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MAY 2005

Former Prime Minister John Major of the United Kingdom at Oxonian Society

By Pola Rosen, Ed.D.

At the elegant Oxonian Society’s annual black tie gala recently in Manhattan, former Prime Minister John Major alternately regaled and charmed the guests with his wit while driving several important points home.

“France lost its empire but 'nobody told them’” he said to laughter. In a serious vein the Minister advised that we must combine the war on terror with the war on poverty. He noted that 50 percent of the world’s population lives on less than a dollar a day. He said another 20 percent lives on less than 2 dollars a day. The United States and Great Britain need to do a lot more in helping people get out of poverty worldwide. Britain and America are the two closest allies in the Western world, he said.

Most of the audience was surprised when the Minister revealed that the USA was his second home. His father grew up in Pennsylvania in the 1880s. This is not a joke he prefaced: when he was born “my father was 65, and my mother was surprised!”

In speaking about running for public office again, he said he would not seek office because politics has become driven by sound bytes. He shared that the best sound byte he ever heard was when Boris Yeltsin lunched with him and described the Russian economy in one word: “Good,” said Yeltsin. When asked to further describe the Russian economy in two words Yeltsin responded, “not good,” to responding laughter among the guests.#

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