Former U.S. Senator Larry Pressler (R-SD) wants to save democracy.
Larry, who left the Senate in 1997 after an unsuccessful reelection bid, has been using his post-Congress career to teach students about the importance of civil service. His hope is to inspire a new generation of informed voters who might be able to help undo some of today’s poisonous partisanship.
I met Larry for dinner at the Peacock Cafe in Georgetown, Washington, DC, where he told me about his mission — including a book he’s written on the topic, and how to fix the political system.
But he also had plenty to say about his entire life, from his humble childhood in South Dakota to his time in Vietnam, and from his role as the only lawmaker to turn down a bribe in the Abscam scandal of the late 1970s and 1980s to his attempt at a Senate comeback in the 2014 elections.
Click on Larry’s picture above or this link to read about my dinner with him.