We had hundreds of thousands of people all dedicated to doing the perfect job, and I think they did about as well as anyone could ever have expected.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
But we did the best we could and in the end some of us had to get day jobs and start fresh.
I was able to do something that people can't do these days, which is to have quality time with the guys who were trying to be president and a number of them who got the job.
When an executive walked on our floor, it was at their own risk. As far as what others thought of working for me, I know I was very tough at times, and would storm down the hall after watching some bad animation from Korea. But overall, I feel we had a good time.
How many people didn't get a part who would have been better than the person who got the part? Thousands.
I did every odd job you could possibly imagine: Holding a sign in the rain for 14 hours straight, sweeping up cigarette butts, pouring coffee, running around - anything I could to be on a film set. I wanted to be in the business. So I'd say, 'You need that job done? Fine,' and I became indispensable to people.
I think we've done that. But it's not something you really notice, 'cause I've always thought the people here have always done their best, and they continue to do their best. They just might do it a little bit differently.
Of everyone else who was running, and there were some very talented people, none of them had anywhere near the experience I had in hiring people, holding them accountable, creating systems for accountability.
We just did what we'd done when we were an act in the '60s. But I found it impossible to hold a dialogue with 500,000 people. In a certain sense, it was numbing.
I truly believed that other people in my position didn't make mistakes; I couldn't see that everybody makes them, even people with great experience.
I fully expected that, by the end of the century, we would have achieved substantially more than we actually did.