Candidates On Losing Their Tempers
For the series "Primary Questions: Character, Leadership & The Candidates," CBS News anchor Katie Couric asked the 10 leading presidential candidates 10 questions designed to go beyond politics and show what really makes them tick.
For the fifth part of the special series "Primary Questions," Couric asked the candidates: "When was the last time you lost your temper and what came of it?"
In a new CBS News / New York Times poll, 37 percent of Americans say they would vote against a bad-tempered presidential candidate, even if they agreed with that candidate's position on most issues. Fifty-seven percent would still vote for that candidate.
Also, check out the candidates' full responses to the previous questions in our "Primary Questions" video library.
Check out the complete poll results.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper and what came of it?
Giuliani: (LAUGHTER) Would have been when the Yankees lost. I think it might have been when the Yankees lost in the (LAUGHTER) in the playoffs. Not only do I occasionally lose my temper, happens with the Giants too. But, then I have a bad day the next day. Judith will tell you that I'm in a much better mood when the Yankees win than when they lose. And football even gets me a little more emotional. Like if there's an interception or something.
Couric: You had a bad day on Monday then?
Giuliani: Agh. (LAUGHTER) And I'm a big, I'm a big Eli Manning fan. And I think there's too much pressure being put on him. I think, I think that I remember days in which even Joe Namath had four or five interceptions. It just happens.
Couric: That was a rough…
Giuliani: It happens.
Couric: …day for him.
Giuliani: It happens.
Couric: Didn't he? What was four or five?
Giuliani: It was four.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper and what came of it?
Thompson: Let me see. (LAUGHTER) I don't know. I don't really think I lose my temper. I get aggravated. And, you know, I can say some hateful things sometimes. I don't ever think I lose my temper, lose control. I don't remember I was late to an event. I had a couple days ago, I had a Medal of Honor winner, head of a veteran's group of people who were endorsing me. And when I got there, Columbia, S.C., they were all there, 30 or 40 of 'em, standing there. He was standing there. What a hero. Just to read his background, what he's done. And, we got caught up with the car and the traffic and the direction, that our leader was leading us in and so forth. And we were 15 minutes late to these people, standing there, waiting on me, to honor me with an endorsement after what they have been through and who they were. I had a few things to say about that.
Couric: How did you express your temper in that situation?
Thompson: I said, "Please don't do this again."
Couric: Just like that?
Thompson: I'm kidding. No, no. (LAUGHTER)
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper and what came of it?
Richardson: I lost my temper last night when I was bone tired and I couldn't find the bathroom light. I'd flown in from New Mexico. And I was in the hotel. And I couldn't find the bathroom light and I got mad and lost my temper.
But thankfully it was just with myself. (LAUGHTER) That was the last time I lost my temper. But I do that frequently. You know, I'm somebody that sometimes needs to cool down my fuses.
Couric: What happens when you lose your temper?
Richardson: Well ... I just get - a little bit of an inner rage. I never - well, sometimes I take it out on people. But it - but it ends quickly. It's because I demand a lot from myself and I expect others to. But that's a little side of me that I'd like to control a little bit.
Praise others a little more. Thank people more. But in the end, sometimes I lose my temper and - and - and yell a little bit.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper? And what came of it?
Obama: You know, Michelle, my wife, will tell you that I actually am pretty even-keeled. I don't get mad too often. You know, I think probably the last time I got angry was when I heard about George Bush vetoing the S-chip legislation and just watching that argument unfold. And the reason is because I meet a lot of families who really need help. Every day in this campaign you'll hear folks who can't get insurance for their kids because they've got what is considered a pre-existing condition. And I know what it was like when my daughter when she was three-month-year-old got meningitis and had to go into the hospital. And just the terror in my heart that she might not be okay. But I had health insurance. And I tried to imagine what it would be like if you didn't. And so when I hear people characterize this as, you know, socialized medicine, or we don't need to provide health insurance for folks who they can afford it, you get a sense that there's a part of Washington that's just out of touch with ordinary people. And that gets me, gets me frustrated.
Couric: Anything more pedestrian or banal than that in terms of losing your temper?
Obama: Well, I don't…
Couric: Just your day-to-day life?
Obama: I don't have to, I don't have to drive these days because Secret Service is driving. So my moments of road rage are limited. (LAUGHS) And my girls are perfect. So they don't get me mad.
Couric: You're obviously not home that much.
