The first comes from a 2002 interview with Kentucky state senator Walter Baker. Baker was a Republican from the 23rd District. He served in the General Assembly off and on between 1968 and 1996. Later, he was appointed by governor Paul Patton to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Baker begins reflecting not on legislation, but on something else entirely. He talks about the role of spouses in organizing social events for members of the General Assembly, luncheons, dinners, gatherings that brought lawmakers together across party lines.
https://kentuckyoralhistory.net/ark:/16417/xt71g15t7h6t
In 2012, the Nunn Center interviewed Senator Wendell H. Ford. Ford was the last Democrat in Kentucky to win a US Senate seat. He served in the chamber from 1974 to 1999. Prior to that, he was Kentucky's fifty-third governor. And before that, lieutenant governor serving alongside Republican Governor Louie B. Nunn.
Ford describes compromise as a necessary component to crafting effective public policy.
https://kentuckyoralhistory.net/ark:/16417/xt7dnc5sb922
The Nunn Center has 166 interviews in its Kentucky Legislature project collection:
https://kentuckyoralhistory.net/ark:/16417/xt7zpc2t7h41
Wendell H. Ford Oral History project interviews can be accessed here: