America's Best Leaders: Q&A with Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of Fox News channel
You take delight in showing they don't know better?
No, I take no delight in that. I just find it funny that they're perfectly prepared to make judgments about me without having any knowledge of who I am. I find that amusing. Take the word, "controversial." That tells you as much about the person who accuses you of as you who are accused of it. That's an equal split. You walk in here, I don't know you, you say I'm controversial. I say, "He must not agree with me on a lot of things." So that tells me a lot about you, and it tells you something about me, "I don't agree with this guy, he's controversial."
- Brainy—Nah, I don't think that's true. I think common sense maybe, but not that. I got thrown in the hall for algebra class for most of ninth grade.
- Successful—Success is a journey, not a destination, I'm still on the journey, it's hard to tell. I've had wins and losses. I really like this company, I love my family, I live in America, my health is better than I look. So put that all together and say that's some form of success, sure, but it's a journey and you never know what's going to hit you tomorrow. I don't tend to sit around and dwell on that.
- Untortured by guilt—That's partially true. I'm not driven by guilt. [If] I have done something wrong or ever hurt anybody I'd feel guilty and would feel bad about it, as we all do in our personal relationships. But I don't feel personally responsible for society's ills. I feel personally responsible for trying to do the right thing if I have a chance to affect it in a positive way.
- Jokey, a lot of fun, and a helluva good guy—I can't comment, that's for somebody else to ascribe, just like controversial. Some people will see me as a good guy, some won't. I have fun and I try to be a good guy in the sense that if anybody ever asks me for anything, I try to help. That I will say I do. I don't care whether I even like them. I don't think people ask for help unless they need it, and if they need it you have a human responsibility to do whatever you can.
Does that extend to a panhandler in the street?
Sure. I mean, if I think the guy has a job on Long Island and he's in here bullshitting me, then no. But it's pretty clear to tell if the guy is sitting there with one leg and has no way to help himself, then your job is to do whatever you can. -Thomas Hayden
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