BOB DOLE : 1995 Clinton's Comeback

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In our previous episode, we ended with a funny story about Congressman John Jenrette trying to get his cousin, Dick Jenrette, an appointed position with the Carter Administration in a high enough spot to get a private government jet airplane. His cousin instead of asking to be Secretary of the Treasury or of Commerce, as John Jenrette had hoped, asked to be put in charge of historical preservation. John Jenrette laughed and said, "I could have kicked him!!"

No Airplane!!

It was obvious from the reaction of historian Ben Burroughs that Dick Jenrette had gone on to do some great things in which he was familiar. However, I was not, and I am betting neither are most of the listeners of this podcast.  So I did a little investigating on my own into who was Dick Jenrette? 

What I found was a very interesting side story, about a man from Raleigh N.C. , who went to New York, got into the investment banking business, grew his firm into the fifth largest in the world , named Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, and then formed the Classic American Homes Preservation Trust. He gifted several homes to the trust and they in turn have opened them to the public for all of the citizens of the world to enjoy.  One of those homes is in Charleston S.C. , only about two hours from where we record our podcasts. 

So we thought we would introduce you to Dick Jenrette, and to the American Classic Homes Preservation Trust, so that you can hear of the wonderful work they do and can perhaps one day go see the homes for yourself. 

https://classicalamericanhomes.org/ 

(We want to thank the American Classic Homes Preservation Trust who created all the videos, save one CNBC Newscast report, we used in this episode. )

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This episode introduces the other main character in our documentary series, President Jimmy Carter. He rose out of a field of political insiders all of whom were better known to capture the White House in 1976.  Carter was perfectly situated as the consummate outsider from the state of Georgia to pull off such an improbable upset. He would face a list of Democratic leaders all of whom were higher profile, Jerry Brown, George Wallace, Mo Udall, Henry Jackson and Frank Church. However, the real opportunity for Carter was created by who was not on the ballot, former Vice President Hubert Humphrey. 

In a field of such well known figures, it was amazing the vision that Congressman John Jenrette had to step up and out front for Jimmy Carter. Jenrette was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse and campaign on behalf of Jimmy Carter for President. It was a political risk and favor that Jimmy Carter never forgot. In this episode you will hear that story and the common upbringing in the rural South that bonded the two men together. For both of them had stood up against the tide of their two deep South states and been strong supporters of protecting the civil rights of their African American constituents and those stands had launched them both on to the national stage. 

For most of the next four years Jimmy Carter and John Jenrette turned the political World on its head. It would be a successful run for both men with accomplishments both the World and our region of South Carolina continue to benefit from all of these many years later. Over the next few episodes we will listen in on what could only be described as a remarkable political run. 

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It was an historic class of freshman members to Congress in 1974. It was made up of 17 Republicans and 74 Democrats and many would go on to become household names. They turned the inner workings of the House Chamber upside down, removing longtime chairmen, and opening up the rules for more transparency and more access, in ways that are still with us today. In the midst of all of this Speaker Carl Albert, with his Majority Leader Tip O'Neill , made a decision that one of these freshman needed to be in leadership and he picked the one he thought had the most potential, and the brightest future, John W. Jenrette Jr of the 6th District of South Carolina. 

In this episode we look back at this class through the eyes of John Jenrette as he recalls the moves that changed an institution. We remember some of the all stars of this class like Paul Tsongas, Paul Simon, Max Baucus, George Miller, Jeff Jeffords, Jim Florio, Henry Hyde,  Tom Harkin, Henry Waxman, Larry Pressler, Butler Derrick, and the one member still serving in Congress today, now Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.  They left a mark on their times, so much so, they were all the subject of an extraordinary book "The Class of '74" by John Lawrence.

We use excerpts from the author's excellent interviews available on You Tube ,where he discusses the 1974 class and its impact.  

https://youtu.be/E2MfhV8Ax0w 

John Lawrence , was a former Chief of Staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and worked for a while under Congressman George Miller, a member of the 1974 class. The book on the class received rave reviews like this one:

"If you want to know how we got to this bitterly partisan time in politics, read this book. Through hundreds of fascinating interviews plus rigorous research, Lawrence shows us how unintended consequences of congressional 'reforms' started the country along this poisonous path. "

-- Cokie Roberts

We highly recommend the book and include a link to the Amazon page here https://www.amazon.com/Class-74-Congress-Watergate-Partisanship/dp/142142469X

It was a historic moment in the history of the Congress and our Congressman John Jenrette was in the center of the action, a place he always seemed to be....

