Chronicles is made possible by Springhill Senior Living.

The Regional Science Consortium.

And the generous support of Thomas B. Hagen.

This is WQLN.

There's never been, in my memory, a step away from just their very essential guiding principles, integrity, hard work, loyalty, open-mindedness.

His values haven't changed, and they are the values that he was raised with, right here at his parents' dinner table.

But he remains busy as well too with organizations and associations that are important to him.

[Music] My dad definitely will never retire.

I've joked with him often, you could just be grandpa now.

You can just come to the football games and be grandpa, and that's just not who he is.

He's hardwired to work and to contribute and to continue on in duty and service, however that looks for him at 80 years old now.

I knew that whatever he did, the 20 hours a day he was utilizing for these different positions, he might come back to probably 15, 16 hours a day, but he was going to be doing something.

No, there was no way he was going to just sit back and play golf seven days a week and just hang out.

That's not his nature.

[MUSIC] He goes on to form Ridge Global, a very successful consulting firm.

And he also joins along with Joe Lieberman and Tom Daschle, and some others, the National Commission on Biodefense.

The Bipartisan Commission On Biodefense is a private sector entity that runs itself like it's a congressionally mandated or White House mandated commission.

The purpose of this commission is to examine the state of biodefense in this country and make recommendations for improving policies and procedures in some cases to improve upon biodefense.

Every day, I think we face the real possibility of either an infectious disease outbreak, remember we're not just talking about a terrorist attack, an intentional bioterror attack, or the accidental release of a pathogen from a research facility.

Senator Lieberman, when he called and asked if I would co-chair with him, I consider that to be an honor and another opportunity to serve my country in a different way - no longer in an elected way - but in an advisory capacity.

But one of the challenges in this more complicated 21st century world, I believe, is that democracies by and large rarely act in a preemptive way.

This document says to our friends on The Hill and to the country at large, the threat is real.

Let's not wait for an attack to occur, whether it's a terrorist, a country, or Mother Nature.

And I believe that we've made well-intentioned efforts, particularly since the deaths and the crisis around anthrax.

I can never forget that.

President called me down.

We're dealing with 9-11 and being all of a sudden the anthrax attacks occur and you know that it was real.

People died and everybody scrambled, scrambled to figure out how to deal with it.

Hospitals weren't prepared.

First responders weren't prepared.

And the list goes on and on.

You're going to see some of the same concerns add.. And 15 years later, we're still not ready.

When you reflect on Governor Ridge's experience, he knows if we had been better prepared before Covid-19 occurred, our economy would not have been hit so hard.

If we had been better prepared before Covid-19 occurred, we would not have had so many people die and get sick.

That is just this is it's just a fact.

I know, I know we're tired.

Everybody's tired, we're tired of Covid, we're tired of influenza.

But the thing is, it's not going away.

Diseases, no matter what their source, they are not going away.

They're not going away ever, period.

That being the case, we have to continue to try and prioritize those efforts, preparedness and otherwise that occur before something happens.

If what we want is to save those lives.

Which is what we want!

We want to save those lives and we want to at least maintain where we are economically and not take that hit.

To The Commission's credit, they have not gone on the "I told you so" tour.

Which they could have easily done.

It's still at a scary point because there's not the constituency that naturally wants to do it.

And so while The Bipartisan Commission and others are advocating for these things until stuff hits the fan, the urgency is not there.

But the reality is The Commission's report was prescient to say the least.

Everybody on The Commission thinks we need to be simpler products.

We need to always be prepared.

You can't wait for the crisis to happen and try to respond to it.

You're a lot better off if you can appreciate the fact that it has happened in the past.

It could happen in the future.

And I think as a matter of public policy, it's our responsibility to accept that reality.

Governor Ridge has a very interesting background and he's going to continue on every single minute until he draws his last breath.

And I'm so glad because we need that.

We need that in this country still.

When you think about Tom's career, really, the arc of his career had a strong disability component to it because he was in Congress when the ADA was signed in 1990.

It was a bipartisan bill, got very broad support.

In fact, Dick Thornburg, former governor, Republican of the state of Pennsylvania, a predecessor to Tom, was the attorney general at the time.

And he really pushed for the ADA.

And of course, George H.W.

Bush is the president who signed the ADA.

It never would have happened without broad bipartisan support.

And that's really the career that Tom had.

That was in a former day when people could reach across the aisle and make things happen, when in fact, it was the only way to really make things happen.

I now lift my pen to sign this Americans with Disability Act and say, let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.

God bless you all.

Alan Reich created N.O.D., an organization that would devote itself to ensuring equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

And before Alan died, right before he died, he was in the hospital.

He had lost his ability to speak.

His kids painted an alphabet on the ceiling of his hospital room.

And in order to tell him what he wanted, he would point to the letters on the ceiling of the hospital room.

And right before he died, he pointed to the letters that said, "Get Ridge."

And what he meant was get Ridge in here, get him to be the chairman, because if you do, the organization will survive my death.

The deal was cut for Tom to become chairman of N.O.D.

in 2005, right outside Alan's hospital room.

