(upbeat music) - [Announcer] This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you, thank you.

(upbeat music) - I am Mike Galligan with the Law Offices of Galligan and Newman and in the Middle Tennessee.

I support WCTE, the upper Cumberland's on PBS station because I believe it is important to create entertaining TV programs that also promote lifelong learning and understanding.

When I support WCTE, I know that I am helping our upper Cumberland community for generations to come.

- [Male Announcer] The Law Offices of Galligan and Newman provide clients with large firm expertise and small firm personalized care and service.

- None of us are perfect people but if you have a dream, whether you be a plumber or electrician or a teacher, or a lawyer, or a doctor or whatever, try.

(bright upbeat music) - Bob, this is such a treat for me, I'm so excited.

You're a former US Congressman, you've been a president of a university.

You have had this incredible career here in Nashville.

Well, you're a Nashville native, grew up in the governor's residence, really, as your father, Frank G. Clement was a three term governor, one of the youngest governors in the state and I'm excited to talk with you.

I know you're also an author, a realtor.

I don't know what else you could possibly do.

You've done it all, right?

- Becky I've had seven career changes so I've had a hard time holding a job.

So any way you can help, I appreciate it and I had the opportunity to serve statewide too as you know, as chairman of the Tennessee Public Service Commission, and then president Jimmy Carter appointed me the TVA board of directors in parts of seven States.

So I've done a lot of different things and I've been very blessed and very challenged.

- Weren't you the youngest publicly elected official when you were on that commission?

- I am and I still hold the record in Tennessee, at age 29 being elected statewide and the way they've got the constitution now I may serve there forever, 'cause there's so few statewide elected offices now.

- Well, I can't think of a better person to hold the record actually.

- You're kind to say that and it's been my great honor.

- Your father was such a respected leader and I know growing up with him that had to be such an influence on your career.

- It really was, and as you know, he was the second youngest governor in the history of Tennessee.

Lean Jimmy Jones back in the 18 hundreds beat dad by about 20 days being the youngest governor but dad was elected governor when he was 32 years old.

Hard to believe but he had worked hard.

He'd been a lawyer and graduated from Cumberland and Vanderbilt and served in the FBI and practice law and he was such a great realtor, great communicator and his enemies used to say, don't ever go hear that so-and-so speaker or you may vote for him.

(laughs loudly) - I love that.

What do you think you learned most from your dad?

- Caring about people and helping people, and knowing that people deserve a second chance.

When dad was governor, I was only nine years of age at the governor's residence.

So from age nine to 15 and 19 to 23, I lived in the governor's residence.

But he worked 30 prisoners, inmates a day at the governor's residence because he believed in rehabilitation and second chances and from those experiences, I think it helped me caring about people and that people come from all walks of life.

At times need help and support and the various public offices I've held, either public or private for that matter, I was trying to go that extra mile to help them make a difference in their lives.

- Well, you certainly do and you have a legacy of that.

When you ran for Congress, what did you want from that portion of your life?

And you were a very successful Congressman.

- Well, I thank you and I served eight terms, 15 years and special part of my life and served on the foreign affairs committee and transportation committee, budget committee, and for awhile on the veterans affairs committee and all that but I've always felt like I had a special gift when it came to working with people to solve problems or work through the bureaucracy to solve problems because you can really get lost rather quickly, and so we hit the road running and my previous experiences, I think helped me immensely by the jobs, career appointments that I had prior to being elected to the United States Congress and even though I served the Nashville district or fifth congressional district, Davidson Robertson County I always looked at myself as congressman at large and I told the staff, I don't care whether they're from Mountain city, the Memphis or Coke or wherever when someone calls us, I want us to help them.

- Wow, that's tremendous.

You're really bi-partisan and issue-driven.

First of all, how important is it to be bi-partisan?

And second, what are some of the things that you just were most proud of in that time?

