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The original premise of our podcast "Bridging the Political Gap" when we began 9 seasons ago was to look at the leadership offered by a generation of Americans who fought World War 2 and built the American Century. They got things done and they could disagree without being disagreeable. They understood like no generation before and perhaps none of the members of the leadership we have today that Democrat plus Republican equals American, to quote Bob Hope from this episode. 

I can think of no other single event that shows this philosophy off any better than an event held on St. Patrick's Day , March 17, 1986, at the Washington Hilton to raise money for Boston College, the beloved hometown college of the retiring Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill. The event was to honor him as he was winding down a 50 year public service career.  Two of the speakers included a current President of the United States and a former President of the United States. 

Tip O'Neill could not have had a more different type of relationship than the the two relationships he had with Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford respectively.   Ronald Reagan had been a worthy adversary, a Republican, who was a polar opposite of Tip O'Neill. The two men were not friends but they realized they had to work together where they could if they were to accomplish anything for the American people. They learned to respect one another even if they were opposed to each others politics.  They understood the power of respecting one another and they accomplished great things.

Gerald Ford on the other hand was a great and close friend. The affection for one another is obvious as you watch this event unfold. You learn that if you take the time to get to know one another, you will like each other even if you don't agree on issues or politics. A lesson we could all learn from these two giant political figures. 

This is an episode that shows in one evening, so long ago , that the lesson of the power of relationships matters in whatever you do if you really want to solve problems and get something done. 

Questions or comments at , [email protected] , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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