A new book. Things that matter is not a confessional memoir or scandalous kissandtell. Its a collection of newspaper and magazine pieces from the pulitzer prizewinning columnist. Or maybe its more than that. Are you decoding my book . I am decoding it right now. Like its entirely about me. [ laughs ] but its all written in hieroglyphics. Well, its not quite as impenetrable as hieroglyphics. Lets start with part one of your book, and it is titled personal. And in there, the first column is really an incredibly moving piece about your brother. Marcel krauthammer died of cancer. He was 59. Charles writes this about his older brother. He taught me most everything i ever learned about every sport i ever played. He taught me how to throw a football, hit a backhand, grip a nine iron, field a grounder, dock a sailboat in the tailing wind. And how we played. It was paradise. Tell me about that. It was a paradisiacal childhood. My brother and i were inseparable. He was four years older, which is why this was a priceless gift. He always insisted i be included, so i got used to being around the big boys and taking the slings and arrows, and thats how you get toughened up. My parents were from europe. He was american, my brother. Born in brazil, but thats a long story. But american, and he made me an american. That long story short krauthammers mother, thea, is from belgium. His father, schlum, was a Real Estate Developer from what is now a province of ukraine, both jews whod left world war ii europe. They met in havana, moved to rio, and eventually new york city, where charles was born in 1950. When he was 5, the krauthammers moved to montreal. But they spent summers at the Family Cottage in long beach, new york. Charles recalls spending every day with his brother on the field, on the court, or in the water. I dont think i owned a shirt till i was 21. All the pictures, the family movies, my father is shirtless, my brothers shirtless, i am. Were outside in the sun. I read on the beach. Thats where i got all my knowledge was reading. Of course, there was reading and studying. Schlum krauthammer, who spoke nine languages, even carried his sons Stellar Second Grade report card around in his coat pocket. His motto for us was, i want you to know everything. I want you to learn everything. You dont have to do everything, but you got to know everything. He thought that was part of life. That life did not include a tv, says the cable news pundit. My father wouldnt allow it. Once a week, sunday night, wed go to the neighbors to watch the ed sullivan show. That was the one concession, the television. Inspired by uncles who were doctors, Marcel Krauthammer went to Medical School. It was assumed charles would
follow. But as a 19yearold senior at mcgill, the internationally renowned canadian university, he was bitten by a different bug political journalism. Well, that was a little bit of campus intrigue. The editorship of the newspaper at mcgill was controlled by the student council. Id been elected to the student council, and the paper was becoming unreadable. It was run by marxists, maoists. I mean, it was just it looked like it came out of the soviet union. You just couldnt read it. So we engineered a coup to fire the editor, and then we sort of realized, well, what do we do now . We have to find an editor. So they looked around and they decided it was gonna be me. So i said, wait, ive never worked on a paper. Said, eh, a detail. A polisci and economics major, he loved thinking and writing about all things political. He applied to Medical School to please his family and got accepted to harvard, but he got into oxford, as well, to study
political theory. Would krauthammer choose a life of science or a life of letters . The brilliant graduate had enviable options, but he hadnt figured out what mattered most to him, so he split the difference. He put off harvard, enrolled at oxford, and while studying historys great political philosophers, he met a Fellow Student from australia, robyn trethewey, attractive and brilliant, too, a clerk to the Chief Justice of her home states supreme court. But so much would change in the three years between when they met and married, beginning with his sudden decision to leave england. I had this little epiphany of sorts. I started in political theory. It was getting more and more abstract. I learned a lot, but i began to feel that i was very sort of spinning out into a universe that didnt have anything to do with the real world. I called the registrar at Harvard Medical School and said, id like to come in the coming
class, and i remember her saying, well, one guy dropped out. We got a spot. If youre here on monday, its yours. So i grabbed a toothbrush and i didnt pack. I got on a plane and i left. And thats how i decided to become a doctor. Now, when i woke up in boston the next day, i thought to myself, oh, my god, what have i done . [ chuckles ] but there was no going back. Why did you choose psychiatry . I was looking for something halfway between the reality of medicine and the elegance, if you like, of philosophy. So psychiatry was the obvious thing. That was my intention from the first day, and i was lucky because it was probably the easiest branch of medicine for me to do once i was hurt. Hurt. That doesnt even begin to describe it. When did you realize that the accident was lifealtering . The second it happened. After the break. Patrick woke up with back pain. But he has work to do. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. Welcome back to Fox News Reporting. So far, youve met the Young Charles krauthammer, harvard medicine, class of 75. His life seemed to be going according to plan, but then no life ever really does. This snapshot was taken in may 1972. It shows a strapping 61 Charles Krauthammer standing on the beach. Its the confident smile of a young man well on his way to making it smart, athletic, handsome, driven, the future all his. That was spring break in my first year in Medical School. I went with a bunch of friends to bermuda. That actually is the last picture of me taken standing. Of course, i didnt know at the time. And i was coming out of the water carrying my sandals. I saw one of my friends with a camera, and then when i got to
