MCBC 8 page 22

 at that particular time, I do not think anybody really wanted to hear that. They
 wanted everything just status quo. Let normal procedure follow, like I said, the
 case with Mecklenburg County. They just did not want to be bothered with the
 case in Manatee County, and the governor was just bound and determined that
 he was not going to allow the forced bussing if he could help it.

B: What did you think of his political address on the Sunday afterwards where he
 bought television time and claimed victory for his handling of the situation?

H: Well, I am sure that a lot of people thought that was a stretch, but Claude was
 flamboyant and he knew how to handle the press from his standpoint. I was
 never surprised at anything that Claude Kirk did. He was different. There was no
 question about that. A lot of people say he used the press any way he could just
 to keep the headlines, but I think he was much deeper than that. I do not think
 that it was all that. He believed in exactly what he was standing up for, and I
 would be disappointed if I thought he did not.

B: I know that towards the aftermath of this situation, he was criticizing the press for
 how they had handled the confrontation. Did you agree with that perception?

H: To some extent, yes. Again, on the other side, I understand that the press, you
 know, that is their job and they are going to push as hard as they can and they
 are going to sometimes distort it in some ways to their thinking. That is just life in
 the fast lane, I think. I read stories all the time that do not come out the way I
 think it was intended. I used to make a statement when I was in the governor's
 office: those were not my views but my interviews. I remember one time
 personally telling a reporter after he interviewed me not to ever come back again
 unless he wanted to quote me and tell it like I had explained it to him, because
 any resemblance between what I had said to him and what he wrote, you know,
 it was unbelievable. I think some reporters, and I do not think very many of them,
 have their own agenda, too, just like any other person. They slant and distort
 facts sometimes to suit the particular cause. I am sure you see it all the time. I
 mean, different newspapers took a totally adamant position against Kirk. The
 Orlando Sentinel and others would take one in favor of what he was doing. You
 always have that give and take or push and shove or whatever you want to call it,
 but I think Claude Kirk sincerely believed he was doing what he thought
 especially the people of Manatee County wanted.

B: And it is correct that he carried Manatee County in the next election, right?

H: Sure did. Right-o.

B: Overwhelmingly.

H: Yes.