Jim Lehrer remembers authentic underdog Ross Perot

Jim Lehrer:

You know, I thought — I thought about that today, and that very question.

I thought, what was it, because I remember now — and I hope I'm not basing this on what I hoped my feelings were then. I thought — I thought, that makes sense for this guy. In other words, my feelings about him were all positive.

We were friends, not personal friends, professional friends. And I felt I admired him, because I liked what he had done. He had supported the military during the Vietnam War, not — he wasn't in favor of the war, necessarily. He didn't have a political position on it.

But he supported the people who fought in the war. And he spent a lot of his money taking care of POW families and all that sort of stuff. But when he announced for president, I thought, oh, yes, yes, yes, Ross Perot running for president.

And then, of course, he — we did a lot of interviews with him on the "NewsHour." And I saw him a lot during all that stuff. And he just confirmed — maybe a little bit proud to have known him, and, hey, hey, yes, yes, yes. And I kept telling people, pay attention to this guy. He's not going to come — he's not going to just come and go.

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