The Charlie Kirk Show - August 22, 2020


A Tribute to My Mentor, Bill Montgomery


Episode Stats


Length

30 minutes

Words per minute

195.68478

Word count

6,001

Sentence count

517


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

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00:00:00.000 Thank you for listening to this Podcast 1 production.
00:00:02.000 Now available on Apple Podcasts, Podcast 1, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
00:00:08.000 Hey, everybody.
00:00:08.000 Hope you had a great week.
00:00:10.000 We enjoyed delivering instant news about the Democrat National Convention straight to you all week.
00:00:15.000 Please go back in the archives from just this last week and a half, and please dive deep at some of the best episodes we've ever done.
00:00:22.000 Listen to one or two episodes, send them to your friends, and email us your questions always at freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:00:28.000 Yesterday was a tough day for me.
00:00:32.000 I gave the eulogy at my mentor's memorial in Lamont, Illinois, Bill Montgomery.
00:00:38.000 Without him, there would be no Turning Point USA.
00:00:41.000 So for this weekend's episode on Saturday here, I just wanted to share what I shared with his family, some of his closest friends, and our staff at Turning Point USA.
00:00:54.000 I hope you'll enjoy it, and I hope you'll be able to take some lessons away from how Bill Montgomery impacted my life and so many other lives.
00:01:02.000 And if you feel compelled to do so, help support what he cared most about, TurningpointUSA, tpusa.com.
00:01:10.000 Please enjoy this eulogy that I gave for my friend, Bill Montgomery.
00:01:14.000 Here it is.
00:01:15.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
00:01:17.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campuses.
00:01:19.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
00:01:22.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
00:01:26.000 I want to thank Charlie.
00:01:27.000 He's an incredible guy.
00:01:28.000 His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA.
00:01:36.000 We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
00:01:45.000 That's why we are here.
00:01:50.000 Thank you, Brad.
00:01:51.000 That was terrific.
00:01:52.000 So you can see a constant theme today of people that needed to be believed in.
00:01:59.000 Families that were formed, literally two marriages that we know of just today, thanks to Bill.
00:02:05.000 Bill was a creator.
00:02:08.000 He was somebody that wanted to lift up anyone he came in contact with.
00:02:13.000 So I'm going to share just some of my favorite stories with Bill, talk about the legacy that is still going on today, thanks to Bill, and what he was really and truly passionate about.
00:02:27.000 Some of you have heard these stories before, but some of them are pretty awesome, I have to say.
00:02:33.000 They make it what Bill did for me and for this country was incredible.
00:02:38.000 So I first met Bill on April 17th, 2012.
00:02:42.000 You see, more so than almost anyone else, when people talk about Bill, they almost know the exact minute they met him.
00:02:50.000 They know exactly what they were doing.
00:02:52.000 That's how you know that's somebody's special.
00:02:54.000 And sometimes like, I don't really know how I met that person.
00:02:57.000 Everyone almost always, like, you know, I met him right there, and it's just his uniform almost never changed.
00:03:03.000 I use that word uniform because it was very unique.
00:03:07.000 His turning point pin, eventually.
00:03:10.000 Starbucks coffee, of course.
00:03:12.000 Heavy whipping cream, two splendas.
00:03:14.000 I think I got that right.
00:03:16.000 A smile that kind of just made you stop in your tracks.
00:03:19.000 I think that's such a beautiful picture that captures it.
00:03:23.000 I don't think I ever saw Bill Montgomery wear a t-shirt.
00:03:26.000 I think that it was always a blazer and one of these ties.
00:03:31.000 This was actually one of his favorite ties.
00:03:33.000 Very interesting looking.
00:03:36.000 Colorblind.
00:03:39.000 Thin eyeglasses.
00:03:40.000 He went through a phase where he wore thicker eyeglasses and then he went back to the thinner ones.
00:03:44.000 Coal hand shoes, which I think we're all honoring correctly tonight, comfortable shoes.
00:03:48.000 The latest watch or eye watch of some sort.
00:03:51.000 He had more gadgets than I think he even could properly catalog.
00:03:57.000 An iPad, of course, in one hand.
00:03:59.000 An iPhone, probably in his pocket here, another iPhone in probably the pocket right here.
00:04:04.000 A pocket full of business cards.
00:04:06.000 He would have his right here, and I don't know the correct term, just as many business cards as you could imagine to just give out.
00:04:12.000 June 3rd, 2012, we went to CPAC, Chicago, and Bill had cut out these little handmade business cards.
00:04:24.000 So those of you that knew Bill, he loved doing his own printing, right?
00:04:26.000 So he had the little, and it just was very simple.
