This story is just all-around great.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis had his phone number exposed inadvertently by a longtime bodyguard for President Trump, after a picture of him holding a stack of papers was published by the Washington Post.
On the stack of papers was a post-it note which had the name “Jim, Mad Dog, Mattis,” accompanied by a phone number.
The Post replaced the image, but a sharp-eyed student at Mercer Island High School in Washington saw it and actually called Mattis with an interview request for the school newspaper.
When he didn’t get an answer, sophomore Teddy Fischer sent the Defense Secretary a text.
He was astounded to get a return call from ‘Mad Dog‘ … and an incredible opportunity – a 45-minute interview.
Remember when SecDef Mattis’ phone # was leaked by WaPo pic? A HS student called him for interview. Mattis agreed: https://t.co/NNrYXl1cAH
— Jeff B/DDHQ (@EsotericCD) July 10, 2017
“The only thing more bizarre than getting the private cell number of United States Defense Secretary James Mattis through a leak is having him call you back,” the resulting article begins.
Via the Daily Mail:
A US high school student has scored an exclusive interview with Pentagon chief Jim Mattis after an aide of President Donald Trump inadvertently exposed the defense secretary’s cell phone number.
…
“I called it to see if it was him, because I was pretty curious if this is actually his number or is it kind of a joke,” Fischer told the King 5 local news channel in his home state of Washington.
He didn’t leave a message but went on to text an interview request.
To his surprise, Mattis called back and agreed to schedule an interview, which ultimately would last for about 45 minutes.
What followed was a far-ranging conversation across political topics and history.
Indeed, Mattis offers the high school interviewer advice on how to make today’s political atmosphere less polarizing by reviewing history.
“If you study history, you realize that our country has been through worse,” Mattis advises.
He then pulls a page from former president Obama’s book no less, suggesting a beer summit with friends to smooth things over.
Well, not quite, considering the age of the audience.
Love the Mattis line, talking to about dealing with people disagreeing to an HS student:
“by going out and having a root beer with them,”— bellisaurius (@bellisaurius) July 10, 2017
Mattis suggested “sitting down and talking with them, and after having a good strong argument, going out and having a root beer.”
He also explained why he called the teenager back and honored his request for an interview.
“I’ve always tried to help students because I think we owe it to you young folks to pass on what we learned going down the road so that you can make your own mistakes, not the same ones we made,” Mattis said.
Absolutely incredible!
Like and share this story to show what a stand-up man ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis is!
