John Young Brown, Jr. became Kentucky’s 51st governor in 1979, handily winning the election following a 60-day whirlwind campaign. Brown’s involvement with the Democratic Party in Kentucky and at the national level began in 1960 when he served as vice chair of John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in Kentucky. As governor, Brown received national recognition for reducing the size of state government 22 percent while projecting Kentucky as a leading state in attracting new industry.

Prior to serving as governor, Brown established an international reputation as a businessman and entrepreneur. The University of Kentucky graduate was only 29 when he and Jack C. Massey, of Nashville, purchased Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation from its founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, building it into the world’s largest food service company between 1964 and 1971. Brown,along with McDonald’s Ray Kroc, is recognized with launching the dynamic growth of the fast food industry. He recently retired from food industry and franchising endeavors.

It’s been almost two decades since you were elected governor of Kentucky. Looking back, what accomplishment stands out as the most significant of your administration?

The quality of management. I don’t think IBM, General Motors or any president had the talent or the entrepreneurial expertise that I had in my cabinet -- W. T. Young, Bruce Lunsford, Larry Townsend, Grady Stumbo, George Fisher. The reason they agreed to serve was to have a chance to do something in politics that wasn’t dirty or bought. It was community service. I’ve never been associated with such a bright, talented, energized group of people. We were committed. I was also committed for my dad (John Y. Brown, Sr.) who fought the system for 40 years. I had almost an obsession to change government, to throw the politicians out, to see what we could do and run Kentucky like a business. And it worked. It worked like magic with no complications. Reducing 8,000 jobs saved over $200 million a year in reoccurring expense for the state. I’m not used to laying people off, but that was my one chance to clean up state government. The idea of "Kentucky and Company" (running the state like a business) was a catalyst for UPS and Toyota and hundreds of companies to build and expand here.

I have a lot of things I am proud of and I have often thought in retrospect what would I have changed. In my mind, I believe we accomplished all we could in four years. Usually, I am not satisfied with something, but that four years was the best part of my life. It was an exhilarating experience.

Kentucky has one of the highest tax burdens when you total the cost of income tax (state and local), sales tax, real and personal property taxes and inheritance taxes. Does the state’s tax burden negatively effect economic growth in Kentucky?

Absolutely. Taxes were pretty high when I was elected governor; we didn’t raise any taxes. We had a few tax reductions, but the economy was in a recession. All the states around Kentucky raised taxes almost without exception. Kentucky’s corporate income tax has doubled since I left office. If I ever have the opportunity, for whatever reason, I would look at a way to make Kentucky more attractive as far as attracting investment. Kentucky is a great state, with great people, good work ethics, location, roads, highways, railroads, waterways. Kentucky’s got it all, but Kentucky doesn’t have an economic base. Kentucky doesn’t have any banks here (national bank headquarters), none of the insurance companies are here, and the tax base is not as competitive as it could have been or should have been.

Paul Patton is doing an aggressive job in trying to attract business. His staff is making every effort. Kentuckians realize that business is the lifeblood of our quality of life. Economic development is highly competitive. You don’t give up. Kentucky still has a lot to sell.

Governor Patton is proposing state-operated casinos to generate new revenues for Kentucky. Is this a good idea?

No, gaming is a bad idea. Paul Patton knows it; but he is bold enough to explore it. That is OK. But when it comes to gambling, let the people decide. I don’t think gambling in Kentucky would be advisable and I don’t think it will pass.

State government (executive and legislative branches) has been controlled by Democrats for over 20 years. Do you feel that the Republican party’s inability to elect a governor or to control the Kentucky House or Senate has eliminated the benefits of checks and balances in state government?

Republicans haven’t fielded worthwhile candidates for many statewide offices. They really haven’t offered much opposition.

Over the past decade, a number of Kentucky-headquartered, publicly-held companies have been acquired by out-of state corporations. Have these mergers had an effect on Kentucky’s economy?

In the case of banking, mergers have absorbed most of Kentucky’s headquartered banks. Locally owned banks are where entrepreneurs get the funding to start and grow businesses.

How important is it to stimulate new entrepreneurial businesses in Kentucky?

