Bernie Sanders on the Today Show 1981

What a fabulous interview! The integrity and truth and values of what has been and continues to be in the highest interests of us all has been consistent with Bernie Sanders over the decades. This is why millions of us support Bernie and are part of the political revolution for dramatic change! Another world is possible — one which values life rather than destroys it. May we all be part of the Loving Revolution! — Molly

Watch an archive interview with Bernie Sanders on TODAY from 1981, shortly after he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont. NBC News’ Phil Donahue interviews Sanders about his plans for Burlington, and in particular about his socialist political values.

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Sanders in 1981 defeated Gordon Paquette, Burlington’s five-term Democratic mayor, by just 10 votes. The then-39-year-old Sanders ran as an independent and, while he didn’t campaign as a socialist, he made no secret of it, either. Elected just months after Ronald Reagan was elected to the presidency, Sanders’s victory caught national attention. The 1981 Today segment, titled “Socialism in New England,” shows journalist Jane Pauley declaring, “Face it, you don’t find too many socialists in elected office in this country.” It then cuts to Phil Donahue, who is sitting down with the newly-elected Sanders. He says that many people were surprised at Sanders’s narrow win. “My goodness, how could this happen in good old conservative Vermont?” Donahue asked. “Well, in Vermont, being conservative is different, perhaps, than being conservative elsewhere in the country,” Sanders said.