Podcast appearances and mentions of joe califano

*** This episode was divided into two episodes, the second will post tomorrow morningIn our second episode of RICHARD NIXON and WATERGATE: 1973 Enemies at the Gate , rather than dive right into our storyline we decided to take an in-depth two-part look at those enemies at the gate, or at least the important ally the Democratic Party could count on in their campaign to undermine President Nixon, THE PRESS, or more specifically The Washington Post.  In this episode, we will look closely at the cozy relationship between Katherine Graham and former President Lyndon Johnson, Sally Quin and Ben Bradlee and the relationship they had to the Kennedy family. The ties between Kennedy and Johnson aid Joe Califano and his client The Washington Post, and on and on. It will definitely leave you with a sickening feeling about the motivations the paper had to go after the man in the White House who had just won a 49 state landslide and gotten our troops and POW's home from a long protracted war in Southeast Asia. But , just in case you think we here at "Bridging the Political Gap" are to swayed by our obvious editorially positive opinion of President Nixon, we will be taking a trip back in time to one of the most sickening displays of liberal journalistic arrogance ever recorded and saved for posterity, (and saved by the very rag-sheet whose journalistic integrity is being called into question, The Washington Post, no less.)  They actually hosted a 40th anniversary celebratory event with Elizabeth Drew, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Ken Hughes, and Ruth Marcus and when they are done you will be filled with absolute disgust. It is all here for you to listen too, the mocking of the President, the totally inaccurate claims, the the obvious disdain, and from Ruth Marcus one of the most outrageously laughable claims ever made about comparing the tapes of Richard Nixon to the apparently saintly Lyndon B. Johnson.  It will make you sick.BUT we do invite you to our second part of this analysis of the press,  when we look at more of the journalists of the Watergate era, some awful, but not all. The press is after all not a monolithic entity and there are good folks in the media and in the next episode we will introduce you to some of them as well, in part two of "The Press is the Enemy" 

Very few Americans have had the impact on public policy as has Joseph Califano. Though his parents only graduated high school, he went to Harvard Law  and by age 30 was working at high levels of the John F. Kennedy Administration - and shortly after was the top domestic White House aide to Lyndon Johnson. In this conversation, he talks his meteoric rise through the Kennedy / Johnson years, seeing first-hand as the LBJ “Johnson Treatment” built the Great Society, the toll that Vietnam took on President Johnson, & his work as HEW Cabinet Secretary under President Carter to start a national anti-smoking campaign that's had immeasurable benefits to public health in the US. This is a great conversation with a true American Dream success story and political dynamo.IN THIS EPISODE…Growing up as an Italian-American kid in the era of Franklin Roosevelt…How a working class Brooklyn kid makes it to Harvard Law…Why he left a lucrative private law firm to enter the Kennedy Administration…He talks working in the early days of the Kennedy Administration with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara…Memories from meetings with President Kennedy…Early impressions working up and close and personal with President Johnson…Why LBJ sequenced the 1964 Civil Rights Act ahead of other Great Society programs…Secretary Califano goes in depth describing “The Johnson Treatment”…Memories from the White House on the night Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated…The “race against expectations” that informed much of LBJ's time in office…Secretary Califano talks the difficulty in passing Fair Housing legislation…The role that Lady Bird Johnson played in helping making President Johnson more effective…The connection between Secretary Califano's son and safety caps on medicine bottles…Reflecting on a political misfire as President Johnson missed an opportunity to appoint a new Supreme Court Chief Justice…The toll that the Vietnam War took on President Johnson…President Johnson's courageous early foray for gun safety laws…The last conversation he had with President Johnson after he left office…His time in the Carter Cabinet as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare…Why Democrats couldn't secure universal healthcare during the Democratic trifecta of the late 1970s…How he came to spearhead a national anti-smoking campaign…AND the AMA, Carolyn Agger, Brooklyn Prep, McGeorge Bundy, George Christian, Sterling Cottrell, Thomas Dewey, Everett Dirksen, Dwight Eisenhower, Abe Fortas, Gerald Ford, William Fulbright, the Harvard Law Review, the Hirshhorn Museum, Holy Cross, IBM, the JAG Corps, Lady Bird Johnson, Robert Kennedy, leak central, Russell Long, Mike Mansfield, Harry Middleton, Bill Moyers, John McGillicuddy, Harry McPherson, Richard Nixon, Dick Ottinger, PS 182, Claiborne Pell, Jake Pickle, a revolving son of a bitch, the Subversive Activity Control Board, Al Smith, sugar in gas tanks, Jack Valenti, Cyrus Vance, Earl Warren, Watts riots…& more!

