Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the Executive Office in December 2022 | Andrew Roth
It was inevitable that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s first book would spark speculation about her White House ambitions — after all, she’s already been on the national radar for years.
But in the weeks since “True Gretch” hit the shelves on July 9, it’s been a rollercoaster for Democrats. President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on July 21 and promptly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who reportedly considered Whitmer as her running mate.
Needless to say, the presidential drama and political jockeying dominated media interviews with Whitmer about her book — and often overshadowed it.
But the Advance did speak with the governor on launch day last month for “True Gretch,” which she stresses is a “handbook” and not a “traditional memoir.” (You can read the first part of the interview, which delves into all the political wrangling, here).
In a phone call with Whitmer — who was at the office of her publisher, Simon & Schuster, in New York — she talked about when she had time to write the book, generational differences between she and her adult daughters and why she left some stories on the cutting room floor.
The following are excerpts from the interview:
Michigan Advance: So in reading your book, it seems to me that it is, in many ways, a story of eldest daughter syndrome. I was wondering if you see it that way?
Whitmer: That’s funny. You know what? I think that being the oldest, as well as other things, probably informs a lot of who I am. So yeah, that makes sense.
Michigan Advance: Do you see any of that in your eldest daughter?
Whitmer: No. Sherry and Sydney are very close in age. It’s funny. I haven’t really thought about that. But no, I think the caregiving, the call to public service, the work that I find so rewarding, I think stems from a lot of my life experiences that brought me to this moment. Obviously, I was raised by two public servants. [Ed. note: Her father, Dick Whitmer, was the Commerce director under Gov. William Milliken and her mother, Sherry Whitmer, was an assistant attorney general under Attorney General Frank Kelley]. That’s something that was always, I think, taught to all three of us kids. But as the oldest and [being] really young when our parents divorced, I look back on those times and see that theme beginning then.
Michigan Advance: You seem to be up on Mackinac Island a lot last year. Was that where you wrote a lot of this book?
Whitmer: No, you know what, I wrote it this winter, really, with Lisa Dickey. I’ve always kept notes and always thought maybe at some point I’d go back and go through them and perhaps write a book. But it really came together in a pretty short period of time and with my collaborator, Lisa.
Michigan Advance: Did some of those notes have some of those sketches like you put in the book?
Whitmer: Yeah, I keep my gratitude journal, my three things. I write them down almost every single day. I think that’s been a practice that has really helped me over all the ups and downs of governing, especially that first term.
Michigan Advance: Did you time the book to come out after you hoped the Legislature would finish work on next year’s budget?
Whitmer: No, I wish I was that good. No, it fortuitously is coming out during Shark Week, Susan, which anyone reads Chapter 10 knows that there’s a big link there, too.
The shark is back as Michigan Democrats attend a rally with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other candidates in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Nov. 4, 2022. (Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
Michigan Advance: So I’m curious why you decided to leave out some well-known events like the contentious 2018 Democratic primary, the 2022 election, being considered for vice president, Vaginagate, the 2012 right to work fight. So how did you decide what parts, in your long political career, you wanted to include and which ones didn’t quite fit in?
Whitmer: What I really wanted to do was put out something that would be accessible for people that is not long form, but really got to the point of 10 things that I’ve learned over the course of my life that I’ve used in certain circumstances as governing. All of those instances that you’ve raised, I think are things that might be included in more of a traditional memoir, but this book is really a handbook. Maybe there’s a story that’ll make you laugh at my expense. Or maybe there’s a lesson that will help give you what you need to get through something tough that you’re working through. Or maybe it’s just some light reading in what really feels like a heavy time in this country. And so the stories that I did tell are centered around those 10 lessons.
Michigan Advance: You wrote about the fixation on your dress after your first State of the State address. And over the years, you’ve dealt with being on hottest politicians lists and that sort of thing. So do you feel like you’ve worked harder to be taken seriously as a woman in politics?
Whitmer: Yeah, I think that there is an aspect of that where if you know you’re going to be distilled down to something really superficial, you could throw your hands up and rail against it or you could roll up your sleeves and work that much harder to show your substance. I think my natural tendency is to d0 the latter. But it’s also I do it with an eye toward: How do we make the world a better place for our daughters so that they don’t have to deal with as much of this B.S. as we’ve had to navigate? Just like the people that came before us did for us.
Michigan Advance: With the last few years that have been dominated by the pandemic and the Jan. 6, 2021, riots and threats to democracy, do you think people are ready for a more hopeful vision of life and politics that’s in your book?
Whitmer: I do. I think so. I hope so. Like I said, the question I get from people the most is how do I stay positive when everything feels so heavy and hard and there are plots and pandemics and all the other tough stuff we’ve had to navigate. And so I’m trying to answer that question with this book. I’m trying to give people that light that they’re seeking. I know I gravitate to having a laugh in a tough time. I think people need some encouragement and a roadmap of how to get through the tough stuff and how do we get to a place where we can not vilify everyone who disagrees with us and try to find common ground again.
Gretchen Whitmer being sworn into the state Senate while holding her daughter, Sydney | Whitmer photo
Michigan Advance: Your oldest daughter was born shortly after you took office [in the Michigan House]. At what point do you feel like your daughters became aware of what you really do? How different was it when you were in the Legislature vs. being the governor?
Whitmer: Oh, that’s an interesting question. My girls have grown up around the Capitol. Sherry [was born in] my first term and Sydney my second term. They have grown up whether I was in the House or in the Senate for a lot of their lives. Eight of their years, and there’s nine of them actually, because I came over in that special [election]. So they’re very comfortable. They understand politics. They understand why this is something that I’m called to do.
I think I’ve raised them to value public service the way that my folks raised me, etc. Serving as governor has been markedly different. All the threats during the pandemic, I think, were eye-opening and jarring for us all. But they are very, like your daughter, they’re in it. They care about what’s happening in the world. They want to be a part of the conversation. They want to drive it. They challenge me like any good 20- and 22-year-old thinking person should do, challenge their parents from time to time. I am proud that they’ve grown up in this and that they are not intimidated by it, but more motivated than ever to have their voices heard.
Michigan Advance: Being part of Generation X, there was certainly a lot of discontent and apathy when we were that age. Do you think there is a difference with Gen Z, or is it just too hard to really put a generation in a box?
Whitmer: I think it’s always hard to put a generation in a box. But I do think that this generation is committed to certain fundamentals; seeing the humanity in one another; the generation that is worried about climate [change]. They are the generation that has been brought up with mass shooting drills in their schools; the generation that expects full civil rights for the LGBTQ community. These are wonderful things about this generation. It gives me great hope for the future. They’re also active. They’re activated. And many of them are activists, and I think that that’s really encouraging, too.
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