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Senator Lamar Alexander, 615 Champion Way, Murfreesboro, TN (2026)

10/26/2026

My summer with JFK’s Justice Department also infused me with a dose of political reality, which I describe in Chapter 6 of my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP.

As my third year in law school began, I concluded that I would have a happier and more useful life back in Tennessee. Attorney General Kennedy had encouraged us summer interns to consider public service, and suggested that a good place to start would be with our local US attorney. I drove to Chattanooga to apply for a job.

“What is your political party?” asked the US attorney, a Kennedy appointee.

“Why, I’m a Republican. In Maryville, almost everybody is a Republican,” I responded.

“Sorry. We only hire Democrats,” he said.

“But I was told that in the Justice Department, political affiliation doesn’t matter,” I said.

“Who told you that?” the US attorney asked.

“The attorney general,” I said.

“Well, that word hasn’t made it to Chattanooga,” the US attorney answered.

After that, I landed a job with a Knoxville law firm starting in June 1965, when I was to graduate. Meanwhile, NYU Law Associate Dean Robert McKay suggested a detour. John Minor Wisdom, an admired federal judge, was looking for a law clerk. I drove to New Haven, where the judge was speaking at the Yale Law Journal banquet. Afterward, we visited.

“I have already hired a young man from Harvard, but I can pay you three hundred dollars a month in a messenger’s position. I’ll treat you like 58a second clerk,” the judge said. The opportunity to live in New Orleans and learn from such a distinguished jurist was too tempting to turn down. In the second week of September 1965, as hurricane season arrived, I flew to New Orleans to begin my job as messenger for Judge Wisdom, hoping that he would remember to treat me like his law clerk.

In THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is out now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: https://www.simonandschuster.com/.../Lamar.../9798895656488.

10/23/2026

Most people are surprised to learn that the lowest scores on high school students' Advanced Placement tests are not in math and science, but in U.S. history and Civics. Some students think Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court.

In Chapter 30 of my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I write about how I worked with President Reagan, Assistant Education Secretary Checker Finn, and President George H. W. Bush to have The Nation’s Report Card begin announcing academic achievement results at the state level for the first time, creating voluntary de facto national standards. In the 1990s, Governor Phil Bredesen pointed out that Tennessee students were learning far below these national standards. Tennesseans went to work, and over the last dozen years 4th and 8th grade math and English scores have jumped from 42nd to 16th nationally.

Governor Bredesen and I wrote this TIME article to encourage states to apply the same effort to civics. Our children need to understand U.S. history and civics in order to understand what it means to be an American.

You can use this link to order: https://time.com/article/2026/10/23/governors-have-an-opportunity-to-give-civics-education-a-badly-needed-boost/

In THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is out now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: https://www.simonandschuster.com/.../Lamar.../9798895656488.

10/16/2026

When I discussed my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, at the Bush Library (George and Barbara Bush Foundation) in September, I talked about a decision that President George H.W. Bush made after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 that demonstrated the president’s skill and understanding of foreign affairs.

Bush recognized that in a country of one billion people, China, the brightest young people were standing in line competing to study at American universities. So, the president condemned China’s action by doing something that hurt them as much as anything could: he created an exodus to the United States of 30,000 of those bright Chinese students who were at our universities.

By giving those students green cards, he deprived China of a generation of skilled leaders and brought those future leaders instead to the United States. Today most of those 30,000 Chinese students and their sons and daughters are American citizens contributing to our future rather than to China’s future.

In THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is out now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: https://www.simonandschuster.com/.../Lamar.../9798895656488.

10/15/2026

I'm looking forward to my conversation with Bill Frist, M.D on Monday, October 19th, at the Tucker Theatre on the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) campus for a discussion of our time in public service as well as my memoir.

The event is free and open to the public. It will also be livestreamed. You can use this link to learn more: https://www.addevent.com/event/0zdbddcl05fp?lt_utm_source=lt_admin_share_link

10/14/2026

In my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I write about how, when I was in Cub Scouts, we hit a softball through a neighbor's window.

Most of us ran, but Bill Earnest walked to the neighbor's front door and confessed that we had done it. The neighbor praised Bill for being honest and invited him inside for a piece of apple pie. Telling the truth does not always produce such tasty rewards. In fact, it is often hard to tell the truth about doing something wrong.