- Well, I did reach across the aisle and a Democrat or Republican ally, they had a right to their opinion but I had a right to my opinion and I always felt like you could attack the issue without attacking your fellow colleague, Democrat or Republican and it served me well and I was able to get a lot of legislation moved simply because I took that approach.

Matter of fact, we even had retreats on the weekend in Congress, Washington DC and Pennsylvania and West Virginia and all that on civility.

How to reach across the aisle.

They don't do that anymore, they should.

Right after I got elected, I introduced some legislation to help our airport here, make it a first class airport able to get over a hundred million dollars for noise abatement, reimbursement act, my own bill.

Not only help Nashville but other airports all over the United States and that's one of the first things I did and then also veterans affairs, hospitals.

I got heavily involved in that and naturally, we help Nashville VA and Murfreesboro VA and all that and so that worked rather well too.

Here I was on the transportation committee and I noticed we were really getting penalized in the South for federal transportation dollars because we were operating under an old formula that benefited the North and the East at the expense of the South and the West.

So I got help working through the committee process and all that, getting that law changed and by getting the law changed based upon the shift of population from the North and the East to the South and the West, it moved us from in Tennessee, for example rather than getting $360 million a year in federal transportation dollars.

We went from there to $800 million a year.

I really enjoyed that and then also I'd always have town hall meetings and on a constant basis to stay touch, because you gotta be careful about that.

After you get elected to office that you go that extra mile not to forget about the people you serve.

- There's a wonderful photo here in your home of you as a young man, your dad's with president Kennedy, just really not long before he was assassinated.

How do you feel about our country right now?

- Well, I'm troubled but I still have a lot of hope and feeling for this country and we're going through a lot of struggles, but we have in the past too.

A lot of struggles in the past and this too shall pass and I just hope that people don't lose faith and confidence in our Democrat process because we're the greatest country in the world but we've got to realize that the great democracies So every generation has to fight to preserve our way of life and that your vote and your voice is important and will make a difference because we still have too many people that really have given up that my vote or voice is not important.

I could care less whether people are Democrat, Republican or independent, but speak up and speak out and that's critically important to preserve our way of life.

- Absolutely, and voting, you have to vote.

You have to take a stance, right?

- Or don't complain.

- Or don't complain.

- I know you knew Annabelle Clement O'Brien that was state Senator in across Fall and all those contiguous counties around there.

She noticed that people would come in her office and asked for this and ask that and she didn't mind that at all but she also noticed when she'd ask him, well, are you registered vote?

No, I've never voted in my life or whatever and then Annabel would send him home.

You register to vote, then come back and see me and I'll help you.

- Right, now Senator Annabel.

I tell you, she helped our station immensely.

She helped so many people in the upper Cumberland and that's your aunt, right?

- That's right, my father's sister.

- Wow, so a real political family.

I read that you ran for Congress, before you were elected for Congress, you ran the first time and were defeated and you mentioned that maybe you would have operated your campaign differently.

That you operated maybe the way your dad did.

Was there something different that you would have done or that you did?

- Well, when you win you think you've done everything right.

When you lose, you think you've done everything wrong and neither scenario is correct, Becky but I will say when you lose an election, you do analyze what did I do wrong?

I ran for governor of Tennessee in 1978 and I came within 30,000 votes of getting the Democrat nomination and I was wondering, what did I do wrong?

So I took a survey after I lost in the primary.

Barely, what did I do wrong?

And it came back well, Clement, you ran a good campaign.

You're well organized.

You communicated well, you had a great message but you look too young (laughs loudly) and then I began to think, well, maybe I should have put some prematurely gray hair but I never did get bitter or negative when I lost.

It was a learning process for me and even my two children, I lost one race, Mary and myself had our daughter Elizabeth and then I lost another race and we had another child, Rachel (laughs) and most of them are grown and doing extremely well.

- Oh my goodness.

- But all those blessings came about because I happened to stumble a few times in my life and so that was a growing experience for me.

- What could you say to young people who may be struggle with failure?