When I was a young boy, one of my best friends in first and second grade, her name was Betty Black, she had severe disabilities.

And nobody saw the disabilities, they just saw Betty, the individual, always a smile on her face, always something pleasant to say.

Never once complaining about her challenges, which were significant, but that made an impression on yours truly because of how she lived her life in spite of the challenges that were confronted her - every single day that confronted her!

And when a group of people who were on the board of the National Organization of Disability asked me, if I'd come on board and chair it, I was honored and was thrilled to accept, by the way, we used to have a slogan, N.O.D.

It's the ability that counts.

Forget the disability.

But behind that disability, there are enormous, sometimes hidden undisclosed skills.

So forget the disability.

It's the ability that counts.

You know, I think people have a wrong impression sometime.

So this is the disability.

And they think, well, that person with disability is less able to do this, this job.

And that's not fair, it's not right.

One of our biggest accomplishments together was something that was signed by Obama.

It was called the 503 Rule Change that required federal contractors, anybody doing business with the government, to set a 7% goal for hiring people with disabilities and their staff.

It was an issue that needed bipartisan support.

It was an issue that needed the support of the business community.

So we got behind the 503 Rule Change.

He wrote an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal that was headlined, "Business And Government Working Together.

Really."

That Wall Street Journal pushed it over the edge.

The business community took note because Tom Ridge was saying it.

And they realized that 7% wasn't really that big of a number.

But it was Tom's leadership that really propelled that accomplishment forward.

And it represented Democrats and Republicans uniting the entire disability community, as well as bringing the business community together with government agencies for responsive policy.

We cannot say this enough.

Our success in the global economy depends more than ever .. use the talent and energies of every person in this country.

Every talent, every skill, every ability.

That is why the National Organization on Disability was created in the first place.

To see to it that no ability is wasted.

I know I'm preaching to the choir on a night like this.

I couldn't get into Divinity School, so whenever I get a chance to preach, I preach.

That's the way it is.

The period that we had working together was the most extraordinary in my entire career, and it was because of Tom Ridge.

When the Park Service got the nod to get involved here, there was, if you could have heard a sigh of relief all over Pennsylvania, I think it was it was there.

This thought that we're not going to face this alone.

Taking care of this place isn't going to be Shanksville's problem.

It isn't going to be Somerset County commissioners.

It isn't going to be even the state of Pennsylvania.

It's the National Park Service, and their care will be of the highest level.

They know how to preserve history and create a place where people can interface with history.

This memorial really is the people's memorial.

The common person can see themselves reflected in the ordinary nature of who the passengers and crew were.

And Governor Ridge, he didn't forget about the memorial.

He lent his name to being the honorary co-chair to help privately raise the funds to create this national memorial to honor those 40 people.

And furthermore, he came back and spoke at six additional times over September 11th observances.

He continually spoke about the need to finish the job here, to finish this memorial, to make it happen, the design and the dirt and the dollars.

And Governor Ridge helped us in all three of those areas.

[Music] This is my hometown.

I'm very proud to be an Erie guy.

And there's some great memories out here.

You know, if you can work outside in the summer in Erie, Pennsylvania, at Presque Isle, it's a gift.

It's fun.

And one of my first jobs in summer employment was they had a maintenance staff out here, and we collected the garbage cans.

And somehow some resident, instead of putting out their fire, put the fire in one of the trash cans, we throw them up on the back of the truck.

We didn't know it at the time.

So we're driving down the road.

And I say to the guy, "Chuck, you smell something?"

He said, "Yeah something's burning."

The bed was on fire.

We ran back as fast as we could.

So the faster he went, the hotter the embers burned, more the embers burned.

We finally got back where we parked all our trucks.

We unloaded it.

We parked the truck in an area that hadn't been parked before.

So the kid that got into it the next day, he's backing out and the wheels are spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning.

And the leader of the group is Joe Desser, a lovely man.

He spoke with heavy accent.

It would like her in the military.

He pulled us all up in a straight line.

He said, "Who parked that truck over there?"

I had put it there.

So I said, "Joe, I did."

"Look what happened, Tom."

I said, "Joe, I thought it'd be better to put it there.

It'd be easier to get out the next day."

He said, "You don't get paid to do the thinking here.

I do.

That's a dumb place to park the truck."

"Okay, you don't get paid to do the thinking.

I do think you're here."

So, anyhow, it was a great experience.

I love working out here.

So, when Tom became governor, he was looking to put a capital budget bill into the legislature, that there would be a visitor center at Presque Isle someplace.

Thanks to Ann DiTullio and then park manager Harry Leslie, we said we've got to create an environmental education center.

Because there was so much going on at Presque Isle, We had to sort of take some of out of it and put it elsewhere.

We got together with DCNR and put together a plan.

They hired an architect from Philadelphia.

And then we had to go and convince the Governor that this was a good plan.

Well, that's a whole story in itself.

It took a fairly long while to convince Tom Ridge that we wanted to name it after him.

I remember very well the last meeting we had.

We had Harry Leslie, Ann DiTullio and myself with Tom Ridge.

And we were making our case.

And right near the end, I looked at Harry Leslie and I saw he was, his perspiration was coming off his face.

