Trey Farley
tdf001@marietta.edu
Kenneth Walsh, one of the White House’s longest tenured reporters, provided political insight to a crowd of Marietta College students and members of the Marietta community on April 11.
Walsh, the former president of the White House Correspondents Association and reporter for U.S. News and World Report, led a discussion as a part of the Leadership Q+A series. In regard to his work and political experience, Walsh said he had planned his goal well in advance
“I’m one of the fortunate people, I knew what I wanted to do since high school.”
Walsh answered questions regarding a wide array of politically based topics, including the current primary campaigns with particular focus on Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. With respect to Trump, Walsh referred to the celebrity-president relationship that President Obama has established as the reason for Trump’s success in the primary election. Walsh also expressed his prediction that if the presidential race came down to Trump versus Hillary Clinton that voter turnout would be alarmingly low and stressed the importance of the political process.
“Campaigns show us what our country is thinking or feeling,” he said.
Walsh also addressed the question of who his favorite president to cover was by narrowing it down to three categories. First, his overall favorite president to cover was Ronald Reagan. Next, he said the nicest president he has covered was George H.W. Bush, of whom he spoke very highly. Finally, Walsh stated that Bill Clinton was the most interesting president to cover for what he called “obvious reasons.”
While Kenneth Walsh has certainly obtained a generous amount of knowledge of politics in his years in the White House, Walsh credits much of his career to luck.
“Sometimes luck is important,” he said.
Walsh was well received by the crowd. In particular, Walsh made quite the impression on freshman Harrison Ellis.
“An hour was not long enough to receive the depth of political knowledge that Kenneth Walsh has to offer,” Ellis said.
