Lott joked “all my friends are referring to it as my hanging,” just before the event, which was a family reunion for the Lott family, his current and past Senate and House colleagues and Lott’s staff over his 35 years of public life, including one-time staffers Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and former Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss.
All eyes, however, were on the three who in the late 1990s were the most powerful figures in the country — the president, the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader.
Gingrich said that “the three of us” — he and Clinton and Lott — “came out of nowhere and couldn’t believe it when we got here and were confused by the experience.”
Clinton, who was introduced by Gingrich, was the big scene-stealer, saying, “I’m still wondering what I’m doing here.”
Alluding to the friction between the Democratic president and the Republican House and Senate leaders, Clinton said, “The world would be amazed at the chemistry Newt and I and Trent and I had in private.”
Clinton praised Lott’s negotiating skills and legislative accomplishments.
“What matters is the world you left your kids and grandkids and on that score, Senator Lott, you did pretty well,” he said.
Sun Herald
9/16/9
Magnolia Tribune
