– The inside story of how they met, his unusual proposal, and how she felt about his decision to pursue the presidency

(This week, we complete the feature we started last Sunday on the life of President David Granger)

As David Granger’s love of country was growing, so was another kind of love.

Just after his return from Britain, he met Sandra Chan-A-Sue, who lived about 200 yards away from his Oronoque Street, Queenstown home in the city.

The two are known to be judicious when discussing their personal life, and this time around, the President, chose to be just as economical with his words.

“I met her in my father’s house and we started dating and about two years later we married…and we’ve been together ever since.” That marriage took place 46 years ago.

When pressed on what First Lady Sandra Granger calls a secret of their meeting, President Granger assured that their actual meeting was no secret, but it was the question of what his first thoughts were when he first saw her that gave him pause, “That’s the secret,” Mr. Granger said, his words coated with a hearty chuckle.

And while not revealing that secret, First Lady, Mrs. Granger did give a bit more detail into the early days of their relationship. Mrs. Granger said that the first time she saw the man who would become her husband, she and his sister Eileen, who was her close friend, were playing Scrabble in the Grangers’ living room.

“He came in and asked if we wanted to go to a movie and we said yes. So, the first time we went out we went to see ‘Django’, with Eileen in tow.”

After two years of seeing each other, she revealed that Mr. Granger would then propose marriage, in a way that only he would: “He said to me ‘I think we should get married’ and that was my proposal,” she said, smiling.

From their initial meeting and dates 48 years ago, President Granger said he never questioned that she was the woman he would spend his life with, and their enduring bond is proof that his gut was correct.

“We were both young. She was 19, I was 23. I was a Lieutenant at the time. I knew her family; they were a very Catholic family and she would pass my

house going to church every Sunday.

“Of course I wasn’t at home most of the time because I used to live in the Army camps at different parts of the country.

“…we did meet when I was on leave and I came in from leave in my father’s house. And she’s a Christian and she had the same type of …social or cultural background as I had and we had similar interests. As I’ve said, we’ve been together [48] years; I wouldn’t question that,” he said.

Speaking on the strength of their relationship over the years, Mrs. Granger said that while their personalities differ, there are qualities shared between herself and President Granger that allow them to complement each other.

“I think he’s an easy person, a thoughtful person, not loud or aggressive. He listens; he might not agree with you but he listens and the same goes for me, so we are equal in that regard,” she said.

Mrs. Granger, a graduate of both the University of Guyana and the University of Pittsburg and a career woman in her own right, worked alongside him raising their two daughters as he rose through the ranks of the GDF then became a National Security advisor, during Former President, Desmond Hoyte’s administration.

She stood resolutely at his side when he entered private enterprise as Publisher of the Guyana review. Later, he taught at the National Defence University in Washington D.C as a Professor of National Security Affairs.

As they settled into life as retirees with both of their children grown, one having migrated and the other raising her family here in Guyana, Mrs. Granger said she was looking forward to a period of relaxation as they enjoyed the fruits of their labour in a quiet retirement.

This was not to be. Mrs. Granger told herself it must be a joke, though she admitted that she knew her husband was serious when he told her he was entering politics with the aim of becoming President.

“It was way back in 2010 when he told me (he wanted to be President), and I can quote you my response: I said ‘You… cannot… be…serious.’ That was it. I could not believe it,” she said.

The President, though, credits his wife as a woman with great drive, whose support gave him a major boost in his journey towards the Presidency.

“She campaigned with me. On the night of the elections, we were actually sleeping on the floor of the campaign office and she was with me everywhere – rallies and other places we went to. So she has been a good partner and now that she is here with me in State House (and) continues to do her work,” he said.

The partnership they share has extended into and seems to coincide perfectly with his vision for Guyana. While he does not direct the work of the First Lady’s office, President Granger said that she knows his objectives and makes a worthwhile contribution to those objectives in her own way.

“For example, right now we’re working on boats and bicycles and shoes and buses for children to get to school and she supports that programme wholeheartedly.

