemens was going to bring. 2625, he one by on won by one 6 and 25. So, he called me up and said well, do i have to put you on finance and i said absolutely. So, he did and thats how i got on the joint finance as a s. Freshman. It was interesting times. We jump ahead and john shadegg gets a federal judgeship and you become assistant, you become the minority leader o of the assemby in the early 80s. Tony burrell was elected in 1982 and you were thinking about running for governor but you stayed with your run increasing the number of Republican Assembly seats in 84. Can you talk about that and how it took you around the state . I wanted to run for governor and i knew that nobody knew what elroy wisconsin was. How can you run for governor with a first name like tommy. Lets face it. It doesnt give you many great deal ofow confidence with a name like tommy. But anyway, i knew i had to get around the state to get people to know me and i also knew that in the election of 64 or 84 it was going to be crucial. Republicans in the assembly only have 40 seats. Only had 40 seats. And i went to the Republican Convention and people were asking are you going to run for governor against tony and 86, and i said only if i can increase considerably the number of seats in the assembly. Ice will remember tom and tony earl saying they liked me but tommy, youve made a terrible mistake. It hit the press Tommy Thompson is putting his seat if running for governor by increasing the number of seats in the assembly. So i went around, i have three beautiful, charming women with me. One was rb benson who was representing the republican party. She always wore these flamboyant hats. Remember when you go to the kentucky derby, all those hats . She had one for every occasion like this. She went around and she would fly up and was the caucus chairman, i pointed her the secretary, and diane hemlock was my administrative assistant. Barbie would fly in and diane and myself, i would sleep and they would drive and we would go around and recruit candidates and raise money for the assembly. Everybody wanted to give money to the senate because they didnt think we had a chance in the assembly. And so, i went around and Butch Johnson was a logger up in haywood and he called me and said if you bring that women appear to haywood with that big hat come im going to disown you and we are not going to give any money. [laughter] she had big ideas and a big hat. So we went up there and she was with me and charmed the whole thing. She was a hit. We raised a lotai of money and e got some good candidates. I went all around the state getting my name out, recruiting candidates, raising money for the candidates so all these republican candidates that won in 84, we picked up eight seats biggest story, they said that was the biggest story that Tommy Thompson and his team engineered eight seats. We didnt take over, but we came so close to getting control of the assembly. Everyone said it was a tremendous accomplishment, and that send me an a tremendous position because the republicans atin the house really loved me. Because i raised money for them and organized. So, these assembly individuals, 48 of them now, were my field force. They were the individuals that campaigned for me when i ran for governor in 86, raised money, brought me into their organizations and everything. And thats how i was able to build a statewide organization, much to the chagrin of the candidates that ran against me. Much more organized. One thing about me, nobody has ever thought i was going to win. Everybody thought i was going to lose. Including those individuals that didnt think i could take over the control of the assembly. All i wanted to do is become speaker. I wanted to be speaker of the assembly that when i knew i couldnt become speaker of the assembly i couldnt get enough republicans elected, thats when i decided to run for governor. Db six and the going down to the wire against tony earl, very good story i think. Henrhenry mayer toldd you he tht the commotion may thi this is a funny story. [laughter] John Bellotti is his name. He won the election as mayor by one vote and henry dyer how many remember the mayor, wonderful guy . Big, almost a socialist democrat and was proud of his democratic heritage in the past but he couldnt stand tony earl, and because tony was going to put a person in milwaukee, does anybody remember that . Said, he wouldnt back off of that so henry mayer called me up and said come, im going to support you. Remember he was never a supporter of a republican in his life. Called me out of nowhere to have me come over so he could support me. So i talked to him for a while and he said i will support you. He said i think i can get them a year to support you. So he called up an and said this Young Tommy Thompson wants to come over and have lunch with you. Be a friend of mine and go meet him. Hes a good guy and i want you to support him. So youve got to realize that kenosha at that time they were the most democratic, and madison, the most democratic communities in the state come and kenosha is a an alltime elmocratic union bosses and supporters, and they never elected a republican. So, i went down there and henry mayer didnt want to be seen with me. I, he says come in through the parking lot. Now here is this guy comes out of his office with a hat like