Adrian Cronauer, the disc jockey portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie "Good Morning Vietnam" voiced his support for presidential candidate Sen. Bob Dole R-Kan. when he visited the College yesterday.
Cronauer, who co-authored the original story for the movie, is the national co-chairman of Vietnam Veterans for Dole.
Cronauer discussed his interest in the news media and his job in Vietnam when he spoke to about 30 people in the 1930s Room in the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences.
Cronauer compared the reality of Vietnam to its depiction in the movie.
"If I had done half of the things that they did in [Good Morning Vietnam], they would have court-martialed me," Cronauer said.
He pointed out that while much of the movie was created in Hollywood, it did contain certain similarities to his experiences.
"The character Robin played was not me," Cronauer said, adding that he is "nowhere near as funny as Robin."
He said contrary to the film's message, there was "no music censorship" in Vietnam, but there was news censorship.
Cronauer demonstrated his famous daily shout of "Good Morning, Vietnam!" and said Robin Williams did not do it in the movie exactly how he did in reality.
He said that in Vietnam the radio station's "job was to be an anecdote to homesickness" for the troops.
Cronauer said they accomplished this goal by sounding as much like an American radio station as possible.
Since his one year tour of duty in Vietnam, Cronauer has held a number of positions in broadcasting, and he has recently become a communications lawyer in Washington, D.C.
After comparing his realistic experiences in Vietnam to Williams' fictional experiences in the film, Cronauer explained his reasons for supporting Dole.
Cronauer said that he is fiscally conservative, but socially liberal.
He said he disapproves of the government interfering with Americans' lives, adding that he hoped the recent Republican revolution in Congress would reverse "a governmental juggernaut that's been riding down the American people."
Cronauer said President Bill Clinton is "devoted to the concept of extremely large liberal government programs," and that a Republican is needed in the White House to cooperate with Congress.
"Bob Dole's the one," Cronauer said "who stands a good realistic chance" of winning the presidential race.
Cronauer came to Dartmouth to promote Dole with the New Hampshire division of Dole's campaign.
After his appearance at Rockefeller Center, Cronauer spoke at Alpha Delta fraternity.
In about the same speech as he gave in the afternoon, Cronauer praised Bob Dole and shared his experiences from his year in Vietnam while about 50 students had dinner.
