A Democratic president.
A rebellious Congress.
And a heated political summer.
I'm not talking today.
I'm talking 15 years ago "today."
Bill Clinton in the White House.
Republicans controlling the House.
Of course "he" was popular and en-route to re-election.
And a royal couple...
Named Charles and Diana were days away from filing for divorce.
August 12, 1996.
Summer doldrums kicking in.
But quietly, behind the scenes a phenomenon was starting up.
And "I" was there.
15 years ago today. It was my first day at Fox News Channel. It’s true.
Nearly two months before the lights went on, I was here.
One of Roger Ailes' early recruits in a war, whose ultimate outcome, I have to admit now...I had my doubts.
But I still had this helmet hair.
CNN ruled the air waves. And another, backed by the ample resources of Microsoft and NBC was just up and running. Talk that others would even follow.
And surely what Roger and Rupert Murdoch were cooking up was folly.
I remember 15 years ago this day, very friendly folks here desperately trying to find me an office, a cubicle, a chair...anywhere for this Cavuto guy to sit.
It was a scramble. Many friends of mine thought I was crazy.
I had left CNBC -- and appearances on NBC news and The Today Show...For what? For this?
It was if I had entered the Witness Protection Program...
Stranded on some island of media misfit toys...
With unfamiliar names, no offense like...Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Steve Doocy, and this up-and-coming kid, I don’t know...Shepard Smith.
No one cared what we said, or did. No one mentioned us. Few even "knew" about us.
And 15 years ago today, I was just stepping into this.
In the middle of a summer of conventions and a resurging Democratic president...
And a just completed Atlanta Olympics.
A world transfixed on so much else...
But clearly not me. Not Fox.
And you know what, it worried me. But I remember very well...In fact I remember distinctly...it not worrying my boss Roger Ailes.
And given the money he was forking over to build it, it wasn’t worrying his boss Rupert Murdoch either.
Weird, because as the biz guy, I saw first-hand the distinct business disadvantage. The news bureaus we didn't have. The satellites we didn't have. All the tons of technical stuff you need to build a state of the art news operation we didn't have.
But I didn't see the one thing that we did have
But Roger did.
Something money couldn't buy. Or all the top notch news bureaus in the world couldn't guarantee.
A fair and balanced approach to covering news.
Not the same way. A different way. To "hear out" those long "left out."
And a sounding board for those long bored by the same old.
A revolution that started...only 15 years ago today, the world didn't know it. And I have to admit, it took me years to see it.
Before the viewers started coming, and just as Roger assured this nervous paranoid anchor...
They would be staying.
It's not often you get a ringside seat to a revolution.
15 years ago today...I did.
I didn't appreciate it then. But man, oh man, I do now.
The mainstream media didn't even see it then.
But man, oh man, I think they see us now.
You know they say August is a crazy month for stocks.
Take it from someone who knows...It’s not just stocks.
Something else.
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