this. [laughter] he comes over, knocks on the window and he says are you thompson and i said no, i am the driver. Comes around and the car. Mayor, im Tommy Thompson. He said i cant shake your hand, somebody mycenae. Im going to go back in that site over. I cant be seen with you. Wait five minutes and dont talk anybody. [laughter] and so, he went in and said what the hell is going on here. [laughter] what did he set me up for, so i went and and ordered sandwiches. I went in and of course being Tommy Thompson, shook hands with everybody i could see. I went up and down and walked up the steps shaking hands with everybody and he came up and said dont shake hands and then he came in and did anybody see you and i said i dont know. [laughter] story short i went in, we hadd a sandwich and i said what cann you do for me. He said i can f support you, bui cant do it publicly. Can you put on a fundraiser . I cant do that. What can you do . While, i can talk to some republicans. I said okay. I dont know if he ever talked to me that immediately after i got elected i got a call from john saying you know i supported usu, can i get a job . [laughter] and i gave him one. I dont think he wants ever did anything forid me but its funn, coming down like this so nobody would see him because he didnt want to be seen with ais republican. Have to skip some things. We are running a little low on time. A couple washington stories i think important to talk about your day on 9 11. You were coming in in the car when the first tower was hit. Im not going to get to talk about kilroy . Well, yeah on the heels of 9 11. [laughter] 9 11 happened and i had invited i wanted to do something. If anybody knows me knows i cant stand not to be doing something and making changes. In this country we average 36,000 americans die every year from the flu. Last year was 70,000 so i decided one of my causes like i did welfare and Economic Development when i was governor was to just come up with a ubiquitous vaccine for the flu. I had an idea to scientists from all over. They were coming on 9 11 and several of them were going to have a seminar of the best scientists that we could come up with toan be able to come up wih a vaccine. I was giving a speech in the morning and first thing i heard her coming in wass the first 846 plane hit the tower and then 16 minutes later. But by this time i was in my office and i called i knew something was bad because it was beautiful out, the sun was out and everything was like this. I called and the president was in florida, the Vice President was found in a bunker and everybody thought we were going to be under attack. I knew i had to be in charge. So i called my lawyers come its never been done before and i dont even know if i have the authority to do it i called myve lawyers advice if i want to declare a National Health emergency. He said i dont know if we can do it. I said dont tell me i cant just figure out how to and get back here. This was 960. I said youve got 45 minutes. At 10 00 i declare the Health Emergency and we were able weve are the last ones to get the plane in the air remember all the planes were grounded, i got one in the air and there were eight medical depotshe around america that are topsecret that you can get tons of medical supplies into the closest one to new york we sent the plane, plane, filled it with medical supplies and flew into new york and we were headed there by 5 00 in the afternoon. The only one to get a plane in the air to fly up an out and get medicale supplies to new york. We had medicines, masks, gloves, everything and we got it out there to be unloaded. Then at the width and height of 30, the bright idea is all the secretaries except for colin powell and Donald Rumsfeld had to go out to a site in West Virginia its down 175 feet with a huge city and they didnt know what was happening. They had helicopters. I had all these things to do. I was ordered to go with the Vice President. It came in at 12 20 and had federal security to arrest me and my chief of staff and my deputy secretary thought that it would be great for me to get out so he was pushing and said it f wouldnt look good on this day tofo have you arrested. My own security came in and said you cant do it. I says to my one good friend mike, i said if i have to go you get the car and find the backdoor to camp whether. Im going to walk in and walk out and you get me back here right away. She said okay mr. Secretary. So everyones mad at me because theyve been waiting since 12 00. I get on the helicopter ten till one. We get there about quarter to two and the drivers of the check and dormitories, everything down there and every one of the departments as places for an office and so on so they gave me a blanket and some cleaning stuff and all this. I took it in and threw it on my bed and i said im tired, im nervous, can i take a walk. Wheres the backdoor. [laughter] a mile and a half i walked and got out there. Thats how big this place is. A mile and a half and i walked out there and heres mike. I said go as fast as you can. We were doing 100 miles an hour West Virginia going into medicine. I got there at fort 30 back in the office much to the chagrin of deputy secretary. I took over and a lot of the employees wanted to see me. He said are we going to open the door and i said im going to be here and i would love to have you