the top of the dune, i just stood there for a picture. Thought nothing of it until i discovered it years later lying around in a box. And remembering it, of course, it was a fateful picture. Fateful because of what would happen back at harvard that summer. You were 22 years old. Tell me about that day. I went out. We had it was it was the end of my first year in Medical School. Were doing neurology. Were studying the spinal cord, of all things. My classmate and i decide to skip the morning session. Beautiful july day. Were gonna and we played tennis instead. After their game, they head back to class for the afternoon session, but along the way, they stop at a pool on campus, set down their books, and pull off their sneakers. Were very sweaty. Its very hot, so we go for a swim. We take a few dives, and i hit
my head on the bottom of the pool. A freak accident, says krauthammer. The amazing thing is, there was no not even a cut on my head. It just hit at precisely the angle where all the force was transmitted to one spot, and that is the cervical vertebrae, which severed the spinal cord. When did you realize that the accident was lifealtering . The second it happened. You knew . I knew exactly what happened. I knew why i wasnt able to move. And i knew what that meant. At the bottom of the pool. I wasnt getting out. I knew, yeah. He was paralyzed, unable to move his arms or legs. His friend thought he was clowning around and hesitated before diving down to save him. Was there ever a moment that you thought This Is The End . Well, when i knew what happened and i knew i was at the bottom of the pool and i knew i wouldnt be able to swim, i was
sure that was the end. Do you think back to that day often . Not really. It doesnt i kind of have a distance from it. I see it like as if it happened in a film. Um. And interestingly enough, for people talk about neardeath experiences, there was no panic, there was no great emotion. I didnt see a light. My life did not flash before me. You sort of get to a place where youre ready and then youre suddenly brought back to the world. So no cosmic revelation as he was rushed to the hospital, Though Krauthammer notes the irony of what he left behind. There were two books on the side of the pool when they picked up my effects. One was the anatomy of the spinal cord and the other ones mans fate by andre malraux. Quite a choice. I didnt know what was coming, but it fit very well. Coming up, krauthammers fate lay in the balance. What he did next astounded his professors and classmates. I knew that would be fatal. It was not a question. Shes nationally recognized for her compassion and care. He spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. But to help others, they first had to protect themselves. I have afib. Even for a nurse, its complicated. And it puts me at higher risk of stroke. That would be devastating. I had to learn all i could to help protect myself. Once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. Xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Oncedaily xarelto®, a latestgeneration blood thinner. Significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. It has similar effectiveness to warfarin. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor interacting with less of your bodys natural bloodclotting function. For Afib Patients wellmanaged on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of stroke. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If youve had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or musclerelated signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an Artificial Heart Valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. And before starting xarelto®about any conditions,
such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Its important to learn all you can. To help protect yourself from a stroke. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Theres more to know™. Millions of starving children in africa need our help in what the un calls the largest humanitarian crisis of our time. By supporting the Global Emergency Response Coalition youll help provide aid to the sick and starving and save lives. Which are sort of having to do with gravity. Im not gonna defy gravity. And im not gonna walk, im not gonna water ski again. Thats fine. So that you know. But on the big things in life, the direction of my life, what i was gonna do, that Wouldnt Change at all. Krauthammer says he never entertained the notion that one day, whether through his own effort or even some medical miracle, hed regain full use of his arms and legs. He resigned himself to the cold reality that wherever he went in life, hed go in a wheelchair. Was it hard . I think the physical part was hard, getting learning to do everything again. I have a great capacity for erasing memories. [ chuckles ] so it seems very short. It was long, but it would seem very short. His teachers and classmates certainly thought he was rushing his decision to resume his studies immediately. You never thought about taking a year off or taking a couple
