First is governor jeb bush. Forty there governor of the state of florida, first republican in the States History to be reelected. Under his government approach, he unleashed one of the most dynamic economies in the state history creating 1. 3 million new jobs and the States Credit rating. As the chair man headquartered in coral gables florida tonights guest of honor senator connie mack. Since 1982, senator mack launched a career to run for the house of representatives were serving three terms running for one of the seats in the u. S. Senate. Then served two times before choosing reelection. Upon returning to the private sector, became chairman followed by the chair as in tampa florida. With that i will handed over to governor bush to begin the conversation and keep in mind you can submit your questions later in the event. A. Thank you. Its a joy to have this conversati with a man i admire so much and ive read theook. It is a greatook. Thank you. The New York Times today had an article about independent bookstores that i think it is worth mentioning because i am a kindle guy but every time i read a book i buy ten books to be able to send to friend. I think its important to be able to really focus on the fact that as a nation, we need to be literate and supporting authors across the spectrum. Im a big fan of yours and supporter of this, so i have ten books. Ive got ten books im going to buy and i hope others do that as well and if you have the chance i would suggest you do it at an independent bookstore struggling during the pandemic. Enough of my political announcement. There are four independent bookstores participating and i think we ought to name who they are, the good town reader, books and books in coral gables, bookstore one in the sarasota and story in song. They are very special. Made town reader happens to be the bookstore of sally bradshaw. Ive gained greater appreciation for the struggles of the Small Business owner as well. So, it wasnt really mentioned a lot in the book but i think that its probably appropriate to talk about your childhood. Where did you grow up, you were born in philadelphia and at some point moved down to florida and became a true blue floridian. Describe a little bit about your childhood. I was born in philadelphia, 1940. My family moved to fort myers in 1950 and my grandfathers Baseball Team trained in fort myers back in the 20s and 30s and in fact one of the greatest team was that ever played the game trained here in 1929 philadelphia athletics. Dad in 1933, 1931, no, 33, was a coach, First Base Coach and they still hold of the record. He traveled with the team during those years. They loved fort myers so when he sold in fort myers and the university of florida. A. Where did you go to high school . Fort myers junior senior high. We went seventh and eighth grade went to school with ninth, tenth, 11th and 12th. It was a Major High School in the county back in those days. You are one of the few people that served in the senate that also has grandparents that are like and important in so many ways. I knew about connie mack the first and cornelius mcgillicuddy, but i didnt know about your other grandfather which is a story you didnt share that much. Its always that balance. If you are out there talking about your grandfather and not yourself its a question of who are you and what do you believe. So i kind of stayed away from that but i am extremely proud of my heritage from my mothers side. They are texans. My greatgrandfather, John Shepherd was a congressman in the 1800s and he died in 1904 i think. And my grandfather ran and won that seat and went to the house in 1904 where he remained until i believe 1912 when he was appointed to the senate and as we remarked before in those days senators were not directly elected, they were appointed by the state legislatures see he was in the senate from 1912 to 1941. He died as i forgot the term now, but he had seniority. He was the dea dean of the senae when he died. He was a young man at 61. He had an amazing and enormous career. Lyndon johnson tried to replace him and got beat. He came back in 48 and became the United States senator and was the dean of the senate in his time. One is sought since we are down this road since i was 7yearsold, mother and dad there were four children in the family at that time and they took us by train to washington, d. C. And i remember they gave us little note pads and pencils to take notes of the things we were seeing and had an opportunity to participate in. I remember seeing my stepgrandfather that i hadnt mentioned yet because my grandfather morris shepherd died, my grandmother a year later married the other senator from texas, tom carlin. He was in the senate until 1952, 52 or 54 and very interesting man but i saw him speak on the floor of the senate when i was 7yearsold and im sure that back in my mind that little dream was planted i wonder if i can do that someday. An interesting family background. Absolutely. Part of the chapter of the book i found most moving was the story about the relationship with your brother, michael, and you talked about his battle with cancer and it clearly had an impact on your life and it is a beautiful story of love, brotherly love. Both you and your other brother spend the night on the floor as he was suffering with this dreaded disease. Can you share some insight into that . It truly was one of those events that takes place in a persons life that changes who they are and what they end up doing with their life. I can remember one conversation remember the movie that came out called god and john denver played the role. Well he was dealing with incredible pain but through that pain we would sit there and discuss the meaning and purpose of life, what am i supposed to be doing with my life and what is life all about and he was speaking as if he were playing god through george burns and it was hilarious. Mike and dennis, two of my brothers. I have several others but we went to the university of florida together in the same fraternity. Dennis graduated number one in his class with honors. My