come. The next morning 5 00 in the morning i was out in front of the Humphrey Building shaking hands with any youve got to imagine everybody was afraid because the plane coming from thafromthat was going to get the capital that went into pennsylvania, it would have gone right by the Humphrey Building. So they were rightly so very upset. I said im going to be here and if you are not afraid, come on in. He said i am afraid that im coming in. So i shook hands with every one ofi my employees welcoming them and then into the night made itw york the first secretary to go fitwo days before bush got up there i was there walking up and down the streets of new york and going out to see the hospitals, meeting the individuals that were injured and those individuals and one of the worst things ive ever done in my life as i went down to the morgue that afternoon after 9 11 and you can imagine the poor people were trying to find their loved ones bringing hairbrushes and i went in there to thank the doctors, some that have worked for me. They were having fragments of bodies trying to get dna. Just so utterly impossible to believe. One more washington story and then maybe we can open up for a few audienceen questions and we also have cspan open up for questions from around the country for a few minutes. But i want if you could great story you were on point for Medicare Part b. Yes. It was a brutal fight on the house floor and there was a story that you told at the end where you were one vote short and the republican from arizona, its 4 00 in the morning and he wants to talk to . The president of the United States. We needed his vote to have a 217 vote to carry Medicare Part b. As you well know, this was my idea and my department came up with it even though george bush gets the credit for it if was really Tommy Thompson. [laughter] so remember, thank me. But we put it together and we were having a tough time getting it passed. The speaker called me up and said its 4 00 in the morning at president bush, to his credit was wonderful, he came in from england. He had just been over to london i think to see the queen if i remember and he just landed the night before and was tired if you can imagine. I have this individual congressmen they wanted to weigh in on who the president is going to appoint as the federal judge in arizona. I called over one of the president s individuals and i said youve got to call the president said i can talk to him and hes got to reassure these two congressmen that he is going to appoint a conservative judge in arizona but they wont vote for part b. He said he wants me to call the presidenpresident at 4 00 in thg and i said yes. So the president gets on, not happy as you can imagine. I said we have a situation, we have two individuals that may vote and we needed i need it ino pass it and if they get some reassurance from you but you will appoint ay conservative he said put them on. So they got on the phone and he said yes, sure, what do you want. They talked for probably 15 minutes. I dont know exactly what was said tha after it wass all overe said trent franks and the others said they would votefr for it. It was open until about fort 30 in the morning they voted and fort 30 had passed and there were two other individuals so we ended up with 21 219 votes if we onlyot needed 217. S at was the beginning of part d. Just turned out to be one of the most popular programs in medicare today. Everybody loves it and its workeit workedout very well. Very Effective Program but the president henthe president calle. I didnt go to bed that night i went right from the floor of the capitol over to my office. The president calls me at 9 00 and saysnt good job, but if you ever call me again at 4 00 in the morning im firing you. [laughter] so thats the story. We have a microphone over here. I dont know how easy it is logistically but we ask that you come over here to ask your question. Thank you governor thompson. We will take a couple questions from those here just line up at the microphone and then we will keep the conversation going with questions from cspan book tv viewerssp have also take a coupe more of your questions. Lets do that now. It is so good to see you. You write very movingly in the book how he wanted to be the secretary of transportation and Human Services so you could bring highspeed rail the same way a republican president your that youre trying to set me up to get me in trouble. [laughter] i love you but you have a tendency to try to get me into a political difficulty. [laughter] u you do write about the importance of highspeed rail. [applause] at the turn of the century it was a Railroad City they came up and turned around and went around minneapolis and growing up at age 12 i used to jump on one side of a train coming into town and then wrote the other end of tow counsel i love train. So, my question is what wisconsin and the midwest be better off if they had the highspeed system that Governor Walker canceled . The position of putting myself against Governor Walker because i support him, but i people can differ as to whether or not they believe in it, but i believe in highspeed train. Ive always believed in that and i think highspeed trains are something that would solve a lot of problems. You just go up and down the interstate. You have to keep building. The bypass around madison