You can watch for free on the Library Facebook page, purchase a copy of the book for 10 and pick it up at your local branch after the release date or in the toledo region, a signed book plate delivered to your door through the secure, on the website and you see them following people joining us. Someone you remember as maria from sesame street. We host the author of the bestseller, on october 20 second inspirational american poet into the rights activist giovanni. And doctor michael, all these events include options for the enhanced experience, delivered to your home, toledolibrary. Org. None of it would be possible without the Financial Support of the Library Legacy foundation, allowed the library to host great programs for the conversation and countless programs that are so vital to our community. We are grateful for presenting media sponsors, our program is recorded where youtube channel, Facebook Live and send your questions any time you are in the discussion. I am so pleased to introduce our moderator for the evening who served as the first senator elected in 201319, 6 years in the senate, she worked across the aisle, senators work together, produced surveys north Dakota Attorney general and the states commission. In the country project, and welcome, heidi heitkamp. This will be a fun night and a fun conversation. If you are from the parts of the country, we will say grab your favorite friday night beverage. We know what they are, book club. An opportunity, enjoy a good discussion, whatever the issues of the day, but also to recognize the importance of the written word but i am so grateful to him for joining this discussion. Now let me mention our featured author, taking over a family farm from an early age, it made him a hardworking productive member of congress which involves getting down in the dirt with democrats and republicans alike. A grandfather and us senator, intolerance and injustice and Climate Change. Tests or shares, on and off the farm and what they can teach the Democratic Party about connecting rural voters across the country. Please join me in welcoming john tester. Thank you very much. We will get into it in a second and thank you for being here. This should be a lot of fun and i listened to your explanation of what the library is doing. You cant better get a combination than that. It doesnt get better than that. I want to thank the Toledo Library and all the sponsors and the folks who have to and in tonight. Hopefully we will have fun and learn a little bit and peaks of interest and thank you for viewing. Step aside, looking forward to the conversation. I want to start out, when john tester, actually making headway near montana, we all smile in north dakota because he was our kind of guy. So john came to the United States senate before i did, i was doing a lot of campaigning, someone came and offered the most amazing complement, you know who you are . Who am i . John tester in a skirt. We had a chuckle about that. When you struggle as a democrat trending more republican. It is difficult to see how you cut through that, john was able to do it 3 times. I was intrigued by the stories, i am so curious where the title of the book comes from. You experience that sense of where that comes from. I want to ask how it is you came above that title and what it does that title mean to you . It is interesting because i got half the book written by the time we came up with the title. It was a joint collaboration between aaron murphy, my former chief of staff that helped write this book, did a marvelous job and myself and i will tell you, we came about it for a couple reasons, we just finished our 40 third harvest three weeks ago and there is that angle but the influences in my life, whether it was my parents and my mother in particular and my grandmother politically or i went to a fairly small school, very small by polito standards, had about 160 kids, when i graduated in 1974, fewer than that and we can talk about reasons for that, people in that school, it was a very small school. A few kids moved in, that is part of it near grounding. When people read the book, i hope what somebody bounces off the walls, somebody who reacts to those down the pipe, tries to play the long game and look at things from a longer perspective because that is critically important to this country. I will tell you donald trump has folks up in arms and rightfully so but we need to think what the country needs to be Going Forward after this president has long been retired. I want to start with each of these aspects of your life. I knew right away, this is going to be more nuanced, i am a farmer and i respect the place that i live, i want to talk about the place, was a regular baron and in our part of the world, in any way progressive, what we are seeing in america the exploitation and working people, the soil brings us back and i have to tell you more than once in the book, your mother could smell the soil. So connected with that because i know that feeling, what is coming up from the soil, how you ended up being an organic farmer and so connected to your part of the world. My greatgrandfather, west fargo, we dont know why they moved out here in 1910 and they moved out, part of it was influenced, trying to sell folks a bill of goods for a better life, we guess that maybe my grandmother didnt get along with my motherinlaw very well, they were very strong old people but to move from the best farmland in the world in the regular valley, if you look at it today narrowing those regions, doesnt make a lot of sense but they did jump on the train and moved out here and grandpa said after some really good with years, things looked really good but this is the spot. If you look at this area, very much grassy plains. My grandfather came out to figure out in the red river valley. Somebody who is long gone, i would love to ask my grandfather why it stopped here and it is amazing. In the homestead act, these disasters happen, they were tough people. Talk about the difficulties, my folks living out here and we come up with things like bad trade deals that hurt our prices, nothing compared to what they were. That grounding they went through and comparing it to what