goal aftemichael after havinl neck surgery didnt drop out of law school, continued and graduated number one in his class with honors. He was a brilliant young man, played guitar, played the piano, loved to sing. Just a bright, loving guy and somebody that i loved dearly. Losing him forced me to look at myself and say what are you going to do with your life now. Its the most meaningful experience ive had. This is an important point. We have tragedy hit us and we can either get into the fetal position and say life isnt fair or you can reflect on it and figure out something that can be purposeful. It sounds like in the book it was driven by the motivation to serve others and your post elected official life has been the exact same thing. We will get into politics. While i didnt end up in the fetal position, i ended up dealing with depression after life and death. Personally it didnt last too long and i was never, quote, treated for depression, but i know i was depressed and one of the people i counseled with was a reverend of a very small Church Called the church of the brethren. I said one day what i hear you saying to me is the failure to use the talents god has given you is the worst thing a person can commit and no sooner had i said that, i knew exactly what i had to do, that i was going to run for congress. I rode home that evening with tears coming down my face and here i said what would you say if i told you i was going to run for the congress and she said great, go for it. When i lost the race for governor in 94, it was traumatic because i put my heart and soul in the race. You never had that experience, so you dont know how it feels. Its better to win and lose. I tell people that run for office, client the bad candidates to run against because you will have a better chance. I felt like i left a lot of people down. I was going to convert to catholicism and go to mass every sunday but i wasnt catholic and going to the process after the election with regular people made a huge difference in my life. To this today its amazing if you have your eyes open and your ears open you really are open to thinking. But if you go in the fetal position you will never be able to do it and you are living proof of them youve proven that your motivation driven by the tragedy of your brothers loss made a huge difference for the state. So im thankful that you had that experience. You are the only person that i know that you lost a race and said im going to find out why did i you lose that race and what do i need to do to win the next time and you spent the next four years saying im going to learn as much as i can possibly learn and you did and it was a pleasure for me ive never been involved that actively in politics. In the book you talk about the incredible debate and love of naples. It reminds me what politics are today. That kind of stuff didnt happen as much now. But they exist all across the state and you were there and your opponent. Things just happen. This was 1982. Its a candidate speech it was during the runoff election. Working to show up one of the managers of the event came over and said we have just been informed your opponent wont be here because of some other reason and one of the folks that lost in the primary is here to speak on his behalf. I said sure, absolutely. He didnt even say hello to the audience, he just really ripped into me that i was a pothead, i was a crook. The bank was collapsing. Id been fired from my job. This was a raised platform so you get a pretty good view and im looking at this guy and i cant really believe it. I had one of those moments where i felt like an out of body experience. It felt like i was ten, 12, 15 feet above everybody looking down and seeing this taking place. It was a total assassination. The moderator looked at me and said its your turn to speak and im thinking to myself, and i got up there and said to folks i remember when i made my announcement that i was running for office i asked why arent there more qualified individuals involved in Politics Today, and i said what you just saw is the reason that they dont and that was it. The room erupted and it was a gut reaction and absolutely right on target. Now in this new cultural environment, the memoirs being written would probably go into the details about that person but you showed a tremendous class then and then you share the story in a really classic way as well. It seems to me if i had to pick the legacy, if i had to describe it, it is embedded in this book and its in your introduction which is that freedom is the core of all progress and as the congressman and senator, you acted on that. And the oppressive regimes in other places around the world. You were a constant advocate for freedom not only in the United States but around the world. How are we doing now do you think on the freedom agenda . Tough question. The country stands for and will always be committed to freedom and the notion of all progress we are going through a period of time we are adjusting to a new world order. We started talking about the new world order when your dad was president and the soviet union collapsed. So we are trying to find our way in the new world and focus has been on different aspects of freedom. Free markets, trade and so forth. Some of those things are not being approached in the same way even though with respect to trade we ended up with mexico and canada and i think fundamentally we went through this contentious period of time we ended up with the notion that is important. The free society has to be committed and we always will be. What i fear about Politics Today is more reactionary. Its an explosion of technology and disruption that brings to cultural changes. People are legitimately anxious about what i admired about your political career and the philosophy that i ascribe to as well is you have to be hopeful and optimistic and describe people on the other side of the hill. We are all in it together but at the end of the day things can get better and i love the philosophy of politics a lot more than we are seeing today. This isnt related