its just so crowded and sooner or later weve got to find ways to move people and i think highspeed trains have a lot of opportunities. Thank you. [applause] so, if you ever find an opponent or anything like that is telling its truths, how do you usually handle that . Is one of you your opponentss untruthfuisuntruthful during a e during the campaign, howg do yu handle vazquez u. Just say that is not true and you are full of bees or some thing. [laughter] ive got to tell you, i to this day every one of my democrat opponents ran against me, tony earl is still my friend, i love the guy. Hes wonderful and a great individual. We are the best of friends in fact if he was here he would probably stand up and say thats absolutely true and even though we fought on the floor, the nice thing about that when i was in the state legislature you could disagree, but you didnt have to be disagreeable. I think the world of him, and we never got along when he was in the state senate, but since we got out, hes a friend of mine and i think hes an Outstanding Young person. We had troubles throughout our whole life, but i felt really sad when he left. To offer. Ot his point of view were not mine, but i always considered them very honest individuals. So i guess ive been lucky. Governor, youv you said onee things you regret there are too many people locked up for too long. How do we change that . Follow my lead in the next several months. There are a lot of judges who are not sending people to write sentences and the probation and parole system if you do the right thing you get out of sooner. I did think that it was a veryg good system. Thats why we got truth and sentencing to make it more so that there was no chicanery whatsoever. Remember there was a prisoner of got out early and a young girl was out trickortreating ant dot i. Dont know if you remember that, was killed and it was a very heinous crime. And there was one that got out and milwaukee and people really thought he had to get tougher r. Into that. Since then, i have people into believing now that we can do a much better job. Heres what i want to do and im passionate about it, first i my daughter,e kelly thompson. [applause] the head of the public defender. The joke was around the family i was putting them away and she was keeping them out. Interesting conversation but she is dedicated, and ive really gotten around to her point of view because what i want to do is take an assessment and i want your help on this one. I want an assessment of the prisoners. Saddam should not get out. There are some bad people out there but there are someth good e. Ople but because of a circumstancethecircumstance, whe brought up and i was no angel in high school or college. I look at some of you and i that you agree with me that he probably did a few things that were not always according to the law. But what i want to do if i want to make an assessment and find out those individuals and then i wentnd to turn the prison into a vocational school. I talked to the head of the college down there, blackhawk university and a vocational school. I want them to set up a Vocational Program than i wantco to get fox and wmc to sponsor prisoners. And then i want my first class i went to the 300 through the course. We need workers and we have always prisoners. 35,000 a year. What i want to do is rehabilitate. I want t to give drug and alcohl treatment because 65 to 70 still have alcohol and drug problems. I want to get that taken care of and the assessment. And i want to put them through an intensive course in a Vocational Training at the university and theuniversity ant employers to sponsor them so they become in terms so they go to school in b the morning and work in the plant or the company in the afternoon, come back to prison in the afternoon and then if they complete everything without breaking rules or regulations, they get a get out of jail fre jail free card to gk and the Company Takes responsibility for them and you would see individuals moving into the workforce educated and not dependent onep alcohol and drugs and become meaningful members of society. We wouldnt have the rate of recidivism, we wouldnt have to build more prisons is. We could make things happen and we could make these individuals meaningful members of society. So, that is my i need your help. [applause] that is my new cause, that and pancreatic cancer by two causes right now. I would be glad to help. You are on my team and always have been. Thank you very much. If there are a couple more questions in the room, come up to this microphone but right now lets turn over to a few questions from the National Audience on tv. You will be able to hear the questions in the room so we will keep the conversation going. A good time to silence your cell phones to help with reception that was turned over to booktv. 