it is today is Pretty Amazing. I am talking too much and i will let you go but my grandmother and grandfather planted all sorts of crops, they planted peas and all sorts of crops and the area shifted and we made this area move back now but one of the reasons we moved to organics, we didnt get along with chemicals very well, the prices are very very dictated, way too much consolidation, and gave competition to the marketplace. Did i ask you a question . You did. Maybe theres lots of people in ohio who have not ever experienced rain on the great plains, and the beauty of what the landscape looks like. I have been to your farm and i know why they stopped. It is a beautiful stop with mountains all around and farmlands in between and a real opportunity to be whoever you are going to be to take every opportunity, those are your people who forged you, build you, gave you courage Going Forward. I tell you what my wife says after a nice rain. We had when here, got 12 inches on average. Soil was built and can sustain good crops by my measure. When we walked outside the next morning, after labor day, my wife said this is what heaven smells like. It is the most marvelous smell that you will ever come across. It is sweet, it is refreshing and just marvelous, theres nothing else like it. That brings me into a discussion about your mom and grandma. I was struck reading the book about how you have been surrounded your entire life by strong women, your grandma actually got a College Degree and so did your mom. It just kind of shows i always think of my grandmother. I always think of her in 1973 at the age of 88. She was always with it and always looking towards the future. They knew the value of a degree. This is just amazing to me. It doesnt make any sense to me at all. She understood that number one they supported it. She not only supported it with her actions but with her pocketbook. They if they wouldnt have a chance in this world. My grandparents were not wealthy by any sense of the imagination. Its different than today. In that day and age you could still do that. Public education is the foundation of democracy. The fact that we had people. I dont understand what the endgame is. It drives me crazy. I was not brought up that way. There is to things in your life. Growing up the way we did. Her parents were from germany and my grandfather was from norway. He was dependent on people appreciating education. You look at it now. Its frightening. I had been looking at the inability of con . To make sure that the school is safe with the kid. They continue to educate kids. It is nothing short of dire. I rare i i wear a ring. Every day of her life. My aunt gave it to meet when her grandma died. Carry on the tradition. I love the stories of your mom and your grandma and the fact that you come from strong women. Maybe thats why i kind of like you quite a bit. You understand and appreciate all of the values not just those. Women had have a big influence. It is is reflected in the priorities in washington. I watched her cope with things throughout life. And she could prioritize and get things done. She was just an amazing human being. And as it i. In one of our kids. And quite frankly we have them throughout the family. It bothers me when they say teachers dont work hard. It has almost as much impact as our kids. It wants to talk a little bit about the high school experience. I know her well. Her name is charlotte. How beautiful she was. Is that genuine and that real. What an amazing story. Without charlotte there is no and john koester. I just might you to talk a little bit about your family and how your wife grounds you and grabs you and how that relationship is. Its part of who you are. We got married pretty young. We had been married for 43 years. And quite frankly it is all of the above. The reason is she is someone that quite frankly when i start saying things. They get life back and focus really fast for me. She has the ability to do it and only takes about five or ten seconds. That also keeps me very grounded by the way. If you start thinking youre better than other people thats not a good thought. They put things back in the perspective really fast. Its incredibly helpful for me. It makes me a better farmer, meat cutter in certainly makes me a better senator. It is because she is there keeping life in perspective for me. In the age of people being cynical. How fortunate i am in a relationship. Whose goals are there. But yet. It is in a street its interesting. I think its critically important in business. I havent have a chance to meet the two daughters. I know sean. I know the love that hes experienced. When you grow up in a family where you know at the core there is a respect. In a pride and a love. You guys had done such an amazing job. To take your talents nationally. I want to talk a little bit about your two teachers you talk about them quite a bit and thats a fun story at the end. The two teachers our somebody that only identified as coach. And i noticed the teacher that was positive. I want to talk about how that is that ying and yang of motivation. Most of these motivated you to be the person you are today. I will preface this by saying today even the teacher that i wasnt fond of in high school. I see them probably once a year. And were on a very friendly basis. The truth is when i was in high school. They wanted you to run track. So football didnt really work. I am missing three figures. I think maybe they thought i cut it play basketball. Maybe they were right. There was a little bit of onstar treatment. But i lived through it. And there was some things that they taught me. That turned out to be true. I hated it because i knew what the name actually meant. It motivated me to not only prove him wrong but to go to college and get a degree. And get the chance to be successful. After i wash out in athletics. I have to take up speech. He was an amazing man. Even if i did things that werent as good as they couldve been. I would literally run through walls. An amazing master teacher. It affected a lot of kids. I dont think anybody will tell a different story. What you think about this. What would you do if you were in the shoes. And he was just a