RUSH: And I've read the book, and you tell a story about you went back home after achieving a level-of-success and you wanted to buy your dad a car.
RUSSERT: (Laughing.) It was my dad's 75th birthday, Rush, and I sent Big Russ a catalog, a Lexis catalog a Mercedes catalog and a Cadillac catalog, and, "Dad, as you would say, 'top shelf.' You've never had a new car. You always had used cars, or I guess they call them 'pre-owned' now," and I flew home to Buffalo for Thanksgiving, and I said, "Well, let's go get it." He said, "Get in the car. Let's go." He drove two blocks, and all of a sudden we pulled in the driveway and there's a big sign, Jack Atkins Ford. I said, "What is this?" and a guy appeared in the doorway in a Buffalo Bills wind breaker. He said, "There's Charlie. Hey, Charlie, here's the kid. Show him the car." We walked into the showroom, and there it is, a black Ford Crown Victoria. I said, "Dad, it's a cop car," and Big Russ said, "Charlie, show him that truck. Look at that. You can put a case of beer and a suitcase in there. Charlie show him the spare. That's not a doughnut. That's a real spare." So we bought the car, and we were driving home and I said, "Dad, I have to ask you. You could have had a Lexus a or a Mercedes. Why a Crown Vic?" He pulled over the side of the road and put the car in park, which is a big deal for Big Russ to stop driving. He said, "I beat those guys in the war. I don't want a Lexus or a Mercedes." I said, "Oh. Ok. How about a Cadillac?" He said, "You want me to drive home to our neighborhood, big spanking new Cadillac, and the neighbors say, 'Ah, Big Russ's kid made it on NBC and now he's showing off.'" He said, "That's not who I am. I'm a Ford Crown Vic guy." Even in receiving a gift, Rush, he was teaching me a lesson.
RUSH: Well, the reason that story resonated, and I don't mean to intrude on your story, but something similar happened to me. When I could finally do it, I bought my mom and dad a new car. They wanted a Ford Taurus --
RUSSERT: (Laughing) You're kidding?
RUSH -- and so I got 'em one. It was the happiest day of their lives. They could never believe anybody would do something like this, and later on I wanted to get my mom a bigger car, and I tried to get her a Lincoln Town Car, and I did. I insisted on it for safety. She didn't want it. She wanted a Taurus for much the same kind of reasons that you've described with your father here. You know, they were a unique generation of people. They had to grow up a lot sooner than their kids did and they had to learn there were things bigger than themselves a lot sooner that I did or most of my generation did. I actually studied and paid attention to them as they were bringing me up in case I ever had to do it myself. (cont.)
Rush Interview with Tim Russert