7488001 east and central748l time zones, 202 7488201 if you live in the mountain and pacific time zone and have a question for the longest serving governor of wisconsin or one of the longestserving journalists in wisconsin. [laughter] how manyco of you over the years have read him in the times and the journal . How many of you voted at one point for Tommy Thompson . [laughter] dot half. How didr] you win . [laughter] we have a lot of democrats here that im trying to convert. [laughter] is take calls and we will take questions from the audience as well if you have a question. The book is called tommy my journey of a lifetime. James is calling in from seattle. James, go ahead. Caller Ronald Reagan administration. He passed the tax bill in 1986 before it was 56. I think hes talking about my Prison Reform. Individuals that are incarcerated im trying to find ways they have to go through an assessment. Past drug treatment but i want to get as many individuals as i possibly can trained and into society and have a meaningful job the worstst thing right now isin to have individuals that have alcohol or drug problems little training looking for a job i want to take care of the situation so it is a smooth assimilation back into society that will help a lot of individuals both black and white and latinos and a few of us irish people. [laughter] host how has the Opioid Crisis affected wisconsin quick. It is as bad here as any place. I have not written about it directly it is one of the biggest issues ourta state face. Host next collar is from rhode island. Caller i dont mean to veer off the topic like opioids and they came in a little bit late with the kenosha story that was fabulous in the book soundsry greatt. Can you tell a story about your time with global fund in geneva quick. Absolutely. Y. Global fund to me as one of my biggest accomplishments more worldwide than anything else we have ever done. Kofi annan to call up colin powell that he would like to set up a fund about tuberculosis and malaria and he called me and i said absolutely so the un secretary came down with colin powell wand myself met with president george w. Bush so we convinced the president to put money into a global fund that started a conversation we raised 100 million from the United States to start the Global Finance and send i had became president and we raised 5 billion now it is at 8 million but probably the best International Fund to help people and giveiv them hope to reduce hiv tuberculosis and malaria. I am absolutely overjoyed with the success it has had and im appreciative of the small part that i was able to play to get it started. I have been to africa several times as chairman of the global fund it is amazing the countries in africa that are so impressed and love the United States because of global fund giving anti retro viral medicines to them i could tell you a beautiful story it would take too long of having one of my daughters go with me toone africa to meeta woman with nine children and she cried she said the nice thing about the United States is give me that anti retro viral virus medication i will live long enough to see my children graduate from school and not become part of the 20 some million orphanages aroundha africa. That was so moving and so poignant of what america could accomplish its a great story. Host scottsdale arizonado good afternoon book tv. Caller. I dont know if you remember me i worked for your administrationin in International Trade for the department of development so i just want to say hello but also we have also been known globally with the exports of wisconsin not only through partners what is your take right now with the tariffs and what is coming out of washington t is making a serious Economic Impact not only to our neighbors but also to folksls here at home . And again its great to see you and talk to you. Thank you and thank you for your hard work for me in the state of wisconsin. Everybody knows i am a cheerleader for wisconsin i love everything about it any chance i get to talk about it and its products its a good day for me so thank you for your help and for remembering that. As far as tariffs, i dont like them i have to hearken back to what i do right now as being a farmer a raise corn and soybeans and 800 acres. I have a lot of corn and soybeans and i can assure you that tariffs are not helping the farmers across america or in wisconsin i hope the president can get china to come to the negotiating table to reach an agreement because tariffs dont help anybody but fair trade wood so im hoping the president will be successful. In the meantime they are not helping the economy. Host what is Tommy Thompsons legacy in wisconsin quick. First i want to Say Something about opioids. I did a profile on a police chief about one year ago and one thing he told me is that he had not done a 18 hour shift to get a call and i wanted to bring that up because that was here in madison. I think we have hit a few of the things this afternoon of his legacy promoting wisconsin and a big tent but he brought a democrat into his cabinet being willing to listen but being passionate about his own ideas. I am a little biased but i think its a great legacy. Host tennessee go ahead. Caller i just want to say about educating i think its a great thing because you can use your time and then go right back out. I think thats a great thing. She is talking about your Prison Reform plan and you said you had evolved . How quick. I evolved into believing theres a better way instead of just locking people up because individual will get out and without giving them the trainin training, there is no way. That rate of recidivism will continue to rise. I want to break that rate by giving individual prisoners to get training, rehabilitated with drugs and alcohol and to get kicked out of prison i want that to be a matriculation into the