to the president or his opponents. Its related to the political culture and isnt as hopeful and optimistic so you can see why people are more anxious. How do we get beyond that to the philosophy . There is a saying at alcoholics anonymous. This is one of those moments putting principle of above personality. Where im going with that, right now there is hatred on one side and every media outlet including all of us that go around with our phones to either take pictures and then send information, we are all focused on how much anger and how much hatred there is instead of saying lets talk about the issues that are important to the country. So, as individuals we have the responsibility to look through what we are seeing and hearing in the media today and look at the issues that are facing the country. Whether that is broad Economic Issues or local issues in our communities. Getting involved, by getting involved you are going to change things. A lot of us need to quit getting focused on anger, hate and fear and Start Talking about the issues that are important to us. You bring up a good point which is we are a bottom up country and our success has typically been where people act on their own sense of consciousness and belief that they can make a difference and they dont talk about it, they dont gripe about it. Maybe that is the path forward for the country is to go back to the roots of the founding which was not overly reliant on washington, d. C. As the United States senator with focus on a lot of things but Foreign Policy i would say is where you made your mark in so many ways. How do you think american Foreign PolicyGoing Forward needs to be, what is the role in the world compared to we grew up in the reagan era and restoring americas leadership in the world really mattered back then and it was hugely successful and weve had iterations of that and successive presidencies but its changed dramatically. Where do you see the role in the world not just as it relates to freedom but in terms of bringing security and aspirations for all of us . Where i would start sorry. I think that might be you. [laughter] i think where i would start is your brother, in my opinion, gave one of the greatest inaugural addresses in his second inaugural when he made the case that americas responsibility is to project freedom around the globe and so i think eventually as we work our way through the issues that are facing the country, weve got to get back to that notion. I think it is a great challenge of our Time Engagement with our allies seems to be important to contain chinas ambitions that they are aspiring to be dominant with the economic one economic powerhouse. We have to combat activities from the United Nations china or cuba or nicaragua we skip the human rights council. It is so outrageous. We are faced with a position to say maybe it is time for us to leave. There are times in my career i really thought that. But somehow we have to know to make United Nations more accountable to the nation that freedom is the core of human progress. Absolutely. I have a few more questions we share a common opponent and for whatever reason they always seem to take place. First of all you have the courage to run against two icons not one which most politicians move around and what they can do in the then he got out of the race very similar person for the people of florida and that race goes pretty close. 50. 4 percent of the votes. How many days or weeks did that go on postelection . How is that on your family and with that experience . I will tell you the eight days seem like a very long time. 1988. So there we are and its 1230 at night and we are getting all this information back and forth about the outcome of the account and then i was told these were internal conversations. You are up, you are down. And then soon to indicate my political consultant was going to brave the family on the victory and was literally telling them why i was going to win. We had tvs behind him and one by one they say tonight they declare buddy the winner in the election then abc and cnn so it was a pretty rocky night we went to bed thinking we were 25000 votes behind and we lost the race and we couldnt sleep. One of the great lines of bob dole, how did you sleep last night . I slept like a baby i woke up every two hours crying. [laughter] so we got the s p pallets counted them by the next mornin morning, probably by eight or 10 00 oclock, the conclusion from the absentee ballots was 30 or 35000 votes. In fact that turns out to be the case. Buddy challenge the notion. We didnt have hanging chads but poorly designed pallets apparently all voters were not able to have their votes counted with the president ial election and the senate election. It was a precursor to the two thousands and the difference that occurred. The major newspapers in the state basically said its time to call this over. The votes have been counted, counted, they are ahead by 35000 votes. It is time. He decided not to take the next step which was to go to court. Thats where it was a difference and gore decided to take it to court. Your dad won the president ial election in 1988 by 11 or 12 or 13 percent of the vote. And i never would have won the race if he didnt win florida in such a big way. Im about chairman of the campaign. [laughter] it was a big deal. I resigned as secretary of commerce working fulltime and i moved to california because the campaign was pretty much over. So fond memories for that campaign but just for everybody watching this thinking oh my god with 2020 race there is huge interest the election laws are the best in the country. So you dont have to hyperventilate it will go fine. The winner will be announced that night. So tell me about your post Public Service life it is remarkable. You have been involved on boards and on the fight against cancer and the efficacy for the Cancer Center has been extraordinary as chairman of the board. So talk to me what its like after you finish running for office, what is lifelike now . Its hard to believe that 20 years, it has been a wonderful experience. They