Description: You can do a lot just by making a difference for the people you come in contact with.

Question: Do you have a personal philosophy?

Transcript: Well I think it’s probably what we learned in kindergarten, what I learned in Sunday school. We should all try and live a good life, try and make a difference for other people. Be kind to other people. You know I can remember my father and I debating during the ‘60s when he and I disagreed politically about what was going on in this country, and his saying to me, you know, “I’ve tried to be good and helpful to the people who I come in contact with in my day-to-day job. I haven’t tried to solve the world’s problems, but I have tried to make a difference for those people who I came in contact with.” And I think that’s a great philosophy.

Question: Do you have a political philosophy?

Transcript: Well I believe in democracy. I believe in this country of ours and believe that democracy works. I think one of the lessons is that it doesn’t always work the way we want it to; that our elected leaders don’t always do exactly what we want, and the country doesn’t always move in the direction that we want. But the great thing about the democracy that we’re in is that when enough people get concerned enough about an issue, the country does respond, and the political leaders do respond.

Question: Who are some leaders that really “get it”?

Transcript: Oh I think there are a lot of those people. Nicholas Kristof was just the class A speaker at the Kennedy School. And one of the things that . . . Looking at his work on the genocide in Darfur, and the way he’s been able to keep that issue in the forefront I think has been amazing. I think looking at some of the people . . . Michael J. Fox, whose work on trying to get people to consider stem cell research, is somebody who I very much admire who I think has made a huge difference. There are . . . Jim Comer whose work on education is really . . . would fundamentally change the way we educate people in this country. I think there are all kinds of people to look to for inspiration.

Question: Do religion and faith inform your worldview?

Transcript: I think it’s important to have a faith that guides you. It affects my values. It affects what I think is important to do with my life. How I hope to make a difference long term is guided by the Judeo-Christian ethic, the belief that we should abide by the Ten Commandments, that we should try and make a difference in the world.

Question: What do you make of the surge of religious fundamentalism?

Transcript: You know I think that’s unfortunate. I don’t think – whether you believe in God or whether you believe in Allah – that a supreme being would approve of the kinds of fanaticism that we’ve seen, whether it’s been Christian fanaticism, or Muslim fanaticism, or Jewish fanaticism. I think it’s all part of the same thing, that it’s not good for humanity.

Question: What is your highest virtue?

Transcript: I think honesty and integrity certainly are at the top of that list, because if you can’t be honest about what you’re doing, and I can’t believe that when you tell me something that you’re actually gonna do it, it’s hard for me to believe that you will then be able to do good things or that I can trust in what you’re doing.

Question: What is the measure of a good life?

Transcript: Oh I think it is to be able to do something productive; to be able to have people who love me who I love; to have a supportive family; to be able to watch my children grow up and grandchildren; and to feel like I have made a difference in all of that.

Recorded on: 6/13/07