HotmailHeinz Kerry: Why I told a reporter to 'Shove it'
Plus: The wife of White House contender John Kerry talks about advice she's given her husband and the death of her first spouse
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Although she's the woman who could be our next first lady — and has got some headlines for some controversial remarks — a majority of Americans, according to a Time magazine poll, say they don't know Teresa Heinz Kerry. She'll have an opportunity to change that when she addresses the Democratic convention on Tuesday night. “Today” host Katie Couric talked with Heinz Kerry on the eve of her speech. Among the many subject covered: What Heinz Kerry hopes to communicate to the delegates and the world, that "Shove it" remark and and what advice she’s given her husband, presidential candidate John Kerry.
Teresa Heinz Kerry: “I basically will speak in the same way that I normally speak — which is about … a lot of traits and aspects and beliefs and values of America as seen by someone who came here without them, without having had them. And how I value freedom and how I value the right to speak, the right to vote, the right to participate in the government of this country. But that like any relationship a democracy needs to be nurtured and cherished or it doesn't stay very well.”
Telling a reporter to ‘shove it’
Katie Couric: “Everything you do and say is recorded for posterity as you know and — can be used against you.”
Heinz Kerry: “Sure.”
Couric: “Case in point on Sunday you had a dispute — this has gotten some attention as you well know — with an editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. It ended with you saying to him, ‘Shove it.’ Do you regret saying that?”
Heinz Kerry: “No, I don't. And I think that I say what I believe. I'm plain-spoken. I really wanted him to back off, you know, back off. And he and reporters generally don't do this — they don't trap you and they don't misrepresent you when they talk to you. That's exactly what he did. I didn't know who he was and I heard him say two words that [were] not what I had said. I saw the potential of a misrepresentation and so I defended myself. Wouldn't you if someone attacked you like that?”
Couric: “Apparently you said, ‘We have to turn back some of the creeping un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American tirades that are coming into some of our politics.’”
Heinz Kerry: “And that's very different from un-American activities.”
Couric: “So, you have no regret saying it?”
Heinz-Kerry: “No. You know, I fight, and have fought, for political freedom, for justice and for fairness and freedom of speech. I put myself on the line for it when I was young. And that's the right that I have which is [why] if someone attacks me and my integrity and puts words in my mouth I will defend myself and I think every American person would too.”
Her speech, of course, is all part of the buildup to her husband accepting the nomination of his party on Thursday night. It is perhaps the most important speech of his political career. Has she given him any advice about it?
Heinz Kerry: “Yes, just speak from his heart. Obviously he has to have a certain discipline which is important where there's so much to say. But you can't say too much otherwise it becomes heavy. But speak from his heart and from his passion.”
Couric: "What do you hope people will learn about the John Kerry you know that other people may not know?”
Heinz Kerry: “I think John's biggest quality going into this is a sense of justice and fairness and a great sense of optimism and patriotism. I think he'll always give everyone a fair shake — unafraid of criticism and dissent.”
Couric: “You've been campaigning for a long time now — for several months. What is the hardest part of campaigning for you personally?”
Heinz Kerry: (Laughs) “Remembering where the bathroom is that night in that hotel. Literally it's hard when you — and you know because you travel too — going from one place to another and I go to bed thinking, ‘Now, when I get up this is how I have to go.’ (Laughs) The difficulties are not managing a normal life, a regular life. And I think when you’re younger your body is more forgiving. But I'm not as young as I used to be.”
Getting to know Teresa
Couric: “As you do more interviews and are exposed more and more to the public, people are judging you, trying to figure you out [and] forming opinions of you. Is that a tough spot to be in? Do you feel as if people aren't getting to know the real you? Are they passing judgments on you that may not be fair?”
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Heinz Kerry: “You know it's possible because the nature of the immediacy and the speed of communication is such that it's impossible to really know someone. My only self-confidence and satisfaction comes from the people that I do meet, I have fondness for people. I mean, I like to hug. And I also like to be hugged. And you know what? What's been nice about the campaign is the feeling that when you go through the rope line the people really want to hug me and it gives me a lot of strength.”
Couric: “You run the Heinz Foundation and you are responsible for giving millions of dollars to various causes and organizations. If someone said to you, ‘What do you care deeply about in terms of causes and issues?’ What would you say?”
Heinz Kerry: “Probably because I could have been a doctor like my father and a lot of my family members but I care very, very strongly about wellness, about prevention of disease and then wellness and about enabling people to lead good lives, healthy lives.”
Couric: “If your husband is elected you have said that you'll continue to run the foundation. Will that be hard to do given some of the demands on a first lady in this country?”
Heinz Kerry: “No, because I don't have to be in Pittsburgh to do that. I have an office in Washington and always have had. I would hate to give up the work in Pittsburgh.”
Losing a husband, gaining a husband
Couric: “Let me ask you about your first husband, John Heinz. You lost him tragically when he died in a plane crash in 1991, which I remember very vividly reporting on. You all had three sons together. How were you able to move forward and regain your equilibrium after such a shocking, stunning tragedy that happened so quickly? Your life must have changed in an instant.”
Heinz Kerry: “That's a good question and I don't even know if I know how to answer it. I did have a hard time trying to figure out, you know, what was it that I was supposed to learn that I hadn't learned that these things had to keep happening and it was tough on my boys. I think the first year I survived because I really had to mother my boys in a sense. So I worked like a fiend for a year, got everything under control and then got very sad. Because I had done what I had to do and I had delayed sadness. But, you know, I guess God doesn't give you hardships that he doesn't think you can handle. And that's all I can think.”
Couric: “You've often mentioned your late husband I know in interviews that I've seen and read. Is that hard for Sen. Kerry?”
Heinz Kerry: “No, he's a good man. And, you know, if it hadn't been for my late husband I wouldn't have married, wouldn't have met John Kerry. He introduced me to John the year before he was killed. You can't live with someone for 25 years and know them before that and grow up and have children and just because they die they go out of your life. You know, you don't stop loving your husband. Love is a big thing — it's part of who you become, how you grow up. I had a wonderful husband and I'm very lucky I have a second wonderful husband. You know, some people don't even score the first time. I can't complain about that.”
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