And we said, "Harry, you okay?"

He says, "Yeah, I'm fine."

So, we made our case and then Harry said, "I think I better go to the hospital."

So, Tom, his detail, his state police deal, took him to Harrisburg Hospital.

And during that meeting, he had suffered a ruptured appendicitis.

But he was not going to leave that meeting until the case that it had to be called the Tom Ridge Environmental Center.

That was always in the back of our mind.

We wanted him to have a legacy.

And we knew how important that Presque Isle was for him.

He worked there when he was in high school.

He tells the story about the garbage truck.

He loves that story.

I love the center because it's a reminder of the natural beauty of not only the park, but of the environment in northwestern Pennsylvania.

And I'm pleased that my name is associated with it.

And... That's all I can tell you.

When I think about this job that I'm privileged to be in, thanks to the people of Pennsylvania, for however long you serve, it's a finite period of time.

And you've got this responsibility, in my view, to take the baton from the people that came before you and carry it forward and pick up a few extra yards and leave this place a little bit better off than the way you found it.

And make it better for the next folks who come in here.

So, I spend a good bit of time leaning on the former governors and listening to them.

And I know Lori the same for First Ladies.

And I don't think we ever leaned on them any more than after the arson attack and the attempted assassination on my life.

And immediately, we heard from the former Governors and First Ladies to not only make sure we were okay, but they wanted to do something about it.

They felt personally attacked and seeing the place they called home destroyed.

Josh and I had talked that very morning, and I told him that the morning that it happened, I'm not prepared to do anything that's necessary here.

This cannot stand at all on Passover weekend.

It's at that moment, Pennsylvanians don't want to see partisan politics in any way, shape, or form.

They want to sense a rally spirit.

And for our part, kind of show the way for other Pennsylvanians to be interested, supportive, and compassionate, regardless of political labels.

It was a very difficult time, but we had all of the former governors and their families and the first families in the residence.

And I think in that moment, I sort of was looking around the room and I was watching everyone interact.

And I thought, you know, this is what America is about.

That was super meaningful to me, just seeing everyone together and talking and sort of caring about the same things.

And I think the Ridges especially, they really embody honor and commitment to service.

And they, you know, they show people what it means to be committed to public service.

And I just, I think about that when I think about them.

Kind of a code among former chief executives of the state government.

And for my part, I'd like to see that continue.

I'd like to see it grow to where it kind of crowds out some of the ugly partisanship that we see in this day and age.

So kind of the soft responsibilities of former governors, in my opinion.

I would note that for as beautiful as that was to have everyone together there, it didn't stop Governor Ridge from trash talking the Philadelphia Eagles to Governor Rendell, which I thought was great.

- It was amazing.

When you get to be in your late 70s, you start to think about choices that you made and would you, how would your life have been different if you had made a different choice or you followed a different path?

Sort of a natural thing to do.

I think when you get in your last quarter, we're in our last quarter now, so we have time to think about stuff like that.

I'm still amazed to this day at my good fortune of having had the opportunity to work with both an outstanding public servant, but an outstanding person as well.

So I've never, I love him, obviously, but I've never met any, I've never met a stronger person.

I've been with him through all of his challenges, including his recent health challenges, and he perseveres and he does it with a very positive attitude.

He really enjoys life, and as long as he's here, he isn't going to leave anything on the table and I just admire him.

In order to do the things that I've done, I've had to have a loving and supportive partner, which I've had.

I'm not sure she wants to celebrate all 45 years!

Who knows?

I hope so!

I can't tell you how grateful I am because I saw how hard she worked every single day.

I can't tell you how grateful I am because I saw how hard she worked The legacy of both Tom and Michele is inextricably int.. Because they did it as a couple, even though he was the front man.

I don'tknow whether he would have been in his positions, maybe he would have been, but I don't know if he would have been as successful in them if he had not had somebody who was able to challenge him, able to keep him on the straight and narrow in many respects, able to ask questions that sometimes were hard questions.

She's not somebody that's going to be a wilting flower in the corner.

I think what Tom gave to me in large measure, large measure, was what he gives to everybody.

Every point, crisis point, happy point, whatever it was in my life, he was there.

It doesn't get better than that.

I think my brother's legacy will be or should be, that my brother knows it's more important to be a good person than to be known as a great public official, and that's why he's both.

The one thing that I would want people to remember about my parents, you know, that they're people too, they're just your everyday person that felt called to a life of service and to step up in a way that was significant, but they're people and people make mistakes, but they do so with the best of intention to do good.

That's who they are to us, who they've always been.

It's mom and dad.

I guess that we made it through, in some respects, that somehow we were able to do this, but there's nothing one thing that I could say except that I hope that people will remember us as having done the best we could.

I hope it's, I served well, faithfully, and effectively.

No matter where I went, I hope they find that my presence was of value to the country or to some group of people, period.

Really, legacies are written by those who observe.

I'm on the inside looking out.

I'll let other people write about legacy.

Chronicles is made possible by Springhill Senior Living.

The Regional Science Consortium.

And the generous support of Thomas B. Hagen.

We question to learn.