00:04:29.000 It's like Charlie Kirk, and I just think we called it the turning point, just so you know, that was the original name, was the turning point.
00:04:35.000 We obviously rebranded it from there.
00:04:39.000 And then on June 5th of 2012, I called him.
00:04:41.000 I'll never forget where I was.
00:04:42.000 And I said, Bill, I think I actually want to do this thing for a couple months.
00:04:47.000 And any other human being would have come up with the 92,000 reasons why this was a bad idea.
00:04:54.000 You have no experience.
00:04:55.000 You have no money.
00:04:56.000 You have no connections.
00:04:58.000 You're just out of high school.
00:05:00.000 No one's going to take you seriously.
00:05:01.000 None of that even just like was not even just on the radar screen.
00:05:04.000 It was, quite honestly, it was probably the Holy Spirit where it was like, I've been waiting for you to call.
00:05:09.000 It was like, almost like, yeah, I've been waiting for this.
00:05:13.000 It's almost like he saw this whole thing playing out, whether consciously or it's just, for those of you that believe in a higher power, you know exactly what I am talking about.
00:05:22.000 And he's like, let's go.
00:05:24.000 It's like, well, what do we do?
00:05:25.000 He's like, just go.
00:05:26.000 He's like, I'll drive and you talk.
00:05:29.000 That's basically what we did.
00:05:32.000 And I think that the lack of understanding of what we were doing is hard to articulate, right?
00:05:42.000 We would just show up at tea party rallies, Susan Petty being one of them.
00:05:46.000 And we would just show up at an event, unscheduled, and Bill would go right up to the organizer 30 seconds before the event, and he'd say, I got a speaker for you.
00:05:54.000 And they say, who are you?
00:05:56.000 And he'd sit them down.
00:05:57.000 He said, this kid, all these things.
00:05:59.000 And I was always embarrassed.
00:06:00.000 I was like, Bill, come on.
00:06:01.000 He's like, no, just trust me.
00:06:02.000 Just let me, he's always embarrassed.
00:06:04.000 I couldn't, I honestly looking back, I knew exactly why he was doing it, but I couldn't, I just did not like it, right?
00:06:11.000 But he would just go on and on and on.
00:06:12.000 And they'd say, okay, we'll give him two minutes.
00:06:14.000 So he'd go to tea party to tea party.
00:06:15.000 We would just go on the tea party website and just show up.
00:06:19.000 And then all of a sudden, they're like, oh, maybe we'll let this kid speak a little bit longer, maybe a little bit longer.
00:06:24.000 And next thing you know, we would raise like $300, right?
00:06:26.000 Like, well, we have enough to kind of almost do a bank account, you know, almost.
00:06:30.000 And we just started to meet Bill's friends.
00:06:32.000 We met Bob Bunda.
00:06:34.000 We met so many people across Lamont.
00:06:37.000 So that summer was very interesting, but every day it was insanely positive from Bill, no matter what was happening.
00:06:47.000 I have a great way to describe Bill.
00:06:48.000 And he never said this, but it's so true.
00:06:51.000 It's like the best thing about being surrounded is you could shoot in any direction.
00:06:54.000 Like, that's exactly how Bill viewed life, right?
00:06:57.000 It doesn't matter what's happening.
00:06:59.000 There's nothing but opportunities around you, right?
00:07:01.000 It's perfect.
00:07:02.000 So on July 4th of that summer, I got on Fox.
00:07:05.000 We started to get a little bit more notoriety.
00:07:08.000 And then Bill called me in late July with this crazy idea.
00:07:11.000 And it's this next week would have been eight years ago, exactly, where it was the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.
00:07:20.000 I didn't know what a convention was.
00:07:22.000 I thought it was like a hockey game, right?
00:07:23.000 Where you could just buy tickets and stub hub.
00:07:25.000 I think Bill shared that belief.
00:07:27.000 But it doesn't matter.
00:07:28.000 These are just obstacles.
00:07:28.000 You just go through them, right?
00:07:30.000 That's what you do.
00:07:30.000 Tickets?
00:07:31.000 Who cares?
00:07:31.000 We'll just go.
00:07:32.000 So Bill said, let's go down to Tampa, Florida.
00:07:35.000 I said, what do you mean?
00:07:36.000 He said, ah, we'll just figure it out.
00:07:38.000 So I'll never forget.
00:07:38.000 He sent me the Expedia itinerary.
00:07:40.000 We were staying in Siesta Key.
00:07:42.000 If you know anything about Tampa geography, Siesta Key is like an hour, 45 minutes from Tampa.
00:07:48.000 But Bill's like, I'd love to drive.
00:07:49.000 We'll get up early and we'll go up there.
00:07:51.000 Okay.
