Candice Bergen recently discussed two notable dates from her past during an appearance on Ted Danson's podcast "Where Everybody Knows Your Name."
The 80-year-old actress recalled a date with a young Donald Trump in the late 1960s when she was an 18-year-old University of Pennsylvania student, and another with Henry Kissinger in the 1970s.
Bergen characterized the Trump date as brief and underwhelming. "I was bored," she said matter-of-factly when discussing the evening. According to Bergen's account, Trump arrived in a maroon limousine, wearing a coordinating maroon suit and vest with patent leather boots.
Bergen has told this story consistently over the years, including during a 2018 appearance on Stephen Colbert's show. Trump has confirmed the date occurred, telling the Boston Globe: "She had the good sense to say, 'Absolutely not.'" When Danson asked Bergen if she had been home by nine o'clock, she responded with a knowing smirk.
The Kissinger encounter contrasted sharply with the Trump experience. Bergen met the former Secretary of State through her parents' social circles. "I think he picked me up to go to Bob Evans' house for dinner," Bergen recalled. She described Kissinger as "lovely" company, "smart, beyond smart," and noted he possessed impeccable manners.
When Danson asked Bergen to compare the two dates, she did not hesitate: Kissinger was the better date. The difference, Bergen suggested, was philosophical—one man showed up with ambition and flash, the other with wit and substance.
Bergen's candid assessment reflects her own discernment as a young woman navigating attention from powerful men. "She was willing to say no," in an era when women's romantic choices were often treated as footnotes to men's accomplishments, making her frank evaluation of both dates a notable statement.
