Chapter 1, Part 1

November 4th, 1975 was the date of the first political conversation I can recall having with my parents. I remember sitting in the back seat of the family’s wood paneled station wagon with my brother and sister waiting for my parents to come out of a local church near our home. As we drove off to dinner after their return, our parents explained that they had just voted for whom they wanted to be the next President of the United States. Being six years old and with a limited understanding of the conversation, I asked the simplest and what I thought was the most obvious question, “Who did you vote for?” My father proceeded to give me my first civics lesson. He explained that voting was a private matter and that you don’t have to tell others who you voted for. Looking back I’m sure this was my fathers attempt to not force his views on us, that we might grow up forming our own opinions about life and the world around us.

My next childhood memory of politics came four years later. My family and I had moved from the conservative Midwest to upstate New York. With the American Hostage situation in Iran and what the Republicans called the misery index (inflation plus unemployment) it seemed the chances for President Carter to win reelection were slim to none. During my third grade teacher’s presentation on the presidential elections, I nominated myself official pollster of our class. While the teacher spoke, I quietly wrote both candidates names next to each other on a piece of paper with the word “VOTE” written at the top. I placed a check mark under my candidate of choice and passed the paper around the class. Like the election its self, our third grade classroom straw poll had Ronald Regan beating President Carter by a margin of ten to one. I’m not sure why I voted the way I did that day. It may have been due to my conservative right wing up bringing. Or it may have just been I had some understanding from watching the news and listening to adults around me that what ever was going on in this country wasn’t good and it was time for a change. Regardless of how I voted, it would be the last time I would vote in a presidential election for a long time.