“Why do you want to be president?” – the post

March 9 Die At the age of 93, Roger Maud, an American journalist, best known for an interview that aired on November 4, 1979 to Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy. In particular, a question from that interview helped make Kennedy lose popularity, who three days later would run for his party primaries before the 1980 presidential election: Kennedy eventually lost the primary for the incumbent president, Jimmy Carter. The question was, “Why do you want to be president?”

Kennedy, who appeared to be in trouble, replied after a few seconds of hesitation in a very unconvincing manner: “Well… if I should declare my candidacy… the reason I would apply is because I have so much confidence in this country. Today we are facing complex problems in this country, but at other times we have faced similar challenges … and I feel that I can say that it is necessary for this country to move forward, and that it does not stand idly by, otherwise it will retreat.

Kennedy appeared unprepared for Maude’s question and throughout the interview he continued to hesitate to answer the interviewer’s questions, including one On the Chapakoyedic Incident July 18, 1969. That night on Chappaquiddick Island, a branch of Martha’s Vineyard, the famous luxury resort in Massachusetts, Kennedy was driving home from a party with his assistant, Mary Jo Kopechne. The car crashed, crashed into the water, and capsized. Kennedy managed to get out, but Kopechne was trapped in the car and died. Kennedy reported the incident to police only ten hours later, and in the following months there was much discussion about what happened that night and the delay in reporting them.

The Maude interview had an immediate effect on Kennedy’s subsequent primary nomination, which from that day began to rage in the polls. Ultimately Carter won and Kennedy never tried to run for president again. But in November 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan defeated Carter in the presidential election.

Maude was for many years a correspondent for the US Congress and host of television networks CBS News H NBC News. The interview he is best known for was part of a special interview for CBS Titled “Teddy,” it is all centered around the character of Senator Ted Kennedy, brother of former President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.