Robert J Hawke, loveable larrikin, union hard man and arguably the most popular PM in Australian history. But recently released US diplomatic cables reveal that the Silver Bodgie may not have been as left wing as we thought and the US saw him as more than a potential PM. Could it be that the Rhodes Scholar that held the world record the the yard glass was actually an intelligence source for the US? What was his relationship with the US embassy during his union days? And what really happened when Bob met Ol’ Blue Eyes? Our thanks to Cameron Conventry for his excellent article “The Eloquence of Robert J Hawke” for the inspiration of this episode.

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