Hi, I'm Michael Kosta.
Civic activism-- does it work?
Can one person make a difference?
Tonight on "Thank Me Later," we'll meet one man
who did the impossible.
No, not me. (chuckles)
He changed the United States Constitution forever.
I sat down with this American hero.
And you can thank me later.
-Hi there. -Hi.
Uh, who are you?
I'm Gregory Watson.
I'm responsible for the ratification
of the 27th Amendment to the federal Constitution.
KOSTA: That's right.
This Lone Star scholar got an amendment ratified
to the Constitution.
Like, the supreme law of America Constitution,
as in the 1787 Founding Fathers Constitution.
You're not a Founding Father. You're more like
a weird uncle of the U.S. Constitution.
-Stepfather. -Stepfather. So,
you are nice sometimes, but then,
sometimes you come home drunk and treat the kids crappy
'cause they're not really yours?
Sometimes.
I'm very familiar with the Constitution. I'm a huge fan.
Why don't you tell our viewers what the 27th Amendment is?
Again, I'm very certain I know what it is, but go ahead.
It says that when members of Congress...
-Congress, exactly. -...want to adjust
-their salaries... -their salaries. Exactly.
...they must wait
-'till the next election -until the next election
-has intervened. -has intervened.
KOSTA: Now, for you dumb-dumbs
who don't care about our country,
three-quarters of the states are needed
to ratify an amendment.
So, how did this egghead get it done?
It all started in 1982...
...with a college paper that I wrote.
I found a book in the library
that showed amendments that Congress had approved,
but which not enough state legislatures had ratified,
and I found this one from 1789.
KOSTA: Wait, wait, wait.
-You're an undergrad? -Yes, a sophomore.
You're a sophomore who realized
that this amendment, which was introduced in 1789,
was still available to be ratified?
Yes. March of 1982, during spring break.
-During spring break? -Spring break, no less.
-When I'm at the wet T-shirt contest in Cancun... -Yes.
-...you're realizing... -Yes.
that an amendment can still be ratified
-in the U.S. Constitution? -Yes. Yes. Yes!
-So you write this paper. -Yes.
-I turn it in to the T.A., and get it back -Mm-hmm.
-a few days later with a "C" on it. -With a "C"?
A "C." And I appealed the grade up to the professor.
-Mm-hmm. -She said she'd take a look at it.
And when she came back a few days later,
she saw me sitting in the aisle,
and she physically tossed it at me and said,
"No change."
I decided right then and there,
I'm gonna get that amendment ratified.
Wait a minute. Are you saying that this guy
actually got a constitutional amendment ratified?
John, could you just stick to the reenactment?
-What? -Also, you're meant to be 19 years old,
so can you act like a hot teen?
No, I can't.
And so what happens now?
-Well, then I start writing those letters, -Yeah.
pleading with members of the legislatures in those states
to introduce a resolution at the state capitol
to ratify the amendment,
and it needed 32 states.
And when Maine ratified the following year, in 1983,
there was just no turning back.
And that's the story of how Gregory Watson...
Oh, no, you don't have to look at the camera.
Why are you... why are you talking?
-I was just delivering my line. -You don't... you don't...
-you're not narrating... -Hang on, hang on.
-I'm John (bleep) Hodgman. -Sorry.
I'm still on television sometimes.
-Okay. Okay... -We're done.
-And then what happens? -So I pestered
and I badgered and I cajoled
-Wow. -the state legislatures
-Yeah. -over the course of ten years,
and they ratified it.
This whole time I thought you'd be some Harvard Law
constitutional scholar lobbyist.
To elicit change, you're really just a pain in the ass.
-Yes. -Yeah.
When the 27th Amendment was finally ratified,
what did they give you as a sign of respect for your work?
Absolutely nothing.
You didn't get a thank-you card from...
-No thank-you card from anyone. -Man.
I was afraid I was gonna hear a sad, depressing story like that,
which is why I made this for you, Gregory Watson.
This is a trophy commemorating you
on getting the 27th Amendment ratified.
Beautiful!
I shall treasure it
for all time.