5280 talks to former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb about getting an education, keeping your word, and releasing his memoir, Wellington Webb: The Man, the Mayor, and the Making of Modern Denver
I think that life has a funny way of setting forks in the road.
You have to have an education to be competitive, to be legitimate.
It's important to have an appreciation of history and literature and art and culture. It says something about who you are.
I did want to go to college. But I didn't connect the dots very well.
The story of Achilles always struck me—whether you want to live a short, glorious life or a long, ordinary life. When I was young, I would have taken Achilles' position. Then, as I got older, I was worried about the saying that if you die young people say you missed your calling. I'm happy with my choice.
When I was 12, Denver was a small town, run by a very elite group. It was de-facto segregated, with exceptions. There was no bustling downtown. We were a town then. Now we're a big city, still with some positive small-town traits.
In Colorado—unlike the East Coast or the South—it's not about economic and social pedigree. It's what I like to refer to as a Western ethic. If you get hired to lead a wagon train, they're going to hire you because you can cut it. They don't care if you're black, white, they don't care if you're old, a man, or a woman. If you can cut it, you're hired. And if you can't, you're fired.
If they don't know you're running, they won't vote for you.
I'd go into places where campaigning was prohibited. I'd go into a VFW and they'd say, "Well, you can't come in here campaigning." And I'd say, "That's fine; I came in to get a beer." And I'd sit down and have a beer, and 10 minutes later we'd be talking about the campaign.
I'm glad I did the Walk. If we had had money, we would have run a traditional campaign and lost. By virtue of not having money, we got creative and we won.
In the West, if you give your word, you keep it.
My first visit to the White House was special. My father had not graduated from high school and here's his son in the Lincoln bedroom.
The wealthiest 1 percent doesn't need our help. The middle-class working people need our help.
I get impatient with opportunities lost.
My mustache has only been cut off once, when I was in junior college. The razor slipped, and I had to cut the other half off.
We have to be sure that government operates for everybody, not just for a few.
Elected officials always try to downplay what they're really like, but they're like prize-fighters. You have to have a certain innate confidence level in yourself to get out there and be on display.
I thought George Bush had swagger the first time I met him. But so did George Custer, and I don't want to follow him either.
Until you're put in the position where you have to defend your values and issues, you're really not sure who you are.
