Debates Don’t Always Reveal Character

Or the winner. Does the name Stockdale ring a bell? That name only reminds me of the Hollywood movie and Broadway play “No Time For Sergeants” about a North Carolina rube drafted into the military, starring Andy Griffith. If you are a baby boomer, do you remember the Stockdale that ran for Vice President? I couldn’t name him until I was reminded of the painful Vice Presidential 1992 debate between Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and retired Admiral James B. Stockdale?

[Note: As you’re watching the short video, pay attention to the introductions of Al Gore and Dan Quayle. Change is not new to politics. Dan Quayle was right in all his predictions of a Clinton presidency.]

Oh, it’s coming back now. Admiral Stockdale opened up his first debate with a weak “Who am I? Why am I here?” I couldn’t believe how out of place this honorable man was among the two career politicians. The audience’s response was applause and laughing at the Admiral’s cartoonish introduction, and of course, Admiral Stockdale lost the debate and the election.

Here’s the rest of the story as told by Admiral Stockdale’s son who puts the debate and the true hero on that stage into proper perspective.

You will never think of him again in the same way. What a courageous man Admiral Stockdale was and how proud we should be of our veterans.

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