‘I wasn’t invited to Harvard’: McCrory’s life post-governor includes a wreck and an Ivy League snub

Pat McCrory says he misses the job of North Carolina’s governor and would consider another run.

“I miss the job,” the former governor said during an appearance on Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight” program on Friday. “I miss the team. I miss the problem solving ... I don’t miss being governor, I miss doing the job.”

Democrat Roy Cooper defeated McCrory last year in the Republican governor’s bid for a second term.

He joked about having to drive himself now.

“It’s a nightmare,” he said. “Get away from my car if you see my car. I had to buy a car. Someone hit me in the first week ... I am learning how to drive again. I hadn’t driven in four years ... I’m a horrible driver ... But I like the independence a lot.”

He talked about the transition from being governor to being a private citizen again.

“I wish I could have taught in a university,” he said. “But I wasn’t invited to Harvard – which, most former governors are invited to Harvard. As a former mayor, I was invited to Harvard but as a former governor of the ninth largest state, I wasn’t invited to teach at the Kennedy School.”

McCrory said he hoped to teach at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy named for former Gov. Terry Sanford, but that didn’t work out.

“Within 15 minutes of being on the campus, the students and professors objected,” McCrory said. “That’s kind of a sad commentary on the culture of our universities now because I would have loved to teach public policy.

“That’s the only thing that I don’t have that I wanted – the opportunity to teach and discuss issues with the next generation, liberal, conservative, I could care less. But talk about problem solving and the issues that governors and mayors and city councilmen and the president has to deal with.”

On the 2020 election, McCrory said he’s going to “seriously consider” another run.

“But not now,” he said. “I’ve got to look at what my health will be in two years, what my wife wants me to do in two years, what my private sector (career) is in two years ... I love the job and I think we did a good job but I’ll do an evaluation much later on.”

To see the whole Capital Tonight segment, go to http://bit.ly/2sLkmnp.

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 3:50 PM with the headline "‘I wasn’t invited to Harvard’: McCrory’s life post-governor includes a wreck and an Ivy League snub."