00:07:52.000 If you know Bill, you know exactly the type of experience I'm describing.
00:07:55.000 So we land, the first day's a hurricane.
00:07:56.000 I don't know if you remember that.
00:07:58.000 Literally, a hurricane hit Tampa, Florida.
00:08:00.000 We go down to CS to Key at a day's inn, and this Bill would never tell this story, but he was having trouble that week medically.
00:08:08.000 He never let me know about it.
00:08:09.000 He actually, I found out this months later.
00:08:12.000 He checked himself into the emergency room, solved the issue at like three o'clock in the morning, and came back in time to make sure that I had this coffee I needed to drive me back up.
00:08:20.000 Never knew about it until that's the type of guy that he was.
00:08:22.000 So we would hang around the Republic.
00:08:24.000 We'd hang around the Republican convention.
00:08:26.000 Again, all I had was like these homemade business cards from Bill's basement, right?
00:08:30.000 The turning point.
00:08:31.000 We finally changed the turning point, USA.
00:08:33.000 And so Bill, every 20 minutes, was just throwing ideas at me, right?
00:08:39.000 And it's just a natural state of being to challenge that.
00:08:43.000 When you just get it non-stop, you just can't, you have to like be somewhat contrarian.
00:08:47.000 You're like, okay, well, maybe this is not going to work.
00:08:49.000 No, we're going to meet people.
00:08:51.000 We're going to do this.
00:08:51.000 Let's go hang out where all the people are hanging out.
00:08:53.000 So if you've ever been to a convention, it's kind of like a fortified deal.
00:08:56.000 You can't get past a certain barrier without credentials.
00:08:59.000 So I thought you could buy tickets like at StubHub or whatever.
00:09:02.000 Bad idea.
00:09:02.000 But Bill's like, oh, we'll figure it out.
00:09:04.000 We'll get inside.
00:09:04.000 What do you mean we'll figure it out?
00:09:06.000 He came to the second to last day on Wednesday, which would have been four years ago.
00:09:10.000 And we were just sitting in the Hilton.
00:09:12.000 And Bill had struck up a conversation with somebody.
00:09:14.000 And it's articulated in the book, Time for a Turning Point.
00:09:17.000 And I went to just go charge my phone or something.
00:09:20.000 And Bill came up to me so excited.
00:09:22.000 He said, Charlie, I got us a pass.
00:09:25.000 I said, what are you talking about?
00:09:26.000 He got us a pass.
00:09:27.000 He's like, we're going to go in right now.
00:09:30.000 I said, okay.
00:09:31.000 So I don't know what kind of barter deal he did.
00:09:34.000 One of my friends named Evan was involved, but we got into the convention.
00:09:37.000 But Bill didn't stop there.
00:09:38.000 It was one thing that we're actually in the convention.
00:09:41.000 He's like, let's go find Neil Cavuto because I was on his show a month and a half earlier.
00:09:45.000 And we hunted down Neil Cavuto.
00:09:47.000 I'll tell you what.
00:09:48.000 And Bill got Neil and he got him cornered.
00:09:50.000 He said, Neil, you need to have this young man on this program all the time.
00:09:55.000 And he's like, who are you?
00:09:56.000 You know, and they actually hit it off after, you know, the initial.
00:09:59.000 And Neil did.
00:10:00.000 He had me on live from the convention, which is valuable space.
00:10:04.000 And it's all because of Bill.
00:10:06.000 We actually have a picture of Bill and I there.
00:10:07.000 I think it's in one of the things there.
00:10:09.000 So that was a real good kind of launching off point.
00:10:12.000 Early September 2012, went through a really tough time.
00:10:15.000 Something happened in the media that I just was less than pleased with.
00:10:19.000 And Bill didn't let me get down.
00:10:22.000 I actually remember driving to Peoria with him that day.
00:10:24.000 He's like, let's go for a road trip.
00:10:26.000 So why?
00:10:27.000 He's like, let's just, we'll get it out of our head.
00:10:27.000 I don't know.
00:10:29.000 So we went down to Peoria and he showed me all the back roads of where he grew up and showed me right by the river and showed me the hill that his father raised him and loved small town America.
00:10:41.000 He loved driving the back roads.
00:10:43.000 In fact, sometimes I would make a joke.
00:10:45.000 I said, Bill, you're at the lake house.
00:10:47.000 It's going to take you three and a half hours to get to Lamont because you'd always take the back roads and kind of, and he's like, half a day experience.
00:10:53.000 But he loved it because I think he liked being in touch with organic America.
00:10:57.000 Like he just, artificial America really bothered him, right?
00:11:00.000 He wanted to know the stories.
00:11:02.000 He wanted to know the experiences.
00:11:04.000 And so then this is talked about, and I only mentioned this because memories sometimes fade.