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We had a couple of announcements and a couple of websites to direct you in this brief housekeeping episode.

1. Thanks to the interest in our show  " How to cook a pot of Chicken Bog", we have discovered that  the legendary "Southern Sportsman"  Franc White still has a website up that is run by his two daughters. YOU CAN STILL GET HIS COOKBOOKS. So I went out and bought two more.  So we thought we would send you over to their site if you had an interest. You will never regret it. 

FrancWhite.Com   The home of the Southern Sportsman

2. We have done some organizing to our own site and want to invite you over to RandalWallace.com where you can find links to the books we used to guide us through the materials for our podcast and our book. Plus we have a lot of other interesting links, articles, and videos to go through and all of the podcasts are up where you can connect to them if you would like.

3. We wanted to invite you over to our new podcast, "The Richard Nixon Experience" where we are rebroadcasting our highly acclaimed podcast documentary on the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon. 

Again, thank you for tuning in and we hope you are enjoying our show, if you are, let us know by leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts.  We would also love to hear from you if you have a great John Jenrette story to share, we are planning on compiling them in the next few weeks and months.  You can find our email at RandalWallace.com 

So as the great Southern Sportsman would say "Don't Litter and do yourself a favor and take a kid fishing" 

Thanks Again,

Randal Wallace
Host of "Randal Wallace Presents" and "The Richard Nixon Experience" 

Questions or comments at  , [email protected] ,  https://twitter.com/randal_wallace   , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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In this special edition we take a break from the history of politics to enjoy the history of entertainment from the golden age of television. Here we look back at two of the giants of television, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The couple who invented the way America watches comedy, from the the three camera filming, to the saving of the show on film, to be preserved for generations, to always being thoughtful for the folks who are off camera or, even the folks working in the bar.

Which brings us to the heart of our story. The night Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball walked in the bar at Yellowstone National Park's hotel and ordered a Pousse-Cafe from the brand new bartender, one John W. Jenrette Jr. It may have been a complicated, difficult, and somewhat medicine flavored drink, that would not exactly be my first choice, but it sure made a great story, and we will let John Jenrette tell it to you before we travel to downtown Myrtle Beach to one of the best known restaurants and bars on the Grand Strand, to see if we can recreate the drink for you on our podcast.

You could call this  "Randal Wallace Presents : A Pousse - Cafe "

As we get the proprietor of the Black Thai Restaurant, Hamilton Vereen, and Coherie Ventures owner, and "Love Boat" Isaac like bartender Keith Jacobs, to work their magic on a recreation of the magical night in 1955 when the biggest star in Hollywood slammed this drink down after our future Congressman struggled for nearly a half hour to make it for him, and another one for Lucy!!

Pousse-café (French, literally "coffee-pusher") may refer to: a digestif, an alcoholic beverage consumed after the coffee course, such as cognac in an espresso cup. a layered drink composed of several layers of differently colored liqueurs.

When you make a pousse café, you layer the drink by adding the heaviest liquid first, building to the lightest at the top. Generally speaking, grenadine or crème de anything are likely to be the heaviest ingredients you'd add to a pousse café, so it's good to start there.

3 tsp grenadine

3 tsp maraschino liqueur

3 tsp crème de menthe

3 tsp crème de violette

3 tsp Yellow Chartreuse

3 tsp brandy

1. Pour the ingredients carefully into a glass in the order listed to keep the colored layers separate. You'll need a steady hand and a strong stomach. Good luck.

(The Black Thai is located in Downtown Myrtle Beach S.C. on 7th Avenue North just as you enter town off U.S. Highway 501.  Please come visit the Restaurant this summer and if you enjoy the meal, and the drinks, please let your local and state officials know you would like for them to let this local dining treasure stay in its current location and let them straighten the road behind the building) 

Questions or comments at  , [email protected] ,  https://twitter.com/randal_wallace   , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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In this episode , we look back at the high drama of winning a historic primary and unseating a political giant, only to lose in the general election. Then coming back two years later to finally win a seat in the United States House of Representatives. It was a rollercoaster of a ride with enormously consequential side stories that had far reaching importance. 

