Fox News’ chief Washington correspondent spent the past week and a half in the small rural city of Hillsdale, Michigan teaching a student journalism seminar.
The visit also allowed Rosen to promote his book Cheney One on One: A Candid Conversation with America’s Most Controversial Statesman, which is set for release Nov. 2.
The book consists mostly of transcription from a 10-hour long interview over the course of several days that Rosen did with former President George W. Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney.
“I think millennials will find it of great interest whether you love Dick Cheney or not,” Rosen said.
“Beyond the intrinsic interest of his extraordinary career, we’re also talking about events that are just past today’s experience, talking about 9/11 and Iraq,” he said. “These are stories and events that are still exerting a considerable impact on today’s stories and events.”
Rosen pointed to an experience Cheney discussed when the United States and Israel discovered North Korea had installed a nuclear reactor in Syria in 2007. Bush sent the issue to the U.N. Security Council, against Cheney’s wishes, and Israel destroyed it themselves.
“Had the Israelis not destroyed that reactor, ISIS would be controlling a nuclear reactor. That’s pretty scary,” Rosen said. “That shows the relevance of the Bush-Cheney era to today.”
Additionally, Rosen asked questions about more contemporary controversies: racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri; the Tea Party; and the digital revolution’s effect on labor markets.
Rosen also gave a speech at Hillsdale College entitled “Fear and Loathing on the Centrifuge Trail: National Security Reporting and Press Freedoms in the Obama Era.” He discussed “Rosengate,” the scandal revealing the Department of Justice had tracked and labeled him a criminal in a probe of classified leaks.
“I was troubled both for the impact that I could readily see it might have upon me personally, but also from the standpoint of concern about press freedoms because, if it could happen to me, it could happen to any reporter,” Rosen said. “I’m glad it’s over.”
Hillsdale named Rosen its Fall 2015 distinguished fellow in journalism for his “bold reporting on national security issues and his refusal to be cowed by Justice Department harassment.”
“I always enjoy engaging with young people, finding out where their head is at,” Rosen told Red Alert Politics. “They’re the future. I’m happy to have the chance to pass on the things I’ve learned.”
