Governor Jim Blanchard: Nobody Does This Alone

Live from the Next Chapter with Dan Loepp · Oct 8, 2026 · 36m

In 1979 a Treasury official pulled Congressman Jim Blanchard aside and told him Chrysler was going broke. Chrysler did not yet know how bad it was. The public would not know for another month. He could not repeat a word of it, and the rescue was going to land in his lap whether he wanted it or not.

The reason that call went to him traces back four years, to something he did as a freshman that was unpopular in his own district.

By the time the news broke he was ready. He had already called every Democrat on his committee from a cottage in Ontario with one request. Hold your position until we…