Businessman and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen shows his more artistic side in Esquire magazine’s January issue with an interview and a self portrait.
The 65-year-old Democrat governor, who has built several successful businesses, penned a self portrait of a youthful-looking governor. He also was interviewed.
“You don’t think of yourself as a foreigner, as somehow impaired, because you’re from New York State,” he said about not being a native Tennessean — or even Southerner — when he began seeking office here. The governor also served as Nashville mayor.
The interviewer, Esquire Articles Editor Ryan D’Agostino, said the magazine’s editors this year expanded the January “Meaning of Life” issue to 50 interviews — one from each state.
NOTABLE QUOTES
* “It’s much harder to make something simple than complicated.”
* “I would never vote for somebody who had never changed their mind on anything, because I know I was not crafted perfectly at age 18.”
* “It’s a lot harder to be a single parent raising a couple of kids in rural Tennessee than it is to be a lawyer in downtown Manhattan.”
* “It seems to me that the kids who always have their head up, looking around for the next opportunity, usually don’t do as well as the ones who put their head down and become really good at doing the job at hand. Being on those various short lists for vice president was sort of the ultimate proof of that, because I’ve been doing all these things that are supposed to make me unpopular.”
* “I’m 65 years old, and I still get choked up when they say the Pledge of Allegiance at the Rotary Club.”
Source: Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen
“He was the first name that came up when we were talking about Tennessee,” Mr. D’Agostino said. “His name was tossed around over the summer as a possible running mate for Barack Obama, and we thought he was an excellent representative for the state.”
Several country music stars were chosen as representatives for other states, Mr. D’Agostino said.
As for the youngish self-portrait? Mr. D’Agostino chalked it up to artist’s license.
The governor’s spokeswoman, Lydia Lenker, said even the state’s first lady, Andrea Conte, remarked that he looked a little younger in the self portrait, “but he said he gave it his best effort.”
Ms. Lenker said the governor thought the interview request was “a huge honor.”
Tennesseans needn’t worry, however, that the governor will let the national attention go to his head.
Actor Clint Eastwood, 72, and the representative of California, made the cover.
Pam Sohn has been reporting or editing Chattanooga news for 25 years. A Walden’s Ridge native, she began her journalism career with a 10-year stint at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. She came to the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 1999 after working at the Chattanooga Times for 14 years. She has been a city editor, Sunday editor, wire editor, projects team leader and assistant lifestyle editor. As a reporter, she also has covered the police, ...
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