years off . No. I knew that would be fatal. It was not a question. cause you just couldnt survive. Yeah, i mean, life would be over. Its a little early for life to be over. So while nobody had heard of someone with krauthammers injury standing up to the rigors of a med school curriculum, krauthammer convinced harvard to let him try. Amazingly, mere weeks after his accident, he resumed classes while still in his hospital bed. I was lying on my back, couldnt move. The professors would come in, repeat their lectures and project slides on the ceiling, cause i had asked the Medical School to let me stay with my class. And you read by laying on your back. One of the cardiac residents hooked up a plexiglas plate above my head that he hung from the posters of the bed, and the nurses would put a book on it face down. Now, you dont want to call them every minute and a half to turn
the page, so i put two books up at once so theyd only have to come half the time. But you got to remember where you were. [ chuckles ] its a bit of a challenge. It keeps you busy. There wasnt a lot else to do. With such force of will, krauthammer graduated on time in 1975 and near the top of his class. Along the way, he got the girl, too, and married robyn. But as he began his threeyear residency at massachusetts general hospital, there were indications from the beginning that charles and psychiatry might not be the perfect fit. Part of the residency is that youre supposed to go to this weekly Group Therapy session, and you didnt want to go. There were 12 of us residents at mass general, and there was a Group Therapy once a week. And i didnt go. I thought its a pointless exercise. So i was called into the Chiefs Office after about seven weeks
of nonappearance, and he said to me, Why Arent You going to therapy . And i said, sir, i came here to give therapy, not to receive it. And he said to me, youre in denial. [ chuckles ] and i said, of course im in denial. Denial is the greatest of all defense mechanisms. I could be a professor of denial. I mean, im an expert at well, i was going on and on. He wasnt very amused. He gave krauthammer an ultimatum go to Group Therapy or leave the program. So i went to the next 21 weeks of sessions or whatever it was, but i didnt really say a word. So whenever people would notice that, theyd say, Why Arent You talking . And i said, cause im in denial. [ laughs ] im not a big therapy guy. Was it because you didnt want somebody looking around your head . Yes. I dont like to talk about myself, except with you, i guess. [ laughs ] im not a touchy, im not a feely guy. And thats probably why i quit
psychiatry. [ chuckles ] if youre not into feelings and emotions and all the backstory, then you ought to be doing something else. So in 1978, krauthammer took a Government Job in washington at what would become the National Institute of mental health. It wasnt what he really wanted, but it put him in the right neighborhood. I thought, once im in washington, isnt that where they do politics . One thing will lead to another. His folks worried about their son tossing away a doctors livelihood but didnt discourage him. His wife, robyn, who would leave her career in law to become a painter and sculptor, urged him to follow his dream. She was the one who, 35 years ago, encouraged me to follow my heart and, with her wit and humor and generosity of spirit, has coauthored my life. In a moment, charles coauthor helps him answer a
higher calling. And later, he finds himself moving left to right, after the break. The best simple salad ever . Hearthealthy california walnuts. The best simple pasta ever . California walnuts. The best simple dinner ever . Great tasting, hearthealthy california walnuts. So simple, so good. Get the recipes at walnuts. Org. Whats going on . Oh hey thats it . Yeah. Everybody two seconds dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance. Through the Tuition Assistance program, every day mcdonalds helps more people go to college. Its part of our commitment to being americas best first job. North korea the latest Human Sections on act of war. The un approved tough new sanctions against the nation on friday. This in response to the norths latest launch of the missile that they say can reach anywhere the u. S. Mainland. This was drafted and agreed with by china. They said its a pipe dream to think that north korea would ever give up its weapons. Palestinian christians are celebrating christmas. The festivities held against the backdrop in protest over trumps decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital. There has been no violence, officials to scale back celebrations in protest of the decision. Now back to your show. 20th cent. Time magazine had chosen einstein, the great scientist. Charles disagreed. He picked churchill, the indispensable statesman who led the fight against hitler and
sounded the alarm over communism. Politics trumping science. That might explain why krauthammer traded a bigtime medical career for a oneway ticket to washington and why, once here, his eyes locked on to a help wanted ad in the political opinion magazine The New Republic. I showed it to my wife, and she said, Why Dont You Apply . Said, well, how can i apply . Ive never written anything, dont know anybody. She said, you write it, ill handdeliver it. I was intrigued, so i called him. Michael kinsley was looking for a Managing Editor for the leftleaning magazine. Was there something in his application, something during that phone call that made you want to bring him down . It was mainly the fact that he was a psychiatrist, because he had no writing samples. Well, what did you see in him, though . You know, i just enjoy talking to him so much. I had this feeling he must be able to write this down. Krauthammer gave it a shot. As the saying goes, he wro