In our 50th, and final episode of our third season, we watch the winding down of the Lyndon Johnson Administration. It is truly an end to an era, as few men have ever dominated the public stage as Lyndon Johnson did our country for over two decades, even before he wound up in the White House. Joe Califano, an aid to President Johnson, is correct when he says the United States today is more a reflection of the hopes and dreams of President Lyndon Johnson than of any other President. If not for the catastrophe of Vietnam he would arguably be considered one of our great Presidents, if for nothing else but his work to guarantee equal rights for all Americans.In this episode we watch him wind down his career and re-evaluate his impact on our country. We will listen as he addresses the nation and both houses of Congress in a rare, end of an administration "State of the Union " Address given just a week before he left office. Then we listen as the reigns of power are transferred from him to Richard Nixon.  Then after an assessment from historian Michael Beschloss and some final thoughts from our host , Randal Wallace, we give the final word to the person closest to President Lyndon Johnson throughout his many years of public service, his wife, Lady Bird Johnson. Mrs. Johnson sat down in 1995 for an interview with ABC News Correspondent Barbara Walters for the program 20/20,  where she discusses everything from wildflowers, to changes in the social programs that were then under fire, to the place in history she felt her husband would occupy. It is one of my favorite interviews with any historic figure, and it will endear Lady Bird Johnson to an audience like few public figures in our history. 

During the investigation of Former President Donald Trump over whether he had been colluding with the Russian Government in attempts to sway the 2016 Presidential election, television host Rachel Maddow and her host network MSNBC decided they would be cute and put on a television special designed to use the example of Richard Nixon committing treason to somehow allude to President Trump as guilty of the same. It was a true gift to the memory of President Richard Nixon. It had so many clear and glaring errors, assumptions of facts, and in the case of Joe Califano out right misrepresentations (I could use a stronger word but won't) , that we decided that it made the obvious contrast with our research of the facts.  So enjoy as we take the network special  through a thorough examination of what I will term as historical fiction vs Historical fact.Then we will also look at one aspect of the Chennault Affair that seems to be often over looked. That much of the basis for this accusation comes from former President Lyndon Johnson's tape recordings. Much of what we know we learned because Johnson had illegally taped Anna Chennault, the South Vietnamese Ambassador and the President of South Vietnam's phone lines in Saigon. That based on that material Lyndon Johnson commented on what he believed was a vast conspiracy to undermine him, his administration's efforts for long hoped for peace in Vietnam, and to secure the Presidency for his successor and his party.  However, there is one big problem with believing any of it. Lyndon Johnson had a long history of delusions, paranoid fantasies, and chronic manic depressive behavior, so much so that his own staff commented on it for years after the administration ended, and we will get to hear some of them talk openly about it, and their concerns about the mental stability of an otherwise great man. 

Dan Barreiro opens the show on a lighter note: celebrating the anniversary of the Onterrio Smith "Whizzinator" incident. Longtime friend of the show Joe Califano joins to talk about working with Walter Mondale. Pat Kessler makes his weekly appearance sharing his adventure of a day and sharing some stories about Mondale as well.

Dan Barreiro opens the show on a lighter note: celebrating the anniversary of the Onterrio Smith "Whizzinator" incident. Longtime friend of the show Joe Califano joins to talk about working with Walter Mondale. Pat Kessler makes his weekly appearance sharing his adventure of a day and sharing some stories about Mondale as well.

Dan Barreiro is joined by Joe Califano to discuss the 50 year anniversary of RFK's death, Jack Morris talks Twins and MLB, and Lou Nanne makes his regular appearance!

Dan Barreiro is joined by Joe Califano to discuss the 50 year anniversary of RFK's death, Jack Morris talks Twins and MLB, and Lou Nanne makes his regular appearance!

The great Joe Califano joins Dan Barreiro to discuss Robert Kennedy's assassination 50 years later. Amazing recall from one of our all-time favorite Bumper to Bumper guests. Part Two on June 5th.

The great Joe Califano joins Dan Barreiro to discuss Robert Kennedy's assassination 50 years later. Amazing recall from one of our all-time favorite Bumper to Bumper guests. Part Two on June 5th.

Dan Barreiro is joined by Joe Califano to discuss the 50 year anniversary of RFK's death. Jonny Athletic makes his weekly appearance. Gopher 3rd baseman Micah Coffey joins to talk about his club making history on their way to the Super Regional next weekend.