For the 1972 race for the 6th District Congressional Seat would open the door for the City of Washington D.C. to finally have some semblance of self governing. For years, John McMillan who chaired the committee that governed the District had prevented any form of self rule , save the schoolboard, from getting out of his committee.  African Americans had decided that the only way to achieve this goal was to unseat McMillan, and they would organize to try it twice, in 1970 when they lost and again in 1972. This time they had a strong candidate and they knew it. John Jenrette was young, talented, and had been a friend to the African American Community for years. 

We will listen as John Jenrette tells the story of how he got in the race, and why he decided to stay in the race even when he had only a 3% name identification in the district. He would get help from Muhammad Ali, the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. He would get help from his cousin the State Senator, James Stevens, and the race would be razor thin but John Jenrette would win. 

Then he would face State Representative Ed Young, a Republican, who would get help from John McMillan and many other disgruntled Democrats. He would also have another ace up his sleave, one of the greatest leaders in American History, Richard Nixon. It would prove to be a mountain to high for John Jenrette to climb and Ed Young would get elected to Congress. 

But two years later all of that would change.  

NOTE: This show features my proudest researching find, the meeting between President Richard Nixon, 6th District Republican nominee Ed Young , and Nixon aid Harry Dent from South Carolina, from the Nixon taping system.  

Questions or comments at  , [email protected] ,  https://twitter.com/randal_wallace   , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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In this episode , we look back at John Jenrette's fateful decision to run for the South Carolina State House. He was living in North Myrtle Beach and struggling as a Lawyer. In that day lawyers could not advertise and John Jenrette was trying to figure out a way to get his name out to the public. He was, he said, tired of getting paid in collard greens. 

It was a decision that would change his life forever. He won. That lifted him to position of Chairman of the Horry County State House delegation. He was 28 years old and the system of that day was entirely different than what we have in the state today. There were no County Councils and the state senators ran the county. In that respect, John Jenrette was sitting in a really good position, he was young, energetic, and the cousin of the sitting State Senator in Horry County, James Stevens. It was a relationship that would pay dividends. 

In this episode, we will hear about how under Jenrette's leadership, along with Senator James Stevens, they went to work to build roads, bridges, and develop a fledgling school, then known as Coastal Carolina Community College. It was quite the ride for a young man in a hurry.  It was this extraordinary run in the State Legislature that would be the foundation for his later runs for Congress against an entrenched , powerful incumbent. 

Then we learn about the distant family tie between John Jenrette, a man of  French Huguenot descent, and the leader of  another nation on the North American Continent , Pierre Trudeau , the Prime Minister of Canada.  Jenrette enjoys talking about his family and their long history in America and the Carolinas. 

We will also be introduced to one of John Jenrette's closest friends and a legendary political ally whose career was as large as any in modern South Carolina history, Senator Dick Elliott of North Myrtle Beach, S.C.  We will look back at their friendship, its importance in the rise of John Jenrette, and Dick Elliot's own outsized career both in politics,  in business, and its  impact on our State of South Carolina and through out the Pee Dee region.

 Dick Elliott was as responsible for the rise of the Grand Strand in the Golf business, the tourism business, the improved road system, and the growth in Real Estate as anyone in the state, for he was a leader in every one of those industries as well as politics for nearly a half century.  

In this episode we look back as John Jenrette lays the groundwork for one of the great upsets in the history of South Carolina politics against Representative John McMillan, who had served 16 terms in Congress. 

That will be the next story we will tell. 

Questions or comments at  , [email protected] ,  https://twitter.com/randal_wallace   , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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In this episode, John Jenrette will take off from his hometown of  Loris S.C  for his  days at Wofford College in Spartanburg,  and his summers in Ocean Drive, now North Myrtle Beach S.C. It would be an adventure to say the least, he would meet  friends Jerry Richardson ( future owner of the Carolina Panthers) and Don Fowler (future Chairman of the Democratic National Committee) , and learn the famous Carolina Shag on the beach while lifeguarding and chasing pretty girls in the pre Hurricane Hazel Grand Strand.

Then when college was done he would take off across the country to see the world and end up at the bar of the Yellowstone National Park Hotel.  It would be there he would serve some of the most famous people in America including one odd couple who were also arguably the most famous and beloved couple in the world.  "I Love Lucy" was at the time the biggest show on television, and Lucille Ball and Dezi Arnaz are widely credited with creating the format of the comedy sitcom still used today to make America laugh.  John Jenrette was their bartender in the bar at Yellowstone before he was our congressman in the 6th District of South Carolina. 

