Michael Rowan & A Political Journey from Bethel, Alaska to Caracas, Venenzuela

Michael Rowan's political career started in a small Alaksan fishing village in the 1960s and has ascended to heights of helping elect Presidents, Senators, Governors, and working in 17 countries. Michael was a contemporary and colleague of some of the most influential political minds in the modern era - Larry O'Brien, Joe Napolitan, Tony Schwartz, Marshall McLuhan, among many others. And the campaigns he had an impact on includes names like Bill Clinton, Pat Moynihan, Andrew Young, Howard Metzenbaum, Mike Gravel, and more. And after working against Hugo Chavez in Venenzuela, Michael and his family had to flee after death threats from Chavez henchmen. Michael Rowan has a great political story and shares much of it in this conversation.
IN THIS EPISODE

Michael’s move from Long Island to rural Alaska sparks an interest in politics...

How organizing a political slate in a small fishing village leads to Michael’s career in campaigns...

Michael is the campaign manager for Mike Gravel’s successful upset of an incumbent Senator in 1968...

Michael’s take on the quixotic Gravel presidential campaign of 2008...

Michael’s early intersection with political consulting legend & future business partner Joe Napolitan...

Michael talks the influence of his colleagues Marshall McLuhan and Tony Schwartz...

How Michael helped Howard Metzenbaum beat American hero John Glenn in an Ohio Senate primary...

Michael goes in depth on the political skills of two of his iconic clients, Andrew Young and Pat Moynihan...

Michael’s connections to Bill Clinton’s core campaign message in 1992...

Michael talks his work against Hugo Chavez in Venezuela that led to death threats against him and his family...

Michael diagnoses the threats of polarization in American politics and a possible solution...

AND agoraphobia, the Alaska Model, anthropological dreamworlds, asymmetric media, Jeff Bezos, Tony Blair, Rafael Caldera, James Carville, coding nightmares, Jim Dunn, Claudio Fermin, Eskimos, Buckminster Fuller, David Garth, Ernest Gruening, Charles Guggenheim, Jay Hammond, Michael Harrington, Robert Kennedy, Kent State, Jiddu Krishnamurti, the Kuskokwim River, Maslow’s Hierarchy, Ed Mezvinsky, Elon Musk, Larry O’Brien, Sarah Palin, Carlos Andres Perez, Ronald Reagan, Ralph Rivers, Winthrop Rockefeller, Rorschachians, Manuel Rosales, St Johns University, Milton Shapp, Sargent Shriver, Shelby Storck, Margaret Thatcher, wave theory, weird containers, Dick Wirthlin, William Butler Yeats & more!