An Evening with Governor John Kasich

By Rebecca Goldfine
John Kasich, former governor of Ohio and CNN senior political commentator, will speak at Bowdoin Monday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m., in Pickard Theater. President Clayton Rose will moderate the discussion.
John Kasich

As governor of Ohio, Kasich closed an $8 billion budget shortfall without a tax increase, reduced taxes by $5 billion and outpaced the nation’s job growth with 557,600 new jobs, according to a statement he released. Under his tenure, Ohio budget reserves grew from 89 cents to $2.7 billion. Kasich was a leading voice in promoting bipartisan solutions to health care reform, immigration, and international trade. He has been one of the few Republicans to advocate for Medicaid’s expansion.

Kasich served as a member of Congress from central Ohio for eighteen years. He was elected to the US House at age thirty, after having become the youngest state senator in Ohio history. He went on to become the chairman of the House Budget Committee and balanced the federal budget four times. After leaving Congress in 2000, Kasich worked as a managing director in the investment banking division of Lehman Brothers.

He was a FOX television commentator for two shows, Heroes and Heartland with John Kasich, in addition to being a stand-in host for both Bill O’Reilly and Chris Matthews. In January of 2019, Kasich made his debut as a senior political commentator for CNN, where he will appear across a variety of programs.

Kasich is the author of Courage Is Contagious; Stand for Something: The Battle for America’s Soul; Every Other Monday; and most recently Two Paths: America Divided or United, which reflects on his 2016 run as Republican primary presidential candidate and his hopes for America’s future.

In his statement, he says that, "with a focus on civility and purpose, [he] offers insight into a view of humanity that inspires self-relfection, invites action, and motivates all of us to strive to be better citizens."

In public speaking engagements, Kasich shares his reflections on business, government, the history of change, and the power of individuals to affect change at the local level and "turn that momentum into something bigger."