Obama: Right. You know. If I am mad at Michelle, then she is probably mad at me too. And I'm probably the one who's wrong. And my staff, they've performed well. Sometimes I get mad at myself. You know, I mean, the truth is when I get angry oftentimes it's because I don't feel that I did everything that I could to move the ball forward, to, you know, maybe I, in terms of reaching out to a constituency I didn't I wasn't passionate enough, or I didn't in an interview, I wasn't able to deliver a message that I wanted. I sometimes get frustrated with myself. And that's usually good. Because it spurs me to work a little harder the next time.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper? And what came of it?
Huckabee: Really blew my lid type lost my temper? It's been a while since I've gotten to the point of, you know, really throwing things. But, just this morning, I had a little incident where we had a scheduling mess-up. And I was not really happy about it. But I've learned that, it's really, not helpful to scream and yell. And I rarely - ever do that. I just don't. Sometimes, what I will do is maybe send out a rather curt e-mail. And people get the point. (LAUGHS) And that's probably the way I express my outrage, more so than verbally.
Couric: What did you do this morning, when you had the scheduling mishap?
Huckabee: Well, I sent out an e-mail on my Blackberry. And I sent it out to several staff people who were involved. And I said, "This was a humiliating issue where I attended a breakfast today that I had on my calendar for tomorrow." And all these people had assembled and it, there wasn't time on my schedule to get there. So I had to disrupt it and hurry over and spend a few minutes with a group of people who thought they were going to meet me today. And I thought I was going to meet them tomorrow. It was bad. It was (LAUGHS) really bad.
Couric: Were they mad?
Huckabee: Amazingly, they weren't. And they had to be the most gracious people on planet Earth. And all I could do was to go in and just fall all over myself with apologies and express to them my sincere depth of humiliation. And I told them I would all, to every one of them, I would bring pastries to their front door on Christmas Day to make up for it. What else can I do?
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper, and what came of it?
Clinton: I try not to lose my temper because I really don't like it. It's not that I don't do it, but I try not to. I think honestly the last time was when our dog woke me up at 5:00 to put him out. (LAUGHTER) I was not happy about that, you know. He comes up and he just won't quit, and just keeps nosing me. And I was, I just woke up out of a cold sleep and started yelling at him. (LAUGHTER) And I really felt guilty, because the poor dog had to go out. But I try not to lose my temper.
Couric: Any other incident, though, where you got angry or really mad at something, and you know, everybody gets sort of…
Clinton: Right.
Couric: …gets ticked off.
Clinton: You know, Katie, I used to do that a lot more when I was younger. I was much less patient. I was much more judgmental. I really, would get, set off by something that I thought was wrong or unfair. But with all I've been through for the last 16 years, I just try not do that anymore. I try not to, you know, get that flash point. And if something's upsetting me or annoying me, I try to stop. Literally count to ten. Think it through, and then try to figure out what to do about it.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper? And what came of it?
Edwards:
Oh, that's a hard question. Probably yesterday. (LAUGHS) It happens pretty often.
Couric: At least you're honest about it.
Edwards: (LAUGHS) I think.
Couric: Most people have said, "You know, I haven't lost my temper in a very long time."
Edwards: Oh, that's just a lie. (LAUGHS) That's just a lie. That's not the truth. I think I lost my temper in the last day or two. And I'm sure it was about some meaningless thing. I can't remember specifically.
Couric: Why do you think it happened? And how did you deal with it?
Edwards: Why did it happen? Probably I was tired. (LAUGHS) And somebody was suggesting I do something that I didn't agree with.
Couric: And how did you deal with it?
Edwards: How did I deal with it? I told them what I thought was the right thing to do, and I did it.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper? And what came of it?
Biden: It's been a while. I lost my temper 22 years ago when I was running for president, and a lot came of it. But I'm trying to think. I haven't lost my temper in a while. I've been frustrated, but I've not blown up and lost my temper. I used to have a I joke and say, two craniotomies I had for these aneurysms. They took the top of my head off.
I joke and I say, well, they cut the temper cord. There's a lot more equanimity in my last 20 years and after what I've gone through than there was before. No one thing is that critical that it determines outcome. Unless it's life or death.
Couric: Come on though Senator.
Biden: I'm serious.
Couric: I mean, I'm sure you got annoyed at somebody…
Biden: Oh, no, no, annoyed. No, no, no, no, no.
Couric: I don't mean, got red in the face and slapped somebody.