00:11:10.000 I talk about this where I published it five years ago, but there was this moment where I was really done.
00:11:16.000 Like I was like, we're not raising money.
00:11:18.000 We have like $900 in the account.
00:11:20.000 This was December of 2012.
00:11:22.000 And Bill basically forcibly did not let me quit.
00:11:25.000 Like that's as aggressive as I've ever seen Bill.
00:11:29.000 Was like, you're not doing it.
00:11:30.000 So Bill's negotiating position was like, you're not stopping.
00:11:35.000 Like, I was like, well, what do you mean?
00:11:36.000 Like, we have no success.
00:11:37.000 He's like, not going to happen.
00:11:38.000 It was not even like, I'm not going to let it happen.
00:11:40.000 It's like, not happening.
00:11:41.000 He's like, you're better than this.
00:11:43.000 Because I was ready to just kind of like close it all up.
00:11:45.000 And this was fun.
00:11:48.000 Didn't happen in the slightest.
00:11:51.000 We then took a trip to New York City that we couldn't afford.
00:11:54.000 But Bill said, we're going to go hunt down Neil Cavuto again.
00:11:56.000 I was like, my goodness, the Neil Cavuto thing.
00:11:58.000 It's true.
00:11:59.000 And so we did.
00:12:00.000 And Bill hunted down Neil Cavuto and got me back on the program and on Stuart Varney.
00:12:05.000 And I still have those relationships to this day.
00:12:07.000 And you guys know, it's just snowballed into it.
00:12:11.000 It just grew from there.
00:12:13.000 And it was this relentless belief in young people.
00:12:17.000 He was so focused on mentoring people that did not have direction.
00:12:22.000 And Brad, you said it the best.
00:12:23.000 It's like he didn't care as much about what his day was going.
00:12:26.000 Like he might have forgotten to do something or this.
00:12:28.000 It's irrelevant.
00:12:30.000 A successful day for him was like, did I make one young person's path a little bit straighter?
00:12:35.000 Like a successful day for him was, did I help somebody figure out with more clarity of what they're supposed to do with their life?
00:12:43.000 That's all he cared about.
00:12:44.000 That's all he cared about.
00:12:46.000 And so we have some of our turning point directors here that had a chance to know him and thank you guys for coming.
00:12:54.000 But he would always be bragging about the success of the organization.
00:12:59.000 And I use that word intentionally because he felt so much pride in it.
00:13:03.000 And he should.
00:13:04.000 Without him, it doesn't exist.
00:13:05.000 It's a biblical term, ex nilio, out of nothing.
00:13:07.000 It was like breathed into existence, right?
00:13:10.000 And not only that, it wasn't supposed to exist.
00:13:12.000 Through all of the different challenges, he was relentlessly positive as to what this organization could accomplish.
00:13:21.000 So I called that one encounter the Starbucks on a snowy afternoon.
00:13:24.000 I was in Rosemont.
00:13:25.000 It was two, it gets dark at like 1.30 in the afternoon around here, as you well know.
00:13:30.000 It was just one of those unbelievably depressing days, just ice everywhere.
00:13:34.000 It was awful.
00:13:35.000 And you would have thought it was 85 degrees outside and sunny because Bill was just as chipper as ever.
00:13:41.000 He's like, this is the greatest opportunity.
00:13:43.000 And no matter what happened, no matter what would happen, he said, but you haven't seen the positive yet that could come out of this.
00:13:50.000 I'm like, Bill, what is the positive?
00:13:52.000 Like, come on.
00:13:53.000 And it was this incredible thing, right?
00:13:54.000 Because it was a 72-year-old and an 18-year-old.
00:13:56.000 It's almost poetic, honestly, right?
00:13:59.000 Where you have someone who's literally four times older than the principal.
00:14:03.000 And it's like the young person is constantly challenging the aged wisdom, right?
00:14:09.000 And I think it would be incomplete to say that he was flying blind.
00:14:14.000 He wasn't.
00:14:15.000 I think that would be a misinterpretation of what Bill was doing.
00:14:18.000 It's as if he had such a gut instinct and a path.
00:14:21.000 He kind of saw all of it.
00:14:23.000 And it wasn't that he was surprised to see the growth of Turning Point because he would tell me, he's like, you don't understand.
00:14:28.000 One day you're going to have staff.
00:14:30.000 You're going to have an office.
00:14:31.000 We're going to do all that.
00:14:32.000 He donated that beautiful garage for office space that we still use to this day, right down in downtown Lamont.
00:14:38.000 You guys can drive by it after the service, 217 and a half Illinois Street.
00:14:42.000 And I'll tell you what, that was one of the funniest things.