good guy. One of them i didnt like too much. When you feel like you have something to prove you can really do some Pretty Amazing things. When i graduated from law school. I called up my dad and graduated from law school and he said he was always sitting the bar a little bit higher. And not be satisfied where were at. I can tell you. They had have the most amount of influence in their life as educators. For good or bad. I will take just a question. My 15yearold son would like to get involved in politics what advice would you give him today. And what advice should this gentleman or woman pass on to their 15yearold son. To their 15yearold son. Different people take different routes to public service. I think the best thing they can do 15 years old is look around your school and say how can i make this place better. And then get some kids together. Make sure that they are okay with it. Work to make the place that are. Walk up and down the streets. Maybe its just as simple as cleaning the sidewalks off. Or removing the leaves. Butts start by making your community a better place. Theyre actually in front of your house. And try to bring people along to join you. People Pay Attention to that. People Pay Attention to kids that are in high school. Can you help us out here. You remember this kind of stuff. Thats what i would do. I did a different route. I just spent the first 20 years on the farm doing local public service. I never thought i would do that. When i did decide to run for the state legislature which was on my radar screen. It made it a lot easier. Because people knew i would work and accomplish things. Look at your community. Find out where you can make a difference. There are other questions coming in. I do want to talk about some shared experiences that we have. And obviously the big difference you took some tough rolls. The authenticity. Sometimes in politics you just get lucky with the right opponents and you get people who take it for granted. One of the things i was struck by an in the book as you were talking about each one of your individual campaigns. In each one of those experiences you have never been afraid to share the stage with anyone. Can you explain that to me they seem afraid to debate you. I really cant. I can tell you that i ran across some folks that when they ran against me they were trying to make themselves into Something Different than they were. I think its really hard to debate unless you are who you are. That might have been the problem. You cant bounce all over the place if youre jumping off one side its really hard to debate. You dont stand for anything. I think that was part of it in some of the cases. The other part quite frankly as youre exactly right. If the election were there. I would be a free term incumbent. That election would have been a week later. I really doubt i would have one. Things were starting to turn in the wrong direction for me. About five days before the election and we could see it. I got elected. When one hell of a campaign. I have some great people around me. Sometimes that doesnt matter. In the best person doesnt win. You try to do the best you can do but when it comes to debating i dont think people should ever shy away from debating im not sure it changes a lot of peoples minds but i think it does a lot for your own selfesteem to be able to get on the stage and go toe to toe with your opponent on issues of importance. I think it really helps you when you go out into other venues because now you know the stuff better than the person you just debated. That kind of positivity that you put off can make a difference. Its all driven by the debate. We have a question about polarization. And now neighbors cant even talk to neighbors. There are some things happening in maine with mailboxes. We see it right here in north dakota. It used to be a friendly kind of job back and forth conversation. Has turned into anger and fear so how do we get back to having those conversations and town of 90 people that i grew up in. You know who the democrats were. They figured out how to give money to fund the fire trucks. People dont feel like that is the political system and what its doing right now. How do we get back to that value set. We grew up watching with politics. Its a great question. It is the key to the democracy functions and being able to work across party lines. I will be frank with you. And you know this. Im a moderate. Heidi was a moderate when she was in the senate. If there are two people were willing to roll up their sleeves. Rather than look at himself. He always think that someone elses fault. If there people back working together. You have to. Trump is an incredible divider. Ive never seen anything like it in my life. I will tell you this. I was not a big fan of the iraq war. He have me over to the white house a number of times. I found out george bush wasnt a bad guy at all. He have some people around him that werent very good in my decision my opinion. I did not had that opinion when i walked out of the white house. My thought is the sky is this guy is very selfcentered and he is not looking out for what my constituents are. Whats in his best interest. They have to be willing to bring people together. And the reason why that is important is because when you are down the street you have to be able to find something that you head in common and what this president has done over and over again. No no no i challenge him. There is a couple others. But not very many by the way. I want to talk a little bit about Rural America because your book talks about how you were able to wind in a very rural state. I think trump one by 14 points. I was 36 for north dakota. I cant compete with you. Not at that level. I think Rural America was looking for Something Different than they have gotten in the last eight years of the obama administration. We dont acknowledge that time. We are really folly ourselves. Thats all true. But yet they were looking for Something Different. And there are good people in Rural America theyre not people that are biased or racist. We have to with to win some of them back. What lessons had you learned in the last 18 campaign. But coming into this next cycle what lesso