Actually, entrepreneurs are the key to major growth in Kentucky. I have talked with a lot of people about this. Kentucky has the bold mentality to compete, but doesn’t have the financial base or structure. I would suggest to Paul Patton or anybody interested in new business development to put in incentives that will attract the entrepreneur. I’ll give you an off-the-wall idea I really think has a lot of merit. Why not have a business college without having to go through all the undergraduate work? I spent so much of my time in college not interested in the subjects, not knowing where I was going or why. I’ve challenged the higher education system and I don’t mean to be critical, (but) the educational philosophy has always been that everybody needs a broad-based education in order to prepare for life. I think in order to prepare for life you need to find out what to do and how to do it so you can have a life. Those four years are the years when you prepare for your future. How to make a living is one of the most crucial things you can learn. I was a member of a fraternity for a year, I sold books, played poker and had a girlfriend. That was most of my college life. I wasn’t interested in physics, chemistry, geology, Spanish or all those things I had to take. I got interested in law because I had to learn law in order to practice law, but it didn’t capture me. Maybe I was just a Type A personality. I would have liked to have learned something about management, profit-loss accounting, finance, economics, the psychology of motivating and leading people, and I didn’t get a chance to learn any of that. Why not have a college for entrepreneurs so you wouldn’t have to go through all the other courses for four years and be over 24 years old before you can start a career? I would look at any way to attract the entrepreneur to Kentucky. Eighty percent of all new jobs are created from small business. Kentucky doesn’t have the diversified financial base it needs, so how else do you get it? One good entrepreneur can build a Vencor or Humana or Studio Plus or KFC. Most people don’t know how to be an entrepreneur. That is why this program intrigues me. You can teach people. An entrepreneur is someone who is willing to work harder and dream bigger and can admit his failure and can afford his failure. The corporate world is pretty dull compared to life as an entrepreneur.

Are you actively involved in any businesses? What are your business plans?

No. I’ve had four careers and I’m getting restless enough to start another one. I enjoyed being home with my two teenagers since I sold out Kenny Roger’s Roasters (about two years ago) and the last year with my wife, Jill, has been great, but I need something to do. In fact, I looked at a company yesterday.

Who would you consider your best mentors?

W.T. Young. He can give you a vision in one sentence. It used to take me a book and now maybe a paragraph or a page. He sees through things very clearly. He is much more of a risk taker than I am. He just has good instincts. He got in the horse business, when nobody starts from scratch, and what a success he has had.

Let me tell you about my dad. My dad was a dreamer. His dream was to be in the United States Senate. He instilled in me that same goal, I guess. He’s being inducted into the UK Hall of Fame. Anyone would tell you without exception that he was the best trial lawyer in the last 50 years in Kentucky. He inspired me and taught me good values. He’s been the most important influence in my life.

Did you learn a lot from your dad?

He was my driving inspiration. I was inspired to do something on my own. That is why I left his law firm. Someone in the firm complained that I was making too much money riding on my father’s coattails and so I moved to Louisville and set up Brown and Father. The firm was the only one that had the word "father" included. That sort of showed my early instincts to want to be an entrepreneur.

My mother told me I wasn’t worth a dollar hire. [If] I said "That’s the only job I could get, Mom," then she questioned if I was worth a dollar or not. I got out and found an ad that guaranteed $100 a week. I made $500 my first weekend. I just learned to work. I realized that if you don’t work, you don’t get money. That was my first success, selling vacuum cleaners. I can’t believe that I spent weekends driving up the mountains selling encyclopedias, but I had a record-breaking district. I never managed people until then. I had about five or 10 salesman working for me. It was a great experience. It taught me how to sell, taught me how to speak and to present the same topic over and over again. You learn how to enunciate, to project, to change your approach, and to get people to listen to you.

Did your dad help you financially in any of your ventures or did you basically do everything on your own?

No, I didn’t want him to. I would borrow money from him, but I would always pay him back. I liked the independence. The worst thing you do to your children is take the incentive of life away from them by giving them things they can’t ever earn or do on their own. If they earn it on their own, they will appreciate the victory of life and jobs of life. I’m proud of all my children. They are all doing well.

Do you mentor (Secretary of State) John Y. Brown III to a certain extent or does he have somebody else he talks to a lot?