But there is so little truth-telling in public life these days that admitting a mistake is not only the right thing to do; it can be a useful tactic. Your political adversary may be so confounded by your honesty that he will be left without anything damaging to say about your mistake. And it is worth remembering that after Watergate, Jimmy Carter won the presidency promising, “I will never lie to you.”

In THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is out now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: https://www.simonandschuster.com/.../Lamar.../9798895656488.

10/12/2026

“I often think about how George H.W. Bush would handle the current war with Iran if he were President today,” I told an audience at the Bush Library (George and Barbara Bush Foundation) in College Station, Texas, when I discussed my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP.

Bush was comfortable with national security and foreign affairs, and, arguably, no president was better at it. His demeanor and skill in handling the disintegration of the Soviet Union and reunification of Germany, and his decisiveness, combined with restraint in the Gulf War, set a high standard. He had spent most of his adult life in Washington or overseas serving as a congressman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, ambassador to the United Nations, chief of the US Liaison Office in China, director of the CIA, and vice president of the United States.

It may well be that sooner or later some US president would be justified in using force to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon and terrorizing its Middle Eastern neighborhood. But, based on Bush’s conduct of the Gulf War in 1990- 1991, if he were in charge of the Iran War today, he would have announced a clear objective, planned ahead, secured support from the UN and the US Senate, persuaded allies to join him and to pay for most of the cost of the war. Instead of threatening Iran with several deadlines, he would give them one deadline and then follow through with worldwide support.

In THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is out now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: https://www.simonandschuster.com/.../Lamar.../9798895656488.

10/09/2026

In Chapter 39 of my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I tell the story of why, after losing by one vote to Sen. Trent Lott in an election to be Senate Republican whip, I told my Republican colleagues, “I will be writing 27 thank-you notes for 24 votes.” I had not learned well enough Howard Baker’s lesson to “Count carefully and often. Fifty-one votes today may be 49 tomorrow, so keep on counting.” Going into the vote on Wednesday, November 15, 2006, I had 27 votes, enough to win—or so I thought.

When the secretary opened the ballots, Lott won 25-24. Some minds had changed, and Lott’s experience in vote counting during his 33 years in Congress (compared to my four) gave him the win. A year later, Lott surprised everyone by announcing that he was retiring early from the Senate. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona won Lott’s whip position, and I ran for Kyl’s now-vacant position as chairman of the Republican conference. Having learned to count, this time I won 31-16.

In THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is out now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: https://www.simonandschuster.com/.../Lamar.../9798895656488.

09/23/2026

Bryce Harlow told me what advice he had given Nixon in 1972 “that would have hurt a few people but saved the presidency.”

In Chapter 14 of my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I write about a 1985 letter to me from Harlow describing how President Eisenhower had handled a difficult incident.

"Dear Lamar:
..we’re talking of 31 years ago—1954. The Dixon-Yates matter was in full flower—a festering scandal involving, among others, the Director of the Budget. … the integrity of his whole Administration was coming into question.

We staff functionaries...laboriously contrived an apologia—a mealy-mouthed, evasive, convoluted, turgid bureaucratic squid squirt—intended to blot out all possibility of further suspicion.

…With a flourish, Jim Hagerty handed Ike our handiwork. We all sat silently as he intently read every word.

Suddenly, he threw the statement over Hagerty’s head and out into the middle of the Oval Office. Plainly, he was M-A-D, and he showed his famed temper. His blue eyes flashing, his 5-Star look on, his face brick red, he had at us with his best guttural ultimation: 'You listen here, boys,” he said, “I’ll never put out any drivel like that as long as I’m around this place. You’ve got to understand that the right thing to do in cases like this is always to tell the truth. Put out the facts very fast, don’t get cute about it, just say exactly what the facts are, and make it as simple as you can and as short as you can. That way the whole damn mess will blow over and be gone in a week or 10 days, and the public will back you for being honest about it. Do it this way like you boys have it here—and we’ll all be up to our necks in trouble and will deserve it.' ...As soon as we got the facts out, the whole thing died away.

That, incidentally, was what I urged that Nixon and Stans do with Watergate in 1972”

This is an excerpt from my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, where I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is available now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: simonandschuster.com/books/The-Education-of-a-Senator/Lamar-Alexander/9798895656488

09/22/2026

At age fifty-five, Ronald Reagan had come late enough to public life to have thought about what he wanted to do and say. He knew why he wanted to be president—to face down an evil empire abroad (the Soviet Union) and an arrogant empire at home (Washington, DC).