00:14:44.000 Every time I hear that address, I smile because Bill was so proud of the half.
00:14:48.000 He was so proud of it because it was an opportunity to tell a story, right?
00:14:52.000 So we'd be in a donor meeting up in Wisconsin or Ohio, and they'd say, I'd like to send you some money.
00:14:57.000 What's your address?
00:14:59.000 I said, oh, boy, here we go.
00:15:01.000 And he said, our address is 217 and a half Illinois Street.
00:15:04.000 And the secretary would be like, what are you talking about?
00:15:05.000 Half?
00:15:06.000 What is it?
00:15:06.000 Charleston, South Carolina, right?
00:15:08.000 And so he's like, no, it's a converted garage.
00:15:10.000 If you're ever in Lamont, I'm going to show you around.
00:15:12.000 In fact, you should move to Lamont, live there, and run for mayor.
00:15:16.000 And they're like, I've known you for 20 seconds, right?
00:15:19.000 And that's the type of guy he was.
00:15:20.000 In fact, I believe he has more of a claim to the mayoral office of Lamont than any other human being.
00:15:26.000 Like no one, no elected official could ever believe in the city of Lamont as much as Bill.
00:15:30.000 But it wasn't, it was almost like Lamont was a microcosm of his vision for the country.
00:15:36.000 I drove around in that Thunderbird with him all across the Midwest.
00:15:39.000 I did that once all the way to western Iowa and back.
00:15:44.000 And he loved small cars.
00:15:45.000 He loved it.
00:15:46.000 He loved that little race car of his.
00:15:49.000 He loved the Mazda of his.
00:15:51.000 And he had another expression where he used to say all the time, you never know.
00:15:56.000 He always used to say that.
00:15:58.000 You never know.
00:15:59.000 And I just think that was so, that phrase was so embodied in how he approached every single encounter.
00:16:08.000 It was from a belief that the next thing is going to be better than what we're currently going through right now.
00:16:15.000 And we can call that optimistic.
00:16:17.000 I think it's more like hopeful.
00:16:18.000 And I think we have so little of that right now.
00:16:20.000 It's like what we're about to go through could be the greatest thing ever.
00:16:24.000 I have the words written down here, optimistic, magnanimous, positive.
00:16:28.000 It's hard to articulate how many lives that he touched.
00:16:32.000 It's actually ongoing.
00:16:34.000 That's what the cool thing is, is that it's not actually a temporary number.
00:16:38.000 In fact, it's going to grow forever.
00:16:41.000 Think about that.
00:16:42.000 Like sometimes when we remember loved ones, we say, well, he touched all these people.
00:16:47.000 Well, that's not, we don't know.
00:16:49.000 The fact is he might have touched all of Western civilization without even knowing it.
00:16:53.000 Every speech I give, every chapter that our Turning Point USA students start, every person that graduated from Turning Point that has been influenced by what we do, it's ongoing.
00:17:03.000 It's as if that light that he shined in the darkness is going through prism after prism after prism and millions and millions of people, all just from one guy.
00:17:12.000 It's incredible.
00:17:14.000 Never more than one phone call away.
00:17:18.000 And I mean that.
00:17:19.000 And so whether it be 3 a.m., 6 a.m., doesn't matter.
00:17:23.000 He would always answer the phone with, he'd always answer the same way.
00:17:27.000 Hello, always at that kind of, just ready to talk to you, just kind of handing it off to you.
00:17:32.000 It was always pleasant.
00:17:33.000 It was never like, what do you want?
00:17:35.000 Right?
00:17:35.000 It was never like, why are you calling me at 2 a.m.?
00:17:38.000 It was, hello, yes, of course.
00:17:40.000 We'll get that printed.
00:17:42.000 I'll drive you there.
00:17:43.000 I'll deliver the books to your home at 4 o'clock in the morning.
00:17:46.000 It's like, yeah, what else do you need?
00:17:48.000 Always.
00:17:49.000 The answer was always yes.
00:17:50.000 The question was just in his mind, how is he going to do all of it?
00:17:54.000 His favorite place at some of our big Turning Point USA events, we've hosted the most amazing events that he believed in.
00:18:01.000 He was always pushing me.
00:18:02.000 I'll never forget it.
00:18:03.000 We hosted our first Student Action Summit in Holiday Inn, and we thought we were like the coolest thing, right?
00:18:08.000 We had 300 students there.
00:18:10.000 We were in kind of a room smaller than this.
00:18:12.000 I thought it was on top of the world.
00:18:13.000 And Bill said, but it's just the beginning.
00:18:17.000 Come on, Bill, let me enjoy it.
00:18:18.000 He said, no, dream bigger, aim higher, think bigger.
00:18:21.000 And I think that my staff is like, so that's where he gets that from.