came up the phrase people say what will you do x i put together a collection of activities. I did do a Little Government Relations lobbying the first year or two and that went by the wayside fairly quickly. Then engagement in the fight against cancer and medical research the other was service owned corporate boards. Of those corporate boards, two of them were biotech and genzyme was one of the leading ones in the world. The other was a startup everybody that runs for office is desperately trying to make sure it doesnt get shut down so the corporate boards were a great experience but lee moffitt who created the center he and i had a conversation about the possibility of my joining their organization to name me chairman of the board i said its a great idea. Lets do it and then the Cancer Center is a wonderful institution. One of my main objectives was to create a significant Melanoma Program because thats the disease that killed my brother michael now we have a premier Melanoma Program at the Cancer Center of which i am very proud. One more political question which is why the hell did you not accept the invite of the nominee with my brother . I tried my best to persuade you. I know. [laughter] i had a conversation with your brother not long ago because the book brought it to my mind. Maybe its the wrong message of george w. Bush. I said look. I admire you, i love you stood for and work for, but it wasnt time for me. The bottom line is in 1996, bob dole put me on the short list to be the Vice President ial candidate in 1996 to be the Vice President ial candidate in 1996 i need to know if you run you will say yes or no. So i went through that process was a heart wrenching experience to figure out and in the end i said i will do it but i was never so relieved in my life when he picked him as his running mate that thought of do i really want to do it that you really dont want to go to the next level and earlier this was 2000 and the not run for reelection i never regretted it but i dont know how many other people have been in a position. Probably none and think about it if you are on the ticket george would have won by more than 745 votes. [laughter] that wouldve saved a lot of agony for a lot of people wouldve been a great partner for sure. Its interesting to think about your decision process was your own but for two election cycles in a row you are considered some of that special to be a Vice President ial nominee it is a reflection on your service which is full of integrity and consistency and you are very popular senator in an important state. It was a great life no question about it. There was a chapter in the book about the Prayer Breakfast in the senate so described to me how important that was in your life and how it became integral in your service. We are both catholic so i grew up as catholic as altar boy with the spiritual religious perspectives were always a part of me but not a leading force in what i was engaged in. So i find myself in the senate and two of my good friends, senator coates and he invited me to come to the bible study in a summer schedule is so busy theres no way i can do it. So i blew it off. But dan just never quit. He just kept saying this is perfect for you you really ought to come. So i did. Start going to these Bible Studies in Prayer Breakfast. So one day as we were waiting for others to come in a strange little moment talking about the loving relationship between us and our god with the relationship with her own fathers here on earth and the next thing i know, i will skip ahead we are sitting around in this bible study and they said is there anyone in the room that word like to pray for them for a deeper relationship with jesus christ . I am i kidding you. I am i ball to eyeball and the thing going through my mind bright lights and New York Times square the message is it aint me but he. [laughter] as soon as i said that i said i want you to pray for me. And then we moved to the center of the room and each prayed for me and it was a moment in which i felt like my life really changed i gave up a sense of being in control with the notion turning my life over to god that led to other rules for me to play in the senate. That was a lifechanging moment for me in the United States senate. It was very special. For you to be a person with a lot of serenity not just to be calm cool and collected but altogether. And in touch with the important things of life. Good humor, humble, but that experience may be the reason. I dont know if there was a before or after connie moment but that you have a relationship with a higher being that is powerful. There is another aspect to and i appreciate you saying that, but one of the most important things for each of us is to understand who we are. People have ideas about who we are but its really important to try to understand what it is that makes you tick and why you do the things that you do. Who are you. And that makes a difference. But under this calm and cool individual theres a lot going on. Thats good to know. The book reads like a love story is a romantic love story. Spilled thank you for asking very special shes gone through some tough years the last five or six or seven with medical issues are back with severe pain. But she has worked through all of that. Dollars procedures that address the pain she actually had two cases of meningitis where comes from nobody knows. Now she seems to be strong. What a delightful woman she is. And especially is your soulmate. Thank you senator. So the first question may have please explain the significance of the title. It is citizen mac politics with an honorable calling. I was asked by a friend of mine politics and honorable calling is that inspection. [laughter] so it goes back to what jeff and i were talking about earlier all serving in the house and in the senate to talk in such a deeply respectful way and how honorable they were. And i just looked at politics to be an honorable calling. Notice i didnt say profession that means those of us that run for office have a responsibility to make sure it is an honorable calling