In this episode we will introduce you to the specialty drink of Dezi Arnaz too:

Pousse-café (French, literally "coffee-pusher") may refer to: a digestif, an alcoholic beverage consumed after the coffee course, such as cognac in an espresso cup. a layered drink composed of several layers of differently colored liqueurs.

When you make a pousse café, you layer the drink by adding the heaviest liquid first, building to the lightest at the top. Generally speaking, grenadine or crème de anything are likely to be the heaviest ingredients you'd add to a pousse café, so it's good to start there.

3 tsp grenadine

3 tsp maraschino liqueur

3 tsp crème de menthe

3 tsp crème de violette

3 tsp Yellow Chartreuse

3 tsp brandy

1. Pour the ingredients carefully into a glass in the order listed to keep the colored layers separate. You'll need a steady hand and a strong stomach. Good luck.

This is a fun show, it has it all, the beach, a dance, chasing girls, and life lessons with the rich and famous. 

Questions or comments at  , [email protected] ,  https://twitter.com/randal_wallace   , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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John Jenrette started life in the tiny hamlet of Loris S.C. He was the youngest son of a carpenter turned farmer, so poor it was noted he first saw indoor restrooms at the age of seven. His sister was 23 years older. It would have been hard to imagine the heights he would rise to in his life during these years in Loris.

This episode will take you back to a different era in the rural south. When the world was segregated and people literally had to make plans around when the Ku Klux Klan might be marching in the middle of their rural town.  It was a different world. We will listen as John Jenrette takes you back to a time when church meetings were a constant, trips to the beach on sunday were for catching fish, and how he learned to drive from some older men who wanted a chauffeur to get to Georgetown for extra curricular activities in a place known as The Sunset Lodge. 

It was there that this future Congressman would get a chance to meet the largest figure of the 20th century as he tagged along with the Sunset Lodge's owner as she catered an event at the Hobcaw Barony main house.  At 8 years old, John Jenrette sat outside on a swing with the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,  while they waited for the food to get ready.  The first of many of the important people he would meet in a life no novelist would have dared to create. 

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This episode is a housekeeping episode to address several circumstances that we felt needed to be addressed as we moved forward with our documentary presentation.  Former Congressman John Jenrette passed away just as we were completing this series of shows. It was such sad news because anyone who knew former Congressman John Jenrette could not help but like him.  It left us with a few dilemmas, mainly that at various times we talked about the congressman in the present tense. I felt like addressing the passing here was the best way to address that issue and then allowing the documentary to speak for itself. 

We also wanted to say thank you to Ben Burroughs of Coastal Carolina University who allowed us the use of his three hours of oral history interviews with Former Congressman John Jenrette. This may be hard to believe given John Jenrette's rather large place in the collective memory of our area but there was actually not that much material readily available about his time in office nor the scandal that ended his career. It had all occurred prior to the widespread use of VCR's and long before the internet. A lesson I learned in this season was that if you were not a President nor served during the modern age of technology, there would actually be very little available to tell your story.  This was also true of former Congressmen John McMillan and Ed Young. 

This season of documentary episodes would literally not have been possible without the use of the materials from Ben Burroughs and Coastal Carolina University, so we wanted to say a special thank you to them for the use of the oral histories. We also want to thank some other sources for their materials too, all of which were vitally important to the show, John Bonsignor and Paul Gable for the interview on Talking Politics, Greg Everett and his three interviews from Carolina People, Dianne Devaughn Stokes and her Inside Out interview with HTC, and the campaign video interview from the Dick Elliot retrospective.  It was also very important to be able to use the book "Capitol Steps and Missteps" written by John Clark and Cookie VanSice, two long time Jenrette staff members,  as a guide for much of the Documentary presentations as well. 

I am personally very proud of this our 10th season. It is the most personal of all the materials we have done because we knew and were friends with former Congressman John Jenrette, and the show focuses so much attention on Horry County, South Carolina. It is a place of many colorful, and interesting people and features. This is my home, and I am proud of it, and have enjoyed this opportunity to introduce it to you on our podcast. 

I hope you enjoy the shows. 

Questions or comments at  , [email protected] ,  https://twitter.com/randal_wallace   , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcasts
Thanks for listening!!