Mitch Daniels is discussed in two episodes of The Bob Zadek Show, in both cases by others rather than as a guest. The excerpts present him as a former governor, as the head of Purdue University, and as the author of a preface to a book on public employee unions. They record host Bob Zadek’s stated admiration for him and guest Philip K. Howard’s account of having worked with him, but they contain no interview with Daniels and no extended discussion of his policies or career.
Introduced in the immigration episode
Daniels first appears in the October 25, 2021 episode featuring Daniel Di Martino, a PhD student studying the economics of immigration. Introducing his guest, Zadek notes that Di Martino was born in Venezuela, left with his family, settled for a time in Indiana, and studied at Purdue University. Zadek calls Purdue one of his favorite universities, both because of the university itself and because of its head, Mitch Daniels Daniel Di Martino on Immigration (2021).
Zadek states that he had many years earlier hoped Daniels would be a presidential candidate and that he would have done all he could to get him elected. According to Zadek, Daniels decided for personal reasons not to make the run, and Zadek says everyone is worse for it. Zadek adds that he wishes Daniels was his president, and notes that Daniels was the head of the university where Di Martino studies Daniel Di Martino on Immigration (2021).
The reference functions as an aside within the introduction of Di Martino; the episode’s subject is immigration policy, and Daniels is not discussed further in the excerpt. The excerpt does not state which state Daniels governed, when he held office, or what position he held at Purdue beyond being its head.
The union episode
Daniels returns in the February 20, 2023 episode on public employee unions, whose guest is Philip K. Howard, identified as the founder of Common Good and author of Not Accountable. In the episode’s introduction, Zadek says that what caught his attention was a preface by Mitch Daniels, and he describes Daniels as personifying his ideal for a leader of the country. Zadek repeats that he was profoundly disappointed when Daniels decided, which Zadek thinks was back in 2008, not to enter the Republican primary. Zadek states that Daniels then became the chancellor or the president of Purdue University and that he was a governor, calling him an all-around solid citizen. Zadek asks Howard how he persuaded Daniels to write the preface, saying the preface alone ought to induce every listener to buy the book Government by the Unions, of the Unions, for the Unions (2023).
Howard answers that he worked with Daniels when Daniels was governor and did a number of reforms with him. Howard states that when Daniels became president of Purdue, Daniels had him come and give a talk to all of his senior staff about why they should cut out their rulebooks and start looking at how to make sensible decisions day-to-day rather than simply follow the rules Government by the Unions, of the Unions, for the Unions (2023).
Later in the same episode, Howard returns to the subject, saying that he and Daniels have done a lot of projects over the years and are very aligned. Howard calls Daniels an extraordinary leader and says that, unlike many or most politicians, Daniels actually focuses on how things work day-to-day. Howard gives as examples how to make the Department of Motor Vehicles in Indiana work better and how to manage public personnel, and says that this is so much more important to most Americans than big abstract debates about immigration or other issues Government by the Unions, of the Unions, for the Unions (2023).
The excerpt does not state the name of the book’s preface beyond the book title, the year Daniels left office, or the substance of the reforms Howard says he worked on with Daniels as governor.
Across episodes
The two episodes touch the topic in different registers rather than developing an argument about Daniels: the 2021 immigration episode uses him as an aside in introducing Daniel Di Martino, while the 2023 union episode has Philip K. Howard describe working with Daniels as governor and at Purdue and note that Daniels wrote the preface to Not Accountable. The excerpts show no development in the treatment of Daniels between the earlier and later episode; the later episode adds Howard’s first-hand account, but the host’s framing — Daniels as an admired leader who declined a presidential run — is consistent across both.
What the sources do not cover
The excerpts contain no interview with Daniels and no statement from him in his own voice. They do not give his dates in office, the state he governed, the name of any reform he enacted, or the content of the preface he wrote. They do not explain why he declined to run for president beyond Zadek’s characterization of the decision as made for personal reasons. Everything the sources offer about Daniels is second-hand, and much of it is praise rather than description.