Teaching the Pig to Dance

Fred Thompson talked about his book, Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing Up and Second Chances. Fred Thompson is the former Republican senator from Tennessee (1994-2002), an actor, and a radio talk show host. He was also a Republican presidential candidate in 2008. His memoir focuses on the years he spent growing up in and around his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. And as he tells it, getting a law degree was something of a surprise for him, since in school he had been less than stellar as a scholar. “Teaching Latin to someone like me,” he says, “was like trying to teach a pig to dance. It’s a waste of the teacher’s time and it irritates the pig.” He talked about his life in Washington and in the entertainment industry. He also assessed the current political climate and what he believes are the failures of the Obama administration. After being interviewed, he responded to questions from members of the audience.

This was taped at the Russian Tea Room in New York City. close