Growing up as a lifelong Democrat in a family that included two former governors of Mississippi and holding the office of State Auditor in 1988, there was only one person that could have talked Pete Johnson into switching political parties.
That man was then-President George H.W. Bush.
Johnson, who has made Clarksdale his home for most of his life, said Bush was the final motivation for his switch from the Democratic to the Republican party, soon after he had won the office of State Auditor in 1988.
“He was genuine. He was the real deal. He was the kind of guy I’d want to follow,” Johnson said in an interview Tuesday at his downtown law office.
President from 1989 to 1993, Bush died Friday at age 94.
The nation's capital embraced Bush in death with solemn ceremony and high tributes to his service and decency, as the remains of the 41st president took their place in the Capitol rotunda for three days of mourning and praise by the political elite and everyday citizens alike.
With Bush's casket atop the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincoln's 1865 funeral, dignitaries came forward Monday to honor the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century from World War II through his final years as an advocate for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster.
It was those qualities that attracted Johnson to Bush.
“He was purposeful, he was sincere, he was genuine. He had served his country at every level. And he was unselfish about it. His temperament was appealing to me.”
Johnson, who failed in two attempts to win congressional seats in 1982 and 1986 as a Democrat, ran for the State Auditor’s seat in 1987 and was elected in November.
“In all of the races… the Democratic establishment fought me,” Johnson said. “I was hopeful that Bill Clinton would be able to move the Democratic party back to a more centrist party. That was wishful thinking.”
Soon after he took office in Jackson, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, who was a longtime friend, once again urged Johnson to make the switch to the Republican Party.
“When Bush was elected, I was like, ‘He’s my kind of guy.’ So, I switched parties because of him and Thad’s insistence,” he said.
His move was not popular with the top Democrats in Mississippi.
“The state Democrats went nuts,” Johnson said. “I was the first one to do it and they went after me. I switched and all hell broke loose.”
His response?
“I just said it had moved too far to the Left for me. It left me. I didn’t leave it,” Johnson said.
While he was not the lone wolf, the 36-year-old Johnson was the highest-ranking public official across the U.S. to turn Republican. The move garnered him a letter in March 1989 from the president inviting Johnson and his wife, Margaret, to the White House in May 1989. It would be his first visit to the White House.
Once there, Johnson was escorted into the Oval Office where he met President Bush, shook his hand and posed for photos with the president and Vice-President Dan Quayle.
They then exited to the Rose Garden for a ceremony recognizing all of those who had made the switch in political parties. Afterwards, there was a private reception at the Indian Treaty room where they visited with Quayle.
“After the whole thing was over, we caught a Yellow Cab back to our ‘executive suite’ at the Budget Inn and we were riding back to our motel room and I said, ‘Honey, for the last two hours, we’ve just been at the pinnacle of power on the face of this earth. What about the last two hours impressed you the most?’
“She never missed a beat. She said, ‘That Dan Quayle is cute, cute, cute.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. You missed the whole thing,’” Johnson said with a laugh.
Another occasion where Johnson mingled with Bush was during the president’s appearance at Mississippi State University’s 1989 graduation ceremony. At Starkville, Johnson had a prime seat, directly behind the president.
He remembers the start of the ceremony where a soon-to-be graduate, who was headed to the Air Force, played a stirring rendition of the national anthem on his trumpet.
“When the president stood up to speak, the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘As you can imagine, I’ve heard our national anthem played many times in many different situations.’ And he looked right at that young man and said, ‘But I have never heard it played more beautifully than you just played it.’
That moment sticks with Johnson.
“Here is the president of the United States, looking at that kid and saying that. Can you imagine what that kid felt? But what does it tell you about the man who said it?”
Johnson said he believes Bush intended to take great care of the highest political office in the United States.
“He looked at the office of the presidency with reverence and understood the magnitude of the responsibility that he had,” Johnson said. “It was hallowed ground for him.”
And that attitude toward public service was also evident in Johnson’s family.
His family tree includes two former governors of Mississippi (his grandfather, Paul B. Johnson, Sr., was governor from 1940-43 and his uncle, Paul B. Johnson, Jr., was governor from 1964-68). Johnson eventually ran for governor in 1991, losing in a runoff in the Republican primary to Kirk Fordice, who ended up serving as governor from 1992-2000.
