To washington. How was it you got on the Judiciary Committee . Mr. Lott well, i was looking at the demographics, i got access to some of the polling numbers and when i ran, i think maybe in the district i was running in, the fifth Congressional District of mississippi, 8 of the people identify themselves as republican, but if you studied the internals, the majority of them were republican and i also knew honestly they would vote for Richard Nixon by overwhelming numbers, well over 80 , which is what happened. I was comfortable with them on an individual basis, philosophically, and i thought a republican could win in mississippi. A lot of people didnt think so and i remember when i called some of my friends and supporters, they said you would not be able to win, but events worked out. I was 31 years old. Just turned 32, but as time went on, i could sense a change in attitude and the people. You are young, a republican, what is this . By the end, they were saying, look. I like what you a
I called the guy back 15 seconds later, realizing i made a mistake and said can i still interview for it . He said yes. I didnt interview with sam garrison, who was running the republican side of the staff that was not yet fully unified. Some thought it never was. Sam and had ath good interview with him. I was engaged to come in quite shortly thereafter. I reported for duty in december of 1973. Tell us about sam garrison. Give us a picture of him. Man, was a devoted family from the south. From richmond. Worked like a tiger and slept in on sunday mornings. He and i had a good personal relationship. You are there before john was named. Im sure i was there before bert jenner. Maybe it was before john doerr. I remember showing up for work. If i was the first staffer, Hilary Rodham was the second staffer. I remember john doerr calling us into his office and saying bill, hilary, we have a research project. We have to find out what constitutes foreground of impeachment on the president. There
The interview is from the Richard Nixon president ial Library Oral History collection and was conducted by Timothy Naftali in 2008. When i ran in the fifth Congressional District mississippi, 8 of the people identified as republican. But if you study the internals, the majority of them were republican. I also knew they were going to vote for Richard Nixon by overwhelming numbers. I figured well over 80 , which is what happened. I was comfortable with them on an individual basis. I was comfortable with them philosophically. I thought a republican could win in mississippi. A lot of people did not think so. I remember when i called some friends and supporters they basically had said you will not be able to win. But events worked out. I was 31 years old. Just turned 32. As time went on, i could sense a change in attitude of the people. You are young, republican, what is this . By the end, they were saying i like what you are saying. You will be part of the nixon team. And i won by comforta
I also knew they were going to vote for Richard Nixon by overwhelming numbers. I figured well over 80 , which is what happened. I was comfortable with them on an individual basis. I was comfortable with them philosophically. I thought a republican could win in mississippi. A lot of people did not think so. I remember when i called some friends and supporters they basically had said you will not be able to win. But events worked out. I was 31 years old. Just turned 32. As time went on, i could sense a change in attitude of the people. You are young, republican, what is this . By the end, they were saying i like what you are saying. You will be part of the nixon team. And i won by comfortable margin. Then, i came up here and wanted to get on a b committee for fisheries. I wanted to be on appropriations. They said maybe in 10 or 15 years. I think i probably requested what was the Commerce Committee that subsequently became energy and commerce in the house. They said even though you have a
And i called back in 15 seconds and said i made a dreadful mistake and said can i still interview for it . He said yeah. And sam garrison running the republican side of the staff, not yet fully unified. Some thought it never was. I went down, met with sam, had a good interview with him. Engaged to come in quite shortly thereafter, and reported for duty in december 1973. Tell us a little bit about first of all, about sam garrison. Give us the work nature of him . He was a devoted family man. I think from the south. From richmond. And he worked like a tiger. Slept in on sunday mornings, but that was about it. He and i had a good personal relationship. You were there before john dohr was named. Im sure i was there before bert jenner. Maybe it was before dohr. I remember showing up for work, and if i was the first staffer, Hilary Rodham was the second staffer, and i remember john dohr calling us into his office, bill, hillary, we have a Research Project here. We have to find out what const