Geoff Bennett:
His perspective, both working in politics and covering it as a journalist, was the premise for his first book, “Eyewitness to Power.” The bestseller documented his 30 years in and out of the White House, but also his greatest lessons learned.
“There is nothing more important to the success of an actor,” it is said, “than the performance in his first scene and his last,” he wrote. “The same applies in politics and in other fields of leadership.”
In stepping away from the daily Beltway grind, Gergen was able to devote time to academia as both a professor of public service at Harvard University’s Kennedy School and founding director of the Center for Public Leadership, a topic he wrote about extensively in his second book, “Hearts Touched With Fire,” published in 2022.
He returned to PBS for a conversation with Judy Woodruff about the new era of politics, making the case for leaders to pass the torch.