- Well, I tell people, don't get down on yourself and too many people give up too easily and just because you lost an election or didn't get that job or things didn't work out like you thought that's not the end of the world.

That's the beginning and the Lord may have not wanted you to serve in that position or that capacity.

I do think it's good to analyze yourself and a lot of times others can help you get back on track.

- You created a public relations firm was that to help people do just that?

Get their careers on track, get their campaigns on track?

- Well, whether I've been in public or the private life and I've spent about half my adult life in public life and that's elected office and appointed positions and then I served, the other part of my life, I have found in the private sector.

I must admit I've always enjoyed the public sector more than I have, the private sector but you don't always get your first choice.

That doesn't mean you give up on yourself but you still try to make a difference.

- Right.

- For yourself and for others and provide for your family.

'Cause I had a family and we got to pay bills just like everyone else and so you have to take a lot of detours all of a sudden.

- You left Congress, really successful congressional career to run for Senate and lost to Lamar Alexander who just retired this year.

Do you regret leaving Congress to run for the Senate?

- Well, I wish I had chosen another year to run, (laughs loudly) rather than that year.

I could have chosen a better year and that's where your timing is off.

As I stated while ago, I still weren't bitter or negative and as my father used to say, son I just didn't get as many votes as that other fellow.

(laughs) It was still a growing experience and gosh, I still miss Congress and all that but also there're chapters in our life and you make the most of every chapter.

- You went on to be president of Cumberland university and really did amazing things there.

You took it back to being a full university.

You raised a lot of money for them.

What was that time like?

- I loved it.

I had said when I was a student at university of Tennessee to some of my fellow students, I said, I'd love to be a college president.

Never knowing when I get to be a college president and then I'd lost the race, Congressional race you mentioned a while ago in Middle West Tennessee and I got a call one day about asking me to apply, at least to consider the presidency, Cumberland university even though they had about a hundred trying to get the job, you know?

And so I did apply and it came down to three and then I happened to be chosen but they wanted someone that knew how to manage people and raise money and I guess I fell in that category and I didn't have a master's degree in business and all that and that college was almost Becky, out of business and I moved it from a two year to a four year college, Cumberland university, got it fully accredited.

Then we had graduate programs as well and so triple the private gifts and double educational income but after four and a half years, I said maybe I'm ready for a new challenge (laughs) 'cause you'll have to kill me.

That's when I ran for Congress.

I resigned as president of Cumberland to run for Congress.

- Well, those presidency skills came in handy, didn't they?

- That's right.

- You have a wonderful family and you've had a wonderful love affair with your beautiful wife, Mary, children, grandchildren.

What would you say about the importance of your family life to you?

- It's everything and I can't tell you how much we've enjoyed grandchildren and our grandchildren are between the ages of four and nine and they are over here about every day now and they're ready to play and funny, the other night they wanted to see a movie.

The name of the movie, War on Grandpa.

(laughs loudly) So we watched that, we all watched that together.

- Oh, that sounds like fun.

- But they are a lot, I had to take them fishing, and oh, they catch those fish because my grand father, one of my mother's father, nails Christians and they're here in Tennessee.

He'd always take me fishing and I'd go Kentucky light and then my other grandfather and so Robert S. Clement and I was named after both my grandfathers because they thought I'd be their only child, their only son.

So I'm named Robert Nelson Clement after my two grandfathers and then they had two more boys and the middle one's named Frank and he's on Court of Appeals judge in Tennessee.

- Oh, my goodness.

- And then my brother, Gary, who's deceased now and Gary, I loved him so much.

- Absolutely, well, your father died very young.

- Yeah, dad died at 49 at tragic automobile accident.

He had spent the last two weeks with me right before he died.

I was stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia, Augusta, Georgia and that's where he had been stationed world war II and the Korean crisis and he asked for special permission to pull his guard duty where I was pulling military duty and matter of fact, I was already on orders to go to Vietnam and so I'd already had my Vietnam orientation course and taken my shots and all and get ready to be shipped out.