In chapter 25 of my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I write about how Reagan stuck to his guns, and he supported Cabinet members who also did. His education secretary, Bill Bennett, told me that he had once walked into a Cabinet meeting expecting to be in trouble for media criticism of his conservative views.

“Well, what’s wrong with the rest of you fellas?” Reagan asked as Bennett took his seat.

With his humor, he even made the press like him, even though most disagreed with him. At a Gridiron Dinner, Reagan strode in smiling, waited until the applause died down, and then said to the journalists, “Thank you very much. I know how hard it is to clap with your fingers crossed.”

Reagan seemed to understand the need for mature, broad-gauged advisers. He created his own “team of rivals” by selecting as vice president his principal primary opponent, George H.W. Bush, and then hiring Bush’s campaign manager, Jim Baker, to be White House chief of staff. Eventually, he hired another primary opponent, Howard Baker, as chief of staff.

Reagan surrounded himself with advisers who had broad experience. They had lived and grown and fought and won and lost in a variety of life’s arenas. They had learned to face challenges, unravel complexities, and survive. Such individuals were less likely to become lost in the Washington, DC, maze than someone without such experiences. Reagan was not afraid to hire strong people who had actually done something.

These men did for the president what Bryce Harlow said Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff, Sherman Adams, did. “He kept the trash away from the president so he could concentrate on the crucial matters, and made sure it was all properly coordinated and staffed out before it reached the president.”

“JFK did not have a chief of staff,” Harlow said. “He ran the place like a country store. Lyndon Johnson was his own chief of staff, his own everything else.”

Jimmy Carter came to Washington, DC, basically never having been there before, and brought with him a team of aides who also rarely had been there before. By the end of his term, Carter was turning to more experienced hands, but it was too late to salvage his presidency.

Reagan’s experienced “team of rivals” helped save his presidency. In 1987, when Reagan fell into trouble over the Iran–Contra scandal, he telephoned Howard Baker, who was in Miami on a family vacation. Joy Baker answered the president’s call.

“Where’s Howard?” Reagan asked.

“At the zoo with the grandchildren,” Joy Baker answered.

“Wait ’til he hears about the zoo I have for him,” Reagan said.

Reagan made Baker his chief of staff and told him to get to the bottom of the scandal. Giving Baker that assignment was not without risk. Fourteen years earlier, Baker had helped bring down another Republican president: Richard Nixon.

“We are here to save the president, if he deserves to be saved,” Baker told A.B. Culvahouse Jr., the new White House counsel.

This is an excerpt from my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, where I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is available now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: simonandschuster.com/books/The-Education-of-a-Senator/Lamar-Alexander/9798895656488

09/21/2026

I often think about what might be happening with the Iran War today if George H.W. Bush were President instead of Donald Trump. In Chapter 29 of my new memoir, THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I write about how, based upon his success with the Gulf War in 1991, Bush might have handled things differently.

I give Trump credit for taking action against Iran’s building nuclear weapons and terrorizing the Middle East. Sooner or later, some American President was going to have to use force to stop that behavior. But the Gulf War cost the US $ 6-8 Billion because Bush persuaded US allies to pay for most of it. Trump has asked for $200 billion more in emergency funding for the Iran War and, other than Israel, didn’t consult allies before launching the Iran war. Bush built national support for the Gulf War by getting Senate approval to use force; Trump did not. After months of consultation and preparation, the ground war to force Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait began at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 23, 1991, at 8 p.m. Five days later, President Bush announced that Kuwait was liberated. The Iran War has lasted for six months with an unclear objective and no end in sight.

George Bush was most comfortable with national security and foreign affairs, and, arguably, no president was better at it. His demeanor and skill in handling the disintegration of the Soviet Union and reunification of Germany, and his decisiveness, combined with restraint in the Gulf War, set a high standard. He had spent most of his adult life in Washington or overseas serving as a congressman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, ambassador to the United Nations, chief of the US Liaison Office in China, director of the CIA, and vice president of the United States.

In THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP, I paint portraits of the presidents I worked with, tell stories about what I saw behind the scenes, and recount the lessons I learned about American politics and our country’s future.

THE EDUCATION OF A SENATOR: FROM JFK TO TRUMP is available now from Post Hill Press.

You can use this link to order: simonandschuster.com/books/The-Education-of-a-Senator/Lamar-Alexander/9798895656488

Senator Lamar Alexander

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