00:18:24.000 Okay.
00:18:25.000 They're like, okay.
00:18:27.000 And the answer is yes.
00:18:29.000 But his favorite place at these massive conventions, back in December being the greatest example of it, 5,000 students, president, vice president, all these incredible people, Rush Limbaugh.
00:18:39.000 Bill would come in and out for maybe one speaker, but no.
00:18:42.000 His favorite place at a convention, and all of our staff knew it, was in the absolute back of the back of the convention where he would hold court, where he'd just go find a random kid and buy him a cup of coffee.
00:18:54.000 When I mean random, I mean random, right?
00:18:58.000 Just a kid that's just kind of standing in line, just looks like he's a little passive.
00:19:02.000 And Bill would go up and be like, can I buy you a cup of coffee?
00:19:04.000 They have no idea who he is, right?
00:19:06.000 They have no idea.
00:19:07.000 They don't know if he's a board member.
00:19:08.000 They don't know if he's a speaker or a lecturer.
00:19:10.000 And he's a massive turning point pin, right?
00:19:13.000 Like the biggest pin ever.
00:19:14.000 I think we did many different variations.
00:19:16.000 He always is this big, right?
00:19:18.000 He'd sit him down and he'd just talk, active listening, as Brad beautifully said, leaning into them.
00:19:25.000 And then at the end of the conversation, and it was never Bill that ended the conversation, though.
00:19:29.000 It was the student that probably had to go and do, right?
00:19:31.000 Bill never ended a conversation, right?
00:19:34.000 Unless it was something for Edie or something.
00:19:35.000 He enjoyed the process of learning about other people.
00:19:38.000 He embodied the biblical principle that every person can teach you something you need to know.
00:19:43.000 He embodied that perfectly.
00:19:45.000 And then while all the music and the lights and the laser beams are going off on the main stage and ladies and gentlemen, introduce Rush Lumba, all this, Bill was pouring into a kid that needed it.
00:19:56.000 And we have received so many emails at Turning Point of kids that didn't commit suicide because of Bill, people that are living healthy lives because of Bill, people that have their whole life together because Bill very well could have been front stage and center at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit, looking at what he helped build, right?
00:20:13.000 He could have just been enjoying it.
00:20:14.000 But for him, he was like, that's on autopilot.
00:20:16.000 That's fine.
00:20:17.000 Who else needs me?
00:20:18.000 Whoa.
00:20:19.000 That's very deep, right?
00:20:22.000 Because it's very easy to just be like, oh, yeah, look at this incredible hill we've conquered.
00:20:25.000 For him, it was like, there's a kid out there that needs to hear something that I can lean into him.
00:20:29.000 It's amazing.
00:20:31.000 That's where he was actually most comfortable, to be honest with you.
00:20:34.000 He was most comfortable in that intimate setting, leaning into other people.
00:20:39.000 So here's seven lessons that I think we can derive from Bill that are applicable.
00:20:48.000 And then I'll get into something else, which is, first of all, and this very, people say, how do we live on the legacy?
00:20:54.000 I agree with all of that.
00:20:55.000 And one of the things that I can smile, that I am very thankful happened, was last summer, and it was not easy, but we did it, where Bill did finally meet President Trump.
00:21:07.000 That was something, the picture is right there.
00:21:09.000 And there's actually a picture right there where I'm pointing at Bill and the president's smiling because I'm telling the president without him, none of this existed.
00:21:16.000 And that was the one thing that Bill used to say, Charlie, I'm never going to ask you for anything, but I really want to meet the president.
00:21:23.000 Because he was having the Trump for President signs made a decade before anyone even thought it was possible.
00:21:29.000 I mean, it was, and he was months ago, actually back in April, he was Xeroxing me and sending me, scanning, I should say, all of these documents of things where he was just sending around pamphlets to local Lamont.
00:21:41.000 Trump for president, we need a businessman.
00:21:42.000 This is back in 2011.
00:21:45.000 But him meeting the president, I think, was very, he really, it meant a lot to him.
00:21:51.000 It really did.
00:21:52.000 So the first lesson is this.
00:21:54.000 We talked about this, but it's very applicable.
00:21:56.000 Find one person today that needs you to believe in them and lift them up.
00:22:02.000 And when I mean by believe in them, it's don't just check the box and move on, but like really get into it, right?
00:22:08.000 Really lean into it.
00:22:09.000 That was always Bill.
00:22:10.000 Number two, beautifully said by others, love your country.
00:22:16.000 He was, my goodness, man.
00:22:18.000 If we could have a country that loved America as much as Bill, none of these, I just forget it.
00:22:22.000 It's like, it's just the patriotism exuded from it.
00:22:26.000 He was a true patriot.