and react accordingly. So the other part of it is the notion you dont spend your life in politics it was a life of 16 years in banking before i ran for office in 18 years in office and then another 18 years in the private sector. So the notion as a citizen you serve and there is a time to say thank you and to go home and do Something Else with your life. Those of the two thoughts that come to mind with respect to the title. Is an optical to take the high road in politics . Absolutely. Again i would say to the listeners that i happen to believe most of the people who are in Politics Today do it for the right reasons. But it seems like the focus is always on the negative side so they get the attention. So yes, absolutely there is a bit of advice i got very early on my First Campaign and that advice was dont take anything personal. Thats tough to do in politics but if you take that perspective it makes life a lot easier. What one message do you hope readers will take from your boo book . I hope they will take the notion that politics is an honorable calling and something they can do jeff and i are just two individuals that made the decision to run but almost any way in the world for people to become involved in politics. I would hope they would read the book may be learn something about it and understand they could do it to make the point dont take it personally you will be attacked and your parents will wonder is this the person that we raised . Let it go by. It will all work out. Dont read your twitter feed. So i forget what point in my career and probably 87 in my third term as a congressman i told my staff i want to read anything written about me whether it is good or bad know you have a responsibility to tell me whats been written in a make that point is because if you read something it hurts much more that if somebody told you they wrote it is easier to take so went to my entire Senate Career without reading the articles that were about me. Youre the only one. It works. Speaking of which what obstacles did you face and what advice did you give to face the same obstacles . To me the chance to serve with such a blessing and a privilege i woke up every day under my watch i considered is such a joy to serve there were no obstacles i felt there were burdens or problems of the biggest issues for me were when public life contaminated when they are subjected but i had a blast and it was the greatest joy of my life to serve as a years as governor and i have no regrets the mistakes i made for sure but there were no obstacles that i felt could be over come. There are obstacles obviously and then to convince others you are the person they are supporting and that requires with a commitment to a political life. I really think most people if you asked some of their running for office they really dont have a good answer people say its time to give back so for me is like the kremlin using a health issue i think one of the big obstacles that needs to be overcome and to fully understand the motivations and what they want to accomplish. And i was almost forced to do that and as such a meaningful thing and we have written it down to what it was about. Thats a big obstacle. What about my current political culture . We dont have enough time. The whole thing was social media other folks who have wash the documentary the social dilemma. Everybody in america ought to see that to understand how social media is manipulating us. We will never stop people from manipulating us but if we understand it is happening and try to learn how to deal with it that is one of the most significant things we can chang change. Making sure we focus on the things we have in common and reestablish those shared values what it means to be an american toward moving toward the consensus oriented situation right now politicians when by stoking fear on both sides and the great moments in the connie mack tenure when we found Common Ground to solve problems connie you were there when Social Security was reformed literally tip oneill and Ronald Reagan found consensus in the solvency in the Social Security system now it will be insolvent again we need that leadership again for a whole series of things for us to remain the greatest country in the face of the eart earth. I dont want to be nostalgic about the old days there so many phenomenal things going on but the political system doesnt work if we dont focus on bridging gaps rather than making gaps bigger. In 1983 i find myself in congress and the issue being debated at the time i was on the floor listening to this debate i listen to my democratic colleagues on the other side of the aisle said they cant possibly believe what they are saying is so outrageous nobody could believe in that. As i got to know my friends on the other side they said the same thing about me. My point is we need to understand and the responsibility is to understand what those concerns are and the motivation and the openness and the discussion. That was an important perspective. I will go beyond that. Exactly. So to say its evil or the enemy there is a different mindset to say maybe they are wrong and i have to persuade them of my view. If someone has a different view now they are evil and the me. But we have to get beyond that somehow. There will be a catalyst. The country is too dynamic. We have the ability were too resilient for years and years to come. We will figure it out. Can republic Government Party with less taxes . [laughter] interesting word recover from. The notion, that was my tagline was taxing and less spending Less Government and more freedom. Thats as valid today as it was then and some will we focus on those issues but yes the notion of Less Government and more freedom is a great opportunity for this country. Think everyone for your questions and thank you to senator mac and governor bush for the conversation. Love you. Love you too buddy. Take care. Hello Everyone Welcome to the virtual Commonwealth Club i will be your moderator today im so excited to do this. As we continue to host Virtual Events we are grateful for your continued