William Bennett

William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) served as United States Secretary of Education from 1985 to 1988. He was also the first person to occupy the post of "drug czar".

Controversies

Gambling

In 2003, it became widely known that Bennett was a high-stakes gambler who had lost millions of dollars in Las Vegas. As a Catholic, Bennett was not prohibited from gambling, but some felt it conflicted with his public image as a leading voice for conservative morals.

Related Topics:
2003 - Gambler - Las Vegas - Catholic

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Bennett was never accused of nor admitted to having a "problem" with gambling and has maintained that his habit did not put himself or his family in any financial jeopardy. After Bennett's gambling habit became public knowledge, Bennett did say that he did not believe that his habit set a good example, and now claims to have quit gambling for good.

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Controversial Radio Show Comment

On September 28, 2005, a caller to Bennett's radio talk show Morning in America proposed the idea that the Social Security system might be solvent today if abortion hadn't been permitted following the Roe v. Wade decision. During the ensuing discussion, Bennett made a remark that has since been criticized as racist by many media outlets and politicians:

Related Topics:
September 28 - 2005 - Social Security - Roe v. Wade

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:BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this , because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both?you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well?

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:CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.

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:BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could?if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

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(Click here http://mediamatters.org/items/200509280006 for a transcript of the entire conversation.)

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Subsequently, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as civil rights groups, condemned Bennett's statements and demanded an apology. President George W. Bush called Bennett's statements "not appropriate" in a statement read by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/politics/01bennett.html

Related Topics:
Senate Minority Leader - Harry Reid - House Minority Leader - Nancy Pelosi - President George W. Bush - Scott McClellan

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Bennett has responded to the criticism, later issuing a statement to clarify his position. He said, in part:

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:"A thought experiment about public policy, on national radio, should not have received the condemnations it has. Anyone paying attention to this debate should be offended by those who have selectively quoted me, distorted my meaning, and taken out of context the dialogue I engaged in this week. Such distortions from 'leaders' of organizations and parties is a disgrace not only to the organizations and institutions they serve, but to the First Amendment."

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(Click here http://www.bennettmornings.com/agnosticchart?charttype=minichart&chartID=11&formatID=1&size=3&useMiniChartID=true&destinationpage=/pg/jsp/general/featured.jsp#0 for Bennett?s full statement.)

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