Biden: Well, I used to lose my temper and turn around and snap at somebody and say, "You know, you know, shut up." Or do whatever. I haven't, I haven't lost my temper in a long while. I've been frustrated with some of the…staff who tell me things they know they don't know. I get frustrated, occasionally with some of the things I hear being stated by candidates from both parties running for office. I think, I know, you know, my frustration is, you know that's not true. What are ya sayin' it? (CHUCKLES) But I ... really haven't, Katie. I mean, you know, you could, as they say, ask around. I mean, I haven't lost my temper in a long while.
Couric: I take your word for it, Senator Biden.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper and what came of it?
McCain:: Probably within about ten minutes ago. (LAUGHTER)
Couric: What happened?
McCain:: Oh, I don't, I think the last time I seriously lost my temper, I can't remember. Am I impatient and frustrated and sometimes angry when I see incompetence or corruption? Yeah. And I can be abrasive about that. Because I really want people and me to live up to certain standards of behavior in public life. And right now, our approval rating is 11 percent, [the Congress.] And so, I probably, the last time I can remember being really angry was probably at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, when Donald Rumsfeld was assuring everybody that the war was going fine.
Couric: And I think you used a few choice words not that long ago, too, right?
McCain:: Yes. One of my colleagues…
Couric: That wasn't at the hearing, though, was it, Senator McCain?
McCain:: Well…
Couric: Was that a different one?
McCain:: (LAUGHTER) You mean a few choice words to one of my colleagues, you mean?
Couric: Yes.
McCain:: Yes, that, I regretted. And we are good friends. It was a private meeting, and sometimes we have spirited discussions. I don't think I lost my temper. I was just a little frustrated.
Couric: Do you think you're too tough, having said that? I mean, obviously you say you're impatient. Do you feel sometimes you're too hard on people?
McCain:: It's not that I feel that I'm too hard on people, as it is that maybe I feel too passionately. In other words, maybe I become emotionally involved in issues that perhaps I should be more objective about. And look, I've made so many mistakes in my life. Last night, I was asked about my relations with certain parts of the party, like the religious right. I believe in reconciliation. I reconciled with the anti-war movement, the Vietnam War. I reconciled with the Vietnamese. I reconciled with Jerry Falwell. I think reconciliation with your enemies, whether they be political or personal, is an important part of life.
Couric: When was the last time you lost your temper? And what came of it?
Romney: You know, I talk about becoming intense. I never talk about losing my temper. (LAUGHS) I don't think I lose my temper. But I become ...
Couric: Well, when was the last time you became intense?
Romney: I become intense. Well, there was a TV or radio talk show host the other day in Iowa that began drilling me about my faith. And I became intense in confronting what he had said. And we went back and forth. Unbeknownst to me, he had a hidden camera on the console. So this then popped up on the Internet - as our exchange. And I was intense. I wasn't angry. I wasn't out of control. But I was intense.
Couric: Would you say you lost your temper a bit?
Romney: No. No, I didn't lose my temper. I was intense. And expressed my views directly and forthrightly. I remember once I really learned to manage my temper when I was angry with one of my sons when they were very, very young. And Ann and I talked about it afterwards and said, "You know, it doesn't make sense to ever really lose your temper with a child." And, I said, you know, "I'm not gonna do that anymore." And I have not, I just haven't gotten angry and lost my temper that I can recall in a long, long time.
Couric: Come on. (LAUGHS)
Romney: Oh, you get, you get…
Couric: I mean, there must be times…
Couric: When you feel like you're going to…
Romney: They're the road experience.
Couric: You're going to get really angry or you just get furious, even if it's just an instance.
Romney: Oh, sure. Oh, of course. And--
Couric: When was the last time you did that?
Romney: You know, sometimes on the road when I'm driving, if someone does something, you know, I might (LAUGHS) express my anger. I don't do in a visible way.
Couric: You don't do any rude signs, do you?
Romney: No. No rude signs, no. They, they've been flashed in my direction. But rarely in the or never actually near the direction, you know, I've kicked a door a couple of times. I remember kicking a door the other day. Not the other day. It was probably a few months ago.
Couric: Why'd you kick the door?
Romney: Well, I heard something that a particular member of the news media had said. And it was wrong. It was exactly the opposite of what was real. And it's frustrating to see things that you that you know being distorted. But I don't tend to express that openly or publicly.
Couric: What happened when you kicked the door other than stubbing your toe?
Romney: That was it. That's typically the result of anger is being hurt yourself and not accomplishing anything for it.