A New Memoir of Service and Leadership for New York

0:00 Speaker 1 Well, who is the finest congressman I know in Long Island. Well, it’s Congressman Peter King, twenty eight years, twenty nine years, a member of Homeland Security, kept kept off country safe and a good a good bro. Well, Peter King, Congratulations, you have a new book.

0:25 Speaker 2 Yeah, John, thank you very much. And you’re a noted author yourself among everything else you’ve done, so you know how it feels. Yeah, the book, basically, it’s a memoir which I was inspired to write by friends. Also Detective Moisses Zimmermann, who’ve been in my security detail, and Rosenfeld, who worked for me for the twenty eight years I

0:47 was in Congress, inspired me. You’ll put something together because I, as a lucky guy, I was a witness in so many important moments in history when I was in Congress, A long way from the sidewalks of Sunnyside and Saint Orbans and Queens to being in the halls of Congress of dealing with President Bush and President Clinton, especially President

1:12 Clinton during the whole Irish.

1:14 Speaker 1 And how many presidents have you served with?

1:17 Speaker 2 Well, actually a brief period under Bush forty one, but then under Clinton, under Bush forty three, under Barack Obama. I’m using track of Barack Obama, and then of course Donald Trump and I actually Joe Biden come in right as I was leaving. So I guess what was said that after five or five presidents, two Bushes, Clinton, Obama,

1:45 and Trump, that’s a lot of presidents. Yeah, it is. And I said, probably I’m not gonna I’m.

1:52 Speaker 1 Not gonna get you in trouble and ask you your favorite.

1:56 Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean all of them had Probably the one who had the least dealings with was President Obama. He was more of a loaner. But I have very close relationship with President Bush, especially after nine to eleven. I saw the work that he did up close, what he did to bring back the city and the country. Obviously

2:14 with Bill Clinton on many different issues, including I opposed his impeachment, but I certainly admired. I showed he up close on the Irish peace process. That was an eight hundred year ward which he was able to bring to a really a successful conclusion. It said peace, It’s lasted.

2:33 Always he doesn’t actually get strong all the time. And then of course President Trump, he always says he would. He and I were two guys from Queens who made it to Washington. Of course he came to a slightly more important neighborhood than mine to make the mistakes competitive centy side. But having said that, I had a very

2:51 good working relationship with him, and we’ve remained friends since then. So it’s been as far as President Obama, I got along with him. He really wasn’t the warm and county type. Bill Clinton. I saw him just a few months ago and he again, it’s always great being with him. President Bush, I have contact with him, so now it was often great.

3:10 And in fact, the title of the book John Is called the Road the Road to God knows where it’s from an Irish folks, and basically is that. I mean, I had no game plan. People talk about a career.

3:19 I never planned on a career. My thing was doing what I could do, so he said I could as it went along. But I never really planned much beyond you know, the next month or so. I mean, I was.

3:30 I worked by what I was at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn. I worked full time at the Railroad Express Freight Yards during that time. My father was a NYPGA lieutenant. Again, we grew up in the Sunnyside, Queens and Saint Albans and then I got accepted somehow I got accepted it to no name law school. It was not and I

3:48 didn’t expect it at all. And there I met my wife, Rosemary, and from there I just started working at involved in local politics here in Nyessa County with down to Motto and Dromagiata, and things opened up, one thing read to another, and before I knew it, I was sitting in the halls of Congress. And none of it was planned more

4:08 than a few weeks in advance. Yet I guess it’s all part of a unwritten plan if you look at it. Somebody was planning up above, I guess. But uh. And started with the road to go, the road to God knows where. You don’t know where you go, you just keep going till you get there. And I ended up

4:24 in Congress. And then also after I left Congress, good people like you are good enough to hire me, give me a chance. I love being on w ABC radio. Uh, being with all of you, and even getting along with sid Rosenberg these days. You know, it’s difficult as that can be in times. He and I have actually about

4:43 to show every Wednesday morning, and it’s great and as you know, working with you and others, we really get some meat fascinating people, and you realize that whatever you’ve done, the real story is not what you or I have done individually, even though you’ve done a great deal, but the experiences of dealing with so many different type people,

5:00 the good, the band and the ugly, and the people who are just great people maybe don’t get the credit they deserve, others who get too much credit, but just again be able to be around, you know, people like Rudy Giuliani, to be around people like Ray Kelly and Bill Bratton, people like that, and to see, you know,

5:19 the struggles or what they’ve done to try to keep New York safe. Mike Bloomberg, I can go through the list, and then of course with nine to eleven, John, all the dealings we’ve had with nine eleven victims and their families, it’s a yeah. And now trying to save save New York City. I’m trying to elect Bruce Lakeman, governor, Jeanine

5:39 and Jean Driskill in the Nassau County in the United States Congress, working with Joehiro to make the Nassal Republican Party really emblematic for the entire state is how we can have strong good government against so anyway, it’s all.

5:55 It’s been a great life. It’s been a great experience. And when I was on forty fourth Street and down the block from Sunnyside Garden and next to the Celtic Cafe Bar, I never thought I’d end up in Congress.

6:07 I never thought I’d be dealing with billionaires like drag Catsmertiiti. So being on a radio and having access to that type of forum. So it’s been a great life. I wanted to get it down and written, and I wrote two hundred and ten thousand words, got it down one hundred and forty thousand words. Now I’ve given it to

6:26 an editor, Peter Greene, who’s really a great guy. He’s got a great record.

6:31 Speaker 1 And where could you buy the book?

6:33 Speaker 2 Well, it’s we have to get public. He’s editing it down. We’re going to general publishers. We’re hoping we can have a deal closed, you know, within a few months, and Sean, you will be the first to know. And if you can give me a book party in there, w ABC.

6:45 Speaker 1 W ABC will be the first one to give you a book party. I look forward to listening to it. Because I listened to a lot of books. I look forward to reading it, and thank you for everything you’ve done for America. Happy Mother’s Day to Rosemary too.

7:02 Speaker 2 Thank you John