FORMER IOWA GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD WILL BE “AMBASSADOR-IN-RESIDENCE” AT DRAKE UNIVERSITY, MEETING WITH STUDENTS AND PLANNING TO HOST A YEARLY CONFERENCE ABOUT U.S. AND CHINA RELATIONS.
BRANSTAD, WHO WAS PRESIDENT TRUMP’S AMBASSADOR TO CHINA, GRADUATED FROM DRAKE’S LAW SCHOOL 50 YEARS AGO.
THE 75-YEAR-OLD BRANSTAD WAS THE NATION’S LONGEST-SERVING GOVERNOR AND WILL HAVE AN OFFICE IN THE DRAKE LAW LIBRARY:
TERRY1 OC……SOMETHING LIKE THAT.” :18
BRANSTAD HOPES TO ORGANIZE AN ANNUAL CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON THE U.S. RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA — A COUNTRY BRANSTAD SAYS CAN BE CONSIDERED BOTH AN ADVERSARY AND A POTENTIAL TRADING PARTNER.
TERRY3 OC…….STARTED IN WUHAN.” :11
BRANSTAD SAYS IT WAS NO EASY TASK AS THE AMBASSADOR TO EVACUATE 13-HUNDRED PEOPLE FROM CHINA BACK TO THE UNITED STATES.
HE SAYS THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAS DONE EVERYTHING IT CAN TO COVER UP THE ORIGINS OF COVID-19 AND THE WORLD PROBABLY WILL NEVER KNOW FOR SURE HOW IT STARTED.
TERRY2 OC……OUT OF HAND.” :16
SOME OF BRANSTAD’S PERSONAL PAPERS AND MEMORABILIA WILL ALSO BE DONATED TO DRAKE. BRANSTAD’S OFFICIAL PAPERS FROM HIS TIME AS GOVERNOR ARE DIGITIZED AND AVAILABLE AT THE STATE HISTORICAL MUSEUM’S LIBRARY.
