Longtime Meet the Press host Lawrence Spivak was famous for challenging the assertions of his interview subjects, but not very used to being corrected himself, as French Prime Minister Guy Mollet did in a 1957 appearance. Mollet had been in office for twenty-two months by that point – the longest of any Premier in post-World War Two France, and Spivak gave him an unusually effusive introduction to Meet the Press, saying, “That his cabinet has survived the great and continuous crises which have confronted France this past year is a testament to his leadership.” But he also said that Mollet “began his career as a teacher of English and Latin” – a statement that the Premier lightheartedly took issue with, parsing it as only a former school-teacher could. Before he answered Spivak’s first question, Mollet pointed out “a little error, if I might say so, in the way you presented me – just a word.” Mollet had in fact been a teacher of English grammar, not English, in his previous career. Sharing a laugh with the panel, he humbly noted that, missing the word “grammar,” Spivak’s introduction might give American audiences a bad impression: “What would the people over here think of the way the French people choose their English teachers when they listen to me with my awful accent?”
You can watch the clip from March of 1957 below – including Lawrence Spivak’s response to Guy Mollet’s on-air correction of his Meet the Press introduction.
Every Monday, Betsy Fischer - the Executive Producer of Meet the Press - poses a trivia question on Twitter about the 64 years of history-making moments and guests on Meet The Press. Check back every Tuesday for answers and video clips!
