Former Gov. Steve Beshear, his wife remember the life, legacy of Brereton Jones

As we await funeral arrangements for former Gov. Brereton Jones, those who knew him best are remembering the changes he made to Kentucky and the legacy he leaves behind.

We sat down with former Gov. Steve Beshear and his wife, Jane, for a candid interview about the bond between governors — and the life of Brereton Jones.

Sometimes only some people know what it’s like to be you.

“There’s a camaraderie that develops between people who’ve gone through this,” Steve said. “Everybody may think, ‘Oh wow, you know, wasn’t that wonderful?’ Well, it is wonderful but it’s also challenging.”

For Beshear and Jane, this is their happy place. For coffee in the mornings, it’s where they talk about politics.

“It was nicer then than it is now,” Jane said. “It’s night and day in terms of what it was then and what it is now,” Steve added.

Life.

“Regardless of what you think on an issue, you don’t have to hate the other side,” he said.

And lately, loss.

“We’ve lost a part of the history of the state,” Jane added.

Brereton Jones was the state’s 58th governor.

“He was a forward-looking guy. He was one of the first that got into healthcare reform back in the 90s when that wasn’t a topic on many people’s minds. He saw that our governors and our statewide officials needed to have the opportunity to serve more than one term. And our constitution prohibited that. And so he stepped up and got a constitutional amendment passed to do that. And he got it passed by excluding himself from coverage of it. So once again, that’s an example of him putting the future of this state ahead of his own interest,” Steve said.

He died after a long illness Monday at the age of 84.

“We were pretty close. We got to know each other back in the late 60s and early 70s,” Beshear added.

To friends, he was brary.

To the public, he was governor.

“He was a very informal guy, a very easygoing guy, and he would be fine with you calling him brary. I mean, I’m kind of the same way. I tell people I almost forgot my first name for eight years because nobody would call you ‘Steve,’ they’d all call you governor,” Steve said. “Except for me,” Jane added with a laugh.

“Well, she called me lots of things at times, you know, to keep me straight, but it’s just indicative of him,” he said.

And just as the Beshears sit here together, feeding off each other’s thoughts on their screened-in porch in central Kentucky, they say the Joneses were exactly the same way.

“A big part of his success was her. I mean, it was a partnership,” Beshear said.

They say the history books will be kind to their old friend, but the memories of knowing him far outnumber the pages of any book.