Alberto Gonzales Interview (page: 2 / 6) Former Attorney General of the United States	Print Interview

Were you a good kid?

Alberto Gonzales: I think my mom would be a better judge of that. I think I was a pretty good kid. I loved school, I did well in school, always have done well in school, I think I got that from my mother. I've never been in any serious problem. Of course, being the Attorney General, I might want to exercise some restraint in describing my past history. But I think I learned discipline from my parents. My mother was devout in her religion, gave me a Catholic upbringing, so I learned right from wrong very early. I don't think I gave my parents too much trouble.

And you were a good student, you say?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Alberto Gonzales: I did well in school because I enjoyed it. And, you know, I was in the Honor Society up through high school and things of that nature. I played sports, I loved sports. Growing up as a kid, I played a lot of sports during the summer with my brothers. I like to tell the story that my memories of my youth for the summers was, we'd get up in the morning -- and this is when there were four boys of comparable age -- and we'd play baseball, two on two, all morning. We'd make a field in our back yard, we'd put up a backstop -- we had chicken wire -- and we'd play baseball, two on two, all morning, go in, have lunch, my mom would then make us lay down and take a nap, which we hated, and after that we'd play baseball all afternoon. And then, of course, like anyone who played baseball as a kid, I really wanted to be a professional ball player, thought maybe that would be something I could do. So I loved sports, but I also loved school and did well in school. But because my father had a second grade education and my mother had a sixth grade education, there really wasn't any talk about going to college in my family. Their goal was to try to get me through high school. And so when I graduated from high school, even though I did well, I graduated with honors, there wasn't any talk about me going to college, so I enlisted in the Air Force.

When you were growing up, were there particular books that influenced you or were important to you?

Alberto Gonzales: I don't recall. I do recall I loved reading. I remember my sister and I used to walk by ourselves, about a mile and a half, to an elementary school. The libraries would be open and we'd be able to check out books. I would check out history books, books about sports. Books about animals I really, really enjoyed, but I can't recall any that particularly inspired or motivated me.

Were there any teachers that especially influenced you when you were in school?

Alberto Gonzales: I can't think of any in particular that influenced me as a kid.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Certainly, when I was in college, I was influenced by a Constitutional Law professor named Doc Colbertson at Rice University, and he taught Constitutional Law. We referred to him affectionately as Doc C. And that's when I really developed an interest in the law and thought that this would be something that I would enjoy doing. I enjoyed the constitutional law issues and the discussions about what, in fact, what does our Constitution mean and what rights are we to derive from the words in the Constitution. So he had an effect on me. And in fact, occasionally I still get correspondence from him. I sometimes see him quoted in stories about me. And so I think he takes special pride in what I've been able to achieve.

[ Key to Success ] Passion

Is he still grading you?

Alberto Gonzales: I'm sure he's still grading me. You'll have to ask him what he thinks is an appropriate grade for what I've been doing these past few years.

You were an honor student in high school. Did that surprise you?

Alberto Gonzales: Did it surprise me? No, I enjoyed school, and I hung around a group of kids who all enjoyed school and did relatively well. So no, it didn't surprise me, not at all. It may have surprised my parents, but it didn't surprise me.

You didn't go on college right away after high school?

Alberto Gonzales: No, I didn't. As I said,

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I enlisted in the Air Force, and my first assignment was at Fort Yukon, Alaska, it's a little remote radar site north of the Arctic Circle. There were about 100 GIs there, and the nearest civilization was an Indian village about a mile away. There were 600 native Americans who lived there. And the only way you could get to Fort Yukon during the winter was by airplane, in the summer by airplane and by boat, down the Fort Yukon River. But it was a very isolated assignment. I took that assignment, I volunteered for that assignment because the Air Force told me that during my four-year commitment, that I would have one remote assignment in Alaska, and I could choose to do it up front or wait until it came up in my rotation. And my first assignment was Key West, Florida, and so I made the decision to bypass Key West and go to Fort Yukon because I wanted to get the hard stuff out of the way first. And it really -- it was one of the best decisions I ever made, because when I was stationed there, there were two Air Force Academy graduates, and I listened to them talk about their experiences at the Academy, and I thought this is something I'd like to do. So I began the process of seeking an appointment to the Academy and was fortunate enough to get in.

[ Key to Success ] Courage

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