workforce so if we are able to do that then i think we can break or reduce considerably the rate of recidivism and thats what i want to do. Good afternoon governor. My name is joel you spoke about the global fund and the hard work you have done with your story about africa and the view of the us. I dont want to put you on the spot but we have a president who seems challenged to appreciate the outreach of the United States and how that impacts how we are viewed around the world. What adviceou do you give him about those efforts what can bthat be a better recognition of the impact that causes people to view us quick. First of all, i support the president. I think overall he has accomplished some great things and i applaud him for that. I do not like his tweeting and i told him i think he should stop. I dont think it is president ial but he seems to feel that is one way to get his message out and in and of itself is helpful. If heot would not have been so willing to pick a fight and much more conciliatory with what he could accomplish light getting this minister released from turkey. The president has had many successes and give him credit for that. If he could act more president ial and the Approval Rating would be much higher than it isou today. So less on the tweeting be more present at one president ial and dont be such a bully. He could go down as a very good president. Fox con can be a great boon to wisconsin. And is much more successful in kenosha than elroy superior. But anytime anyone will spend billions of dollars you have to say thats not bad. Thats good. Overall what i have negotiated that it will differ on that but i dont think so. [laughter]. We have a caller from texas. Caller governor. You sound more like a democrat than a republican. A lot of republicans that you have to deny the membership fee for a long time could they provide everybody who wants a job with the job . I certainly do if they want to work there is plenty of jobs out there. No question about it i also believe once you get elected you are elected to the people and democrats have a one have a good ideas as well as republicans and they should do what they can to mesh them together and thats what i did. T i also had somebody force me into the situation more so than i would have volunteered if i had all the power to do so but to control all facets of government and i could sit back and do nothing to blame all the democrats, which i did, i appointed the head of the Majority Party as my secretary of health. So i tried to find the best ideas possible to give them credit president reagan once said its amazing what you can getga done if you dont care who gets the credit. And then if politicians would believe that you would get a lot more done. Even though im a republican there are a lot of democrats out there with good ideas and we should bring them forth. Not as many as republicans but we need to t come together as statesmen to do what is right for the state and the country. Caller i wondered what you think we should be doing with health care today to make it sustainable for the seniors coming down the pike in record numbers . If i do that answer i would be president of the United States today instead of an individual friend of dougs. [laughter] and i think we did a great job with Medicare Part d and i think n its what ive asked people to do for a long time , i would like to get the best thinking democrats in the best thinking republicans to sit down and take a look at medicare and leave your party agenda at the doorstep and say what can be accomplished together . If we dont do that, if the republicans come up just like obama care with no republicans supporting then they try to dismantle it. If you look back at history , all the great achievements is on a bipartisan basis, social security, workers compensation, unemploymen compensation, unemployment, medd on a bipartisan basis. That is why in order to achieve what you want and what i want is to make medicare solvent for years to come, we have to come together on a bipartisan basis. I cannot tell you that solution at this point in time but it iss fair. There is 72000 folks going to cdc what would you do based on your experience as secretary of health and your Public Health experience where are the state and federal governments at addressing this crisis quick. Its terrible. I study this a lot. Almost 60 percent are strung out on opioids they got prescriptions from their doctors i got my knee replaced i got fixed the phone fix i got 50 oxycodone. I did not take them but i couldve got strung out we have to make sure put money into treatment to find better cures and do not become addictive and there are things we have to do out there as a society. If you dont have the state and federal government you willll not accomplish the solution that we need. Opioids are a terrible problem and it hits people wherever. Is not minority or rich or poor problem it is an everyday problem for all of us we all have to fix it but we have to start looking at the cures and to find ways with their methodology and as doug says to make sure. Thank you. [applause]. Its been six days since the Government Shutdown began in the house and senate resolved one met today but did not come to a solution. With 4 billion of border Wall Funding Congress meets again that no legislative business. Host thanks f