00:22:27.000 There's nothing he wouldn't have done for his country.
00:22:30.000 And that's a really special thing.
00:22:32.000 This is a good one.
00:22:33.000 And I love this picture: is smile more and complain less.
00:22:37.000 I think those are four good words.
00:22:39.000 Smile more in your life and just complain less.
00:22:42.000 He was not a complainer.
00:22:43.000 He wasn't.
00:22:44.000 He suffered at times from sciatica.
00:22:46.000 You know, he had issues that he could have always been complaining about.
00:22:50.000 But he really lived the embodiment that age is just a state of mind.
00:22:56.000 When he was around, people would always say, he is the youngest 77-year-old, the youngest 78-year-old I've ever met.
00:23:03.000 You feel like you were dealing with an 18-year-old.
00:23:06.000 Smile more, complain less.
00:23:08.000 Number four, create the future that you can dream of.
00:23:12.000 And he really showed that you can create something that makes the world a better place.
00:23:18.000 Number five is anyone can change the world.
00:23:20.000 Anyone can.
00:23:21.000 And there's no excuse.
00:23:22.000 That is a living legacy of Bill.
00:23:25.000 Number six is kind of a really, I mean, being on road trips with him and being all across the country, and it didn't really hit me.
00:23:34.000 He actually hated flying.
00:23:35.000 He hated it.
00:23:36.000 He was claustrophobic.
00:23:38.000 If he had to sit on an aisle with his left hand, and even with that.
00:23:42.000 But He never told me that while we were flying around the country, right?
00:23:47.000 Because he never wanted me to feel like it was a burden.
00:23:50.000 I didn't know that until years later.
00:23:53.000 But he still had that chipper attitude, which is to seize the day.
00:23:57.000 Like every day is an opportunity.
00:23:59.000 At the end of it, you could do something moral and something good.
00:24:02.000 And I think this is the seventh thing, which is a, we all need to hear this in our country right now, which is that things can actually get better.
00:24:08.000 Like that's a really, I think we need to keep saying that, that things can actually get better.
00:24:13.000 He embodied that better than any other human being I've ever met.
00:24:16.000 It's like he would, he would, he didn't have no tolerance for many things.
00:24:19.000 He had no tolerance for negativity, none.
00:24:21.000 When people were negative, he was just impulsively using the weight against them and saying, but have you seen the whole picture yet?
00:24:27.000 Like, no, Bill, things are bad.
00:24:28.000 No, they're not.
00:24:29.000 They're just about to be good.
00:24:31.000 Like, no matter what it was.
00:24:33.000 Amazing.
00:24:36.000 So a lot of us are here because Bill touched us individually, directly, or indirectly, right?
00:24:43.000 And I want to tell you about the last conversation I ever had with him.
00:24:48.000 It was on July 3rd.
00:24:51.000 I was in South Dakota.
00:24:53.000 Erica was with me.
00:24:55.000 And I, again, it was the Holy Spirit.
00:24:57.000 I hadn't called Bill for about a month and a half.
00:25:00.000 And I had awful cell service.
00:25:02.000 But I was sitting at a table and there was all this political pageantry going on in anticipation of the Mount Rushmore thing.
00:25:09.000 I turned to Erica, said, I got to call Bill.
00:25:12.000 Kids you know, right?
00:25:14.000 Stood up and went and called Bill, looking at the beautiful hills of Rapid City, South Dakota, right there in the Black Hills.
00:25:20.000 And Bill and I had the greatest conversation.
00:25:23.000 It was just calm.
00:25:25.000 It was mutual.
00:25:27.000 It was talking about the crazy things we've been through.
00:25:31.000 And it was just no other way to describe it than the Holy Spirit that just said, you got to make that phone call right now, right?
00:25:38.000 And at the end of the call, I'll never forget how it ended.
00:25:42.000 I said, we were talking about all sorts of different things.
00:25:45.000 And I don't know why I said it, but I said, Bill, you know I always have your back.
00:25:48.000 He said, I know you do, Charlie.
00:25:50.000 I know you do.
00:25:51.000 And that was it.
00:25:52.000 And so the way I interpret that is Bill would want all of us to continue to press on for the betterment of our country and for young people.
00:26:01.000 That's what having his back is.
00:26:03.000 Because as Brad, you said it perfectly.
00:26:05.000 He actually never wanted to be on center stage.
00:26:07.000 In fact, he really didn't.
00:26:08.000 It was disinterested him.
00:26:10.000 Bill didn't want to be at the big flashing lights, being like, oh, look at me.
00:26:14.000 Having his back would actually be believing in someone who needs it.
00:26:18.000 That's what that is.
00:26:20.000 And that's all that he would want.