He wanted to spend a little time with me before I left and he spend that two weeks with me and from there I put him on an airplane, sent him back from Augusta, Georgia to Nashville.

Three days later, he was killed on automobile accident and then the military took me off orders and I've always felt like that might have saved my life and then I volunteered to go when I only had 10 months left on active duty and the Pentagon says, well, you've got to extend.

If you wanna go, you gotta spend at least 12 months.

You only have 10 months left on active duty.

I said, well, I don't wanna go back.

(laughs loudly) So I never did make.

- Right, but you went into the National Guard and so - Yeah, I served two years, regular army and 29 years in the Army Guard.

- Right, and I'll thank you for that.

- I knew how to get in, Becky but I didn't know how to get out.

(laughs loudly) - Well, let me ask you about Nashville.

You love this city, you ran for, I believe mayor and just barely lost and in a runoff actually.

So how do you feel about Nashville today?

It has grown and it's such a vibrant city.

- Oh, I love Nashville and it's so cosmopolitan.

I just remember as a young kid, we'd have people move here from California or New York or Boston or wherever.

They'd spend about 30 days and go home.

- Yeah.

- They couldn't handle it but we're so cosmopolitan now and people from everywhere come to Nashville and I know as a US Congressman, when I'd be overseas and I'd mention I represent Tennessee, represent Nashville.

I've always wanted to go to Nashville and so Nashville is a special place and the only reason I ran for mayor, I thought all my experience that maybe I could make a difference 'cause I did have a lot of contacts.

All that, but it didn't work out and so I went in business consultant and real estate business and all that.

Then I've been very involved with the Clement Museum that we have in Dickson, Tennessee and wrote a book as you mentioned, Presidents, Kings and Convicts and the reason I named it that, Becky is that I've met every president from Truman and all the way through Obama.

Not Mr. Trump but I did meet all the others and then Kings, I met a lot of the Royal family but also the King Elvis Presley that performed at the governor's residence and then convicts as we mentioned worked at the governor's residence.

- Right.

- They were my best friends but then I get heavy into US policy, US Congress and politics about fixing Congress and fixing America.

- I can't wait to read this, I'm excited about it.

- Well, I want you to, take it with you.

- I will, we're out of time and I hate that.

In just this moment, would you share something for some younger viewers that might be watching right now about what they should do if they desire to be in a political office?

- I speak a lot still and I have young people come up to me all the time.

How did I get into politics?

And 'cause that, there's no a magical way to get in into politics, unfortunately and this is something we gotta correct in America.

We've got to put a limit on campaign spending.

Give everyone an opportunity to run and win.

It is outrageous what the US Supreme Court and others have done to us.

That there are no limits on political races.

So these characters can buy these elections rather than earning the election and it should be based upon your message.

About how many hands you shake, how well you're organized.

What you believe in and not your pocket.

Well, that's got to happen but don't give up your dream.

Meet as many people as you can.

Get involved in your community where people get to know you on a personal basis and don't shy away from it.

'Cause a lot of people say, that's the last thing I'll do.

I don't want that criticism, I don't wanna be abused.

I don't wanna embarrass my family or whatever and well, none of us are perfect people but if you have a dream whether you be a plumber or electrician or a teacher or a lawyer or a doctor or whatever, try.

- Thank you, Sir.

I've enjoyed this so very much.

- Thank you, Becky.

(bright upbeat music) - I am Mike Galligan with the law offices of Galligan and Newman and in the Middle Tennessee.

I support CTE, the upper Cumberlands on PBS station because I believe it is important to create entertaining TV programs that also promote lifelong learning and understanding.

When I support WCTE, I know that I am helping our upper Cumberland community for generations to come.

- [Male Announcer] The law offices of Galligan and Newman provide clients with large firm expertise as small firm, personalized care and service.

(bright upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] This program was made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you, thank you.

(upbeat music)