Dan Barreiro is joined by Joe Califano to discuss the 50 year anniversary of RFK's death. Jonny Athletic makes his weekly appearance. Gopher 3rd baseman Micah Coffey joins to talk about his club making history on their way to the Super Regional next weekend.

Lyndon Johnson's towering political skills and his ambitious slate of liberal legislation are the stuff of legend: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start and environmental reform. But what happened after the bills passed? One man could not and did not go it alone. Bill Moyers, Jack Valenti, Joe Califano, Harry McPherson and the other staff members who comprised LBJ's inner circle were men as pragmatic and ambitious as Johnson, equally skilled in the art of accumulating power or throwing a sharp elbow.

Dan Barreiro chats with one of our favorites, Joe Califano, about his new book and what's going on in Washington. Ryan Saunders joins to talk about Thursday night's ceremony honoring his dad, Flip. Pat Kessler makes his weekly appearance, and it devolved into him discussing his favorite Stormy Daniels films.

Dan Barreiro chats with one of our favorites, Joe Califano, about his new book and what's going on in Washington. Ryan Saunders joins to talk about Thursday night's ceremony honoring his dad, Flip. Pat Kessler makes his weekly appearance, and it devolved into him discussing his favorite Stormy Daniels films.

The CIA has just released 2,500 top secret presidential briefings from the 1960s. The President's Daily Brief – or PDB – is the US intelligence agencies' best assessment of global threats, delivered directly to the president every morning. The CIA's director, John Brennan, has described the PDB as “among the most sensitive and classified documents in all of our government”. The decision to release some PDBs, even documents relating to events many decades ago, was not taken lightly. And, the briefings highlight an almost impossible dilemma – one still faced today by every Director of National Intelligence - what should, and should not, be said? The president cannot absorb everything - there has to be a choice. We explore the relationship between the intelligence, the advisers and the president. What does the president need to know? (Photo: President Lyndon B. Johnson (seated, foreground) working with (background L-R): Marvin Watson, J. Edgar Hoover, Sec. Robert McNamara, Gen. Harold Johnson, Joe Califano, Sec. of the Army Stanley Resor. Credit: LBJ Library)

Daniel McCool points out contributing factors to the drought problem, we discuss parenting with authors Vicki Hoefle and Joe Califano.

Joe Califano remembers the Great Society … sociologist Chad Broughton remembers NAFTA … and Bill Press interviews municipal employees’ union president Lee Saunders.   With Selma, Oklahoma and Ferguson in the news, former LBJ aide Joe Califano says that 50 years after the Voting Rights Act, the rollback of civil rights is an outrage. Labor sociologist Chad Broughton examines the tragedy of a major American manufacturer moving to Mexico and blames it on NAFTA. And Bill Press talks with union leader Lee Saunders about Governor Scott Walker’s assault on working people.   Joe Califano Joe Califano was Lyndon Johnson’s top domestic adviser. He talks with us today about the monumental legislative achievements of the Great Society -- and about the outrage of Republicans rolling back civil rights gains.   Chad Broughton Labor sociologist Chad Broughton has done a case study on how NAFTA helped shift bargaining power away from unions to corporations. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/boom-bust-exodus-9780199765614?cc=us&lang=en&   Lee Saunders Bill Press and his guest. Lee Saunders, president of the the American Federations of State, County and Municipal Employees.   Jim Hightower The isolated splendor of the superrich.

Califano on the movie “Selma,” author Darman on how LBJ and Reagan were alike, and Bill Press interviews Hillary biographer Jonathan Allen.   With the Oscars coming up, former Lyndon Johnson aide Joe Califano unloads on “Best Picture” nominee “Selma” for being “totally false.” Author Jonathan Darman has written a book comparing LBJ with Ronald Reagan, an odd couple who were the last two “outsized” presidents. And Bill Press talks with Jonathan Allen, co-author of a book about Hiliary Clinton.   Joe Califano Joe Califano was Lyndon Johnson’s top domestic adviser. Today he blasts the movie “Selma” for a totally false portrayal of his former boss.   Jonathan Darman What did Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan have in common? Author Jonathan Darman says they were the last consequential presidents because they had a vision of real change. http://www.jonathandarman.com/   Jonathan Allen Bill Press and his guest, Jonathan Allen, co-author of a book about Hillary Clinton.   Jim Hightower The KBParty of plutocratic rule.