John Chafee

The state deserves and needs representation in Washington with the Republican Party.

Rhode Island has always functioned best when we had either one Democrat senator and one Republican senator, whether it was Senator John Chafee, even Link Chafee, and also in Congress.

Yeah, you did have Congressman St. Germain, but you had Republican Claudine Schneider.

So this notion, I don't think it's that complicated.

That story requires one more trip back to the 1990s and the Clinton healthcare battle.

John Chafee, Republican senator from Rhode Island.

This time, to meet Senator John Chafee.

What do you make of the delay, Senator Chafee?

Uh, the delay doesn't bother me at all, Roger.

And senators being competitive people, if one senator brought in eight poster boards, you could bet the next week there would be 10.

So it just, it just kind of snowballed.

And the elder, John Chafee, could watch proudly from the back of the room as some of the most powerful people on the planet dutifully came in with their homework complete.

What is it about your republicanism, which, by the way, has been, your life affiliation has been republican, correct? Yes.

Yeah, I first got involved when I was 15 years old when Governor John Chafee recruited me to get involved, and I've been in it ever since.

As a 15-year-old, you were involved in the campaign?

Yeah.

The story I'll tell you, when I was 15, I really admired John Chafee.

I didn't follow politics that much.

So I'd read in the Providence Journal when it was a real newspaper, they printed that he was going to be appearing at his Cranston headquarters the next day, and I live right on the Cranston line.

Yeah.

And I think the Republican Party of John Chafee and others have left a lot of Republicans behind.

Listen, I supported Chafee.

Uh, and, um, you know, I have voted for Republicans in, uh, uh, in the past.

But I showed up late.

I set my alarm wrong for the Naval Academy interview with Senator John Chafee's staff, you know-

Fascinating

... legendary World War II-

Bob Stafford from Vermont was an old line Republican who was chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee in the Senate.

The chair of the subcommittee was John Chafee of Rhode Island.

And our biggest enemies were John Dingell, a Democrat from Dearborn, Michigan, Ford Motor Company headquarters, married to a Ford Motor executive, a General Motors executive, rather, who is now sitting in his seat, Debbie Dingell.

And Bennett Johnston was another, an oil proponent as senator from Louisiana.