00:26:22.000 So as we ask ourselves now, what can you do to make the world a better place?
00:26:28.000 It's be more like Bill Montgomery.
00:26:31.000 Care less about just kind of how the light shines on you and maybe what is good for the country.
00:26:38.000 Maybe there's an 18-year-old right now that needs to hear from you.
00:26:42.000 Maybe there's someone that's contemplating self-harm right now that needs that phone call.
00:26:47.000 So he would call people every week that he'd only met once and check in on them.
00:26:51.000 How you doing?
00:26:52.000 Well, I'm not doing great.
00:26:54.000 And he would be on the phone for an hour and a half, just believing and leaning in on them.
00:26:59.000 It's incredible, pouring into them.
00:27:02.000 So that's what I plan to do.
00:27:06.000 I miss him.
00:27:07.000 I really do terribly.
00:27:08.000 Brad, I completely agree.
00:27:10.000 It has not set in yet.
00:27:12.000 Hasn't.
00:27:13.000 Because at times we would go a month without seeing each other or two months.
00:27:17.000 We would text back and forth.
00:27:20.000 But a couple days ago, I looked at my phone.
00:27:22.000 I was like, and then it began to hit me.
00:27:24.000 I was like, I hadn't gotten a text from Bill in a while.
00:27:27.000 And no matter what it was, he would always be watching Fox.
00:27:30.000 He'd always be watching something.
00:27:31.000 And he'd say, keep it up.
00:27:32.000 You're doing great.
00:27:33.000 I love this.
00:27:34.000 By the way, can you speak at these four different rallies?
00:27:36.000 Call these six different people.
00:27:37.000 I have an idea.
00:27:38.000 Call me.
00:27:39.000 Right?
00:27:39.000 No matter what it was.
00:27:42.000 Perpetually planning and optimistic.
00:27:44.000 One man did something so special for our country, one person, and he deserves credit for that.
00:27:51.000 He does.
00:27:51.000 He never, ever sought it, never did.
00:27:54.000 But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give it.
00:27:56.000 So, every time you see a turning point leader, a person who's ever been touched by your organization, it's because of one guy that came up to me in April of 2012 and said, You shouldn't go to college, go do something different.
00:28:12.000 That, I think, is the greatest call to action to remember Bill Montgomery that I think we could possibly remember.
00:28:18.000 So, I'd like to close in prayer, and then we will have a lunch service.
00:28:23.000 So, and for those of you watching live, thank you and apologize for any of the audio issues.
00:28:30.000 So, please, please join me in a word of prayer.
00:28:33.000 Thank you.
00:28:36.000 Dear Lord, thank you for Bill Montgomery.
00:28:40.000 Thank you for the lives that he touched.
00:28:44.000 Thank you for Edie, for Michelle, for Brad, and for the people that he believed in.
00:28:52.000 And Bob and Rick and myself, thank you for what the impact he had on our life.
00:28:57.000 We pray that we can personify the spirit of Bill Montgomery every single day because his legacy and his spirit live on.
00:29:09.000 We pray for our country.
00:29:11.000 We pray that we can be better, more joyful, and cheerful people like Bill was.
00:29:17.000 We thank you for sending your son to die for us.
00:29:21.000 We thank you for the spirit that filled Bill every single day.
00:29:26.000 We need more people like Bill, and I pray that we can do exactly that.
00:29:31.000 In your name, we pray.
00:29:32.000 Amen.
00:29:34.000 Thank you guys so much for coming today.
00:29:36.000 And the best thing you can do as a way to remember Bill is he would want, I know this, I can hear him saying it.
00:29:43.000 Charlie, thank you for the kind words.
00:29:45.000 Now go get back to work.
00:29:46.000 I could just hear him saying that.
00:29:48.000 Now go keep doing what is good for the country, what's good for the state and good for other people.
00:29:54.000 Find someone today to believe in them.
00:29:56.000 And God bless you guys.
00:29:57.000 Thank you so much for coming.
00:29:58.000 And please enjoy each other.
00:29:59.000 Thank you.
00:30:05.000 Thank you guys for listening.
00:30:07.000 Please believe in a young person today.
00:30:09.000 Bill believed in my vision, in our vision at Turning Point USA, what we are doing to empower the next generation every single day.
00:30:16.000 He pushed me to be a better person, to work harder, to go to more college campuses, to understand history.
00:30:22.000 If you had your life touched at all by this podcast, Bill Montgomery has impacted your life.
00:30:27.000 And he would want nothing more than Turning Point USA to continue to grow to more campuses.
00:30:32.000 tpusa.com tpusa.com have a blessed Saturday, everybody.
00:30:36.000 We have more episodes coming up soon.
00:30:38.000 God bless you and God bless our