In this article:
Excerpts from the interview
Think twice before calling wrestling "fake"
Minnesota's new first family

By Jeffrey Zaslow

People who visit Minnesota these days want to see more than the Mall of America. They're also eager to take a good look at the state's citizens. Jesse Ventura, the new governor, predicts a boom in tourism. "Word is out," he says, grinning. "People want to come here to see who voted to put this guy in office."

Ventura, of course, is "this guy," a 6-foot-4, 250-pound former pro wrestler who unnerved the establishment with his victory in November. Married 23 years with two teens, he's been a Navy SEAL, radio host, action-movie actor and mayor of the Twin Cities suburb of Brooklyn Park. He ran for governor as a candidate of Ross Perot's Reform Party.

Ventura is "a man of disarming candor," says Kim Ode, a columnist for the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. "His strength is that he'll look at things with a fresh eye." D.J. Leary, editor of the newsletter Politics in Minnesota, says that citizens are upbeat about their new governor but that he has fears about Ventura's tenure. "He has a short fuse. People want him to succeed, but they'll be disappointed if his temper explodes the way I think it will."

In conversation, Ventura, 47, is thoughtful and glib, but flashes of anger surface.

Q: Many Minnesota cars now have bumper stickers: "My governor can beat up your governor." Will you get one for your car?

I don't have to. But it's the truth. I went to the governors' convention. There was nobody there I can't whip.

Q: What should other politicians see as the lesson of your victory?

They need to pay attention to the people. They're more concerned about their power struggle with the other party. My election showed them they'd better wake up. I was on TV the other night with Gov. [Frank] Keating of Oklahoma and [former New York governor] Mario Cuomo - a Republican and a Democrat bickering like usual over Clinton. I said, "Keep it up and you'll see a lot more Jesse Venturas." [Politicians] are forgetting about what they're supposed to be doing: governing the country, the states, the municipalities.

Q: Did you watch any of the Clinton impeachment hearings?

Absolutely not. It's party-politics garbage ... an embarrassment to our country. If President Clinton truly cared about the country, he'd resign. [This interview took place in early December.] If I behave that way as governor, I will resign. I'm not talking about cheating on his wife. I'm talking about where he did it: in our house, the taxpayers' house. And when he had the chance to tell the truth, he didn't.

Q: Unlike many campaigns nationwide - which were marked by nasty commercials - your campaign stressed "fun." Will candidates now follow your lead?

We had to make it fun. I was being myself. If we went out like the Democrats and Republicans - all grim, jaws clenched, putting things in a life-and-death situation - that's not who we were. Our whole campaign was that difference. [As for others' campaigns], wait and see what happens. Maybe I was a unique personality who could get away with it.

Go to top A question we'll never ask again 1985: As Jesse "The Body" Ventura Jesse Ventura calls pro wrestling "ballet with violence," and never has a ballet packed in so many fans and made so much money. In a recent week, eight of the top 15 TV programs on basic cable were wrestling matches, with each show airing in about 3 million homes. Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling and the rival World Wrestling Federation boast $1 billion in annual sales of everything from T-shirts to action figures to pay-per-view matches. Wrestling is part soap opera, with storylines pitting WWF stars such as the profane Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mick "Mankind" Foley against each other. In the WCW, 286-pound Bill Goldberg rules with his "gorilla press slam." Critics charge the sport is nastier than ever, a bad influence on preteen fans. Promoters acknowledge matches are choreographed "sports entertainment," but Ventura, who retired from the ring in 1986, fumes if you call wrestling "fake" - as I did in asking if there are "fake moves in politics, as in wrestling": "I'm offended by the word. Nobody calls ballet fake." Consider a gymnast: "A guy will do flips and land on this nice, soft trampoline. They call him an artist. I do the same flips in wrestling - go over the top rope, land on the cement floor - and I'm called a fake? You know who respects us? Other pro athletes." Later in the interview, Ventura returns to my unfortunate use of the word "fake" and makes a convincing and intimidating point: "What if I kicked the s--- out of you? Then I'm not a fake, am I?" -J.Z.

Q: You grew up in Minnesota. Was Hubert Humphrey, Minnesota's favorite son, a hero?

Not in my house. My father had an eighth-grade education. He was a World War II veteran. At the dinner table, he was never at a loss for words about politicians. He called Nixon "the tailless rat." Humphrey was "Old Rubber Lip."

Q: What would your dad [who died in 1991] say about Gov. Ventura?

I think he's up in heaven now laughing his a-- off. I think he'd be very proud of me, knowing I kept my integrity and beat the system.

Q: Your education platform calls for mainstreaming disabled children, including your daughter [who Ventura says "would be considered epileptic"]. What are the benefits?

Most children with disabilities should be mainstreamed because life is mainstreamed. What are schools for? To prepare you for life.

Q: Pundits say your Web site helped you win. Voters went online to track your appearances as you campaigned. What will be the Web's role in future elections?

The Web will be used in politics just like it'll be used in the future of everything. We simply didn't have money, and the Web is a place you can go without money. Younger voters are very involved in the Web. My 19-year-old [son Tyrel] knows 50 times more about computers than I do.

Q: Wrestler Hulk Hogan now wants to run for president. What do you think?

I'm disappointed in him. His ego is so large that he feels he needs to try to cheapen what I've accomplished. It's a wrestling gimmick. He's on the final legs of his career, hanging on by his fingertips. He's like the career politician who won't give up his position. I feel sorry for him. He's a jealous man.

Q: You've co-starred in movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is now your friend. Would he make a good politician?

No. He talks political, that's all. Arnold's real interests are making movies and money. He probably has political interests because he sees how much he pays in taxes. Arnold's problem is that I can do something he can't: be president. He wasn't born here. Arnold doesn't like to be told he can't do something. So I tease him. I say, "Arnold, you could never be president. I could!"

Q:As president, you could appoint him secretary of State.

No, I'd make him secretary of the Treasury. He's a walking treasury.

Q: What's the worst thing a voter has said about you since the election?

A letter to the editor accused me of attacking Hillary Clinton. She came to town during the campaign to stump for [Ventura's Democratic opponent Skip] Humphrey, and she made reference to me, saying, "OK, Minnesota, it's time to end the carnival sideshow." I took offense. My response was, "I think Hillary should worry more about leaving Bill home alone." I didn't start this. She did! If you attack someone, be prepared. As a Navy SEAL, we have a code: We don't get mad - we get even.

Q: How long would you like to be in office?

Our country was founded with people serving, then going back to what they used to do and letting other people serve. I believe no one should serve a day more than we allow the president: eight years.

Q: Your campaign theme was "Retaliate in '98." What will be the theme of your administration?

[Pauses.] "My governor can beat up your governor." That'll work.

Minnesota's new first family While campaigning, Ventura told his wife of 23 years, Terry, right, he would leave her involvement in his political career "completely up to her." The Venturas have two teens, including Jade, 15, left. Ventura resists putting his family in the spotlight. Running the state, he says, "has nothing to do with my family. This is business."

Jeff Zaslow writes USA WEEKEND magazine's weekly "Straight Talk" column. His last cover story profiled singer Celine Dion.

Photo Credit: GEORGE LANGE, OUTLINE (Governor Ventura); BRUCE KLUCKHOHN for USA WEEKEND (Ventura family); TIM DILLON, USA TODAY (Ventura, '85)