No. I mentor him at a distance. I don’t want to smother him. I don’t want to put the burden on him to be anything except what he wants to be. Certainly, I’ll counsel with him when he calls me. I haven’t pushed him. The only reason he ran for secretary of state was he was negotiating with me to come back to Florida. He’s done a great job working for me for two years. That’s when I asked Bill Young. He said it never works, father and son working together. So I was sort of hard on John. I was going to make him take a cut in pay to work for me. He went off and two hours later called me to say he had signed up to run for secretary of state, which I think he’s enjoyed. I hear nothing but good reports on him. I don’t want him to have goals that are beyond what he’s enjoying. John is dedicated to public service and he likes it. If that’s what he wants to do, then I’m certainly going to be supportive of it. I want him to have his own independence and feel that he’s doing his job.

If you could change something you did in business, what would it be?

The biggest mistake I made was not moving Kentucky Fried Chicken’s corporate offices to Lexington. I could have bought the Campbell House Inn for $2 million, which would have been the perfect headquarters. It would have been much easier to attract executives to Lexington. Louisville’s economy was really ahead of Lexington as far as development and new ideas, but it wasn’t as attractive a place to live.

How are things going in your hometown -- Lexington?

Well, a lot of people complain about Lexington and the lack of leadership, but all I can say is, what town would you trade it for? Lexington is the nicest community in every way that I know. So whatever Lexingtonians are doing, it must be right. Lexington can be any kind of town it wants to be. Growth is almost at its command.

Lexington and Northern Kentucky are the fastest growing communities in Kentucky and the only two that have grown significantly. It is amazing, isn’t it? I like Lexington just like it is. That doesn’t mean we don’t need growth and progress.

Are you basically saying that you are for keeping the status quo.

No. A community ought to be selective about growth though. Cities need to grow. Everybody needs to grow or they stagnate. There is balance and I think we’ve got the balance.

What about Lexington’s airport?

Lexington needs to build an airport that can take care of the future and provide the service the community needs. I don’t think you look at Lexington like you want [it] to be a million population, but you need to keep up.

Since Lexington serves as the center of business activity for Central and Eastern Kentucky, does it have more of an obligation to the region to make sure the Blue Grass Airport is competitive?

I think so. We bring people to Lexington to shop and support our economy. You have to look at the region, not just the town. We can’t be selfish.

Should the retirement age for Social Security be moved to 70 since people are living much longer?

I think if someone wants to retire at age 65, that is their choice, but they ought to have the savings in order to take care of themselves. I’ll never retire anymore than my dad or Colonel Sanders did.

There is an old mountain saying that "the key to happiness is having something to do, someone to love and something to look forward to." You see so many people that when they retire, they die. Just like Coach Bear Bryant quit coaching and died. I am for staying active and keeping the adventure going.

You supported Bill Clinton. Has his performance in the White House disappointed you?

No, I didn’t really support Bill, other than he’s a friend of mine. I wasn’t active in his campaign because at that time I wasn’t interested in national politics. Coincidentally, I visited Bill last week. I felt a little uncomfortable dropping by there. I hadn’t seen him recently. I took Pamela and Lincoln. I just say that Bill Clinton is our president and I’d rather be supportive than adversarial. It is too easy to criticize our elected officials and I want to see our country do well.

In your entire life, there must have been one of those dark moments. What was it?

I’ve had a lot of them. I almost died once.

My hero is Norman Vincent Peale. He said it simply -- it is the power of positive thinking. You have a choice every day -- misery and the negativism of life or you count your blessings and enjoy the good things and opportunities in life.

I’ve had more lives than I’ve been entitled to. I’ve got great genes. Dad would have lived to be 110, I think.

What advice would you give a recent college graduate about how to approach his or her future in business?

Find out what you do best and what you like to do. Years ago there was a public opinion poll that said 70 percent of people didn’t like their current jobs.

Perhaps they were like me. I became a lawyer because my father was a lawyer. That was the wrong reason. I was a salesman and I need to get up and go sell something everyday and make money every week. That was my aptitude and personality, but I was 29 years old before I realized I was in the wrong profession.

I’d say that when you are a freshman, start seeking out the kind of career that you think you’re going to want and then try to take the kind of courses that will prepare you for it. The main thing is, do what you are good at, can be successful at and that you enjoy. Good things will come to you in time.

I remember an old saying when I was in high school that said "If you think good thoughts, you do good acts. If you do good acts, you make good habits. If you make good habits, you build a strong character, and if you build a strong character you’ll be a man, my son." If you put yourself in the right arena with the right people doing the right things, good things happen.

Ed G. Lane is chief executive of Lane Communications, Inc. and publisher of The Lane Report.