Loyalty Tests and The Bridge of Death | The Oval Office
Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia
Slate Podcasts
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 26 July 2017
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode of Whistlestop revisits July 1979 when President Carter prepared to cut a number of his cabinet members free and start afresh.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by political correspondent and Political Gabfest panelist John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable (or even forgotten) moments from America's Presidential carnival.
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Podcast production and edit by Jocelyn Frank. Research by Brian Rosenwald.
Email: whistlestop@slate.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Whistle Stop. I'm John Dickerson, Face the Nation. |
| 0:09.0 | You remember the bridge scene from Monty Python, don't you? |
| 0:13.7 | Who would cross the bridge of death must answer me, these questions thee? |
| 0:18.9 | There the other side he sees. |
| 0:21.2 | Ask me the questions, bridge-keeper. |
| 0:22.8 | I am not afraid. |
| 0:24.0 | Any of the members of King Arthur's court, |
| 0:26.5 | who didn't answer the right question at the bridge of death, |
| 0:30.2 | would be cast high into the air and down into the pile of bones in the gorge. |
| 0:35.9 | Stop! |
| 0:37.6 | What is your name? |
| 0:39.8 | Sir Galaad of Camelot. |
| 0:41.5 | What is your quest? |
| 0:43.8 | I seek the grail. |
| 0:45.7 | What is your favorite color? |
| 0:48.3 | Blue. |
| 0:49.5 | No. |
| 0:49.7 | These tests led to a considerable attrition in Arthur's forces. |
| 1:01.9 | In the third week of July in 1979, a similar thing happened to President Jimmy Carter's cabinet. |
| 1:08.4 | In the space of two days, the president fired five cabinet members. Gone were |
| 1:13.7 | his secretary of health education and welfare, treasury, transportation, energy, and his attorney |
| 1:18.5 | general. The rolling fashion and hectic nature of the departures over two days made it seem |
... |
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