“So I don’t give her directions; she knows where I want Guyana to go. She has been with me into some of these places and she is conscious of the conditions under which school children and other vulnerable citizens have to survive.

“So again, being together over four and a half decades would make her aware of the relevance of my own ideology and of course of her own views. So I am very happy. She is not a person to take the back seat, and as she likes to remind me, she is not behind me, she is beside me,” he said.

But it is the confidence in her husband as a leader that also fuels Mrs. Granger’s own passion even as she continues to get comfortable in her post as First Lady.

Speaking on her thoughts of her husband as President of the country, she said that because her husband is not an impulsive person, she knows that his decision to run was made after serious thought and consideration on the matter.

“I know he has a very deep interest in the lives of ordinary people. That was obvious while he was in the Army and it continues to be obvious today. He would not turn his eyes away from a need that existed. So I think those are the things that played in his mind with the thought that if he [ran for President] he would be able to improve the lives of the people,” she said.

The First Lady continued: “I can say I am proud of him because I know he is a principled person and he will do what he thinks is right. It might not be popular or obvious, but he will think about it hard and do what he thinks is the right thing. I also know he will consult with people if it is a major decision, to find out whether they think he’s going along right path but in the end he will take a decision on what he feels needs to be done.”

Road to the Presidency

Even as the President finds himself at the helm of the nation with the strong support of his wife, he reflected on what led him to the decision to become an active player in national politics, putting it as a “calling” rather than a drive.

“I was drawn into this level of politics because I felt that at that point in time in 2010, I had a vision and I had an indication of support and I felt that the party to which I belonged, the People’s National Congress/Reform was a platform that could be used to translate that vision into reality,” he said, adding that his interest was not based on personal reasons. Mr. Granger said that when the party leader did not offer himself as a candidate for elections, he was approached by several persons, at which point he agreed to be a presidential candidate.

The President said he felt drawn to leadership because he had a vision for Guyana, which has evolved over the different phases of his life. Within his own party and among members of the diaspora calls increased for him to consider throwing his hat in the ring. It seemed to him from all around that the time was right.

“On the one hand, they probably saw something in me in terms of leadership and my vision and for me I felt that I had a message too, and people shared that message. It was not something that I imposed, but it was something that people shared and understood.”

And so, impending elections, the decision by the PNC leader not to run for the candidacy, the prospect of a coalition, and his own belief that he could end the ‘The Troubles” [period of severe violence between 2000-2010] given his experience in the security sector, propelled him to seek the presidency.

“I believed I was the right man for the job.” That opinion was shared by the majority of Guyanese, who voted the coalition of APNU + AFC into power in May, 2015.

In fact, he credited every move as being strategic towards the Coalition victory in the 2015 General Elections, including his attempt in the 2011 elections, in which the PPP was returned to office with a one seat Parliamentary majority.

“I don’t consider it a loss,” he said. “I considered it as another opportunity because in July 2011, five parties came together to form A Partnership for National Unity.

“It was the first time five parties had come together and I was selected as leader of the Partnership.

“At that time of course, I was not even leader of the PNC. I didn’t become leader of the PNC until July 2012, but in July 2011 I was elected the presidential candidate for A Partnership for National Unity so we had the challenge of going into elections in November, designing a new logo, bringing people together for the first time.

“I felt that we worked very hard and we were able to increase the number of votes we won in 2011 from the previous election in 2006.”

So instead, what President Granger and his party had at that time was not a defeat, but a reason for optimism. By the time the Alliance for Change accepted a possibility for a Coalition in November 2014 and later signed the Cummingsburg Accord, President Granger felt that all the work achieved up to that time had made the Opposition a stronger element in national politics.

“We had gotten a lot of experience and I of course had gotten a lot of experience as Leader of the Opposition and I would say that when we went into the 2015 elections we were better prepared than ever before.

“We had experience in the opposition branch, we had been interacting with the population, the parties had come together and we were fully prepared for what occurred on May 11 (2015).

“In fact we were very confident and everybody was wondering what was taking the Elections Commission so long but not us, because we were very confident about the fact that we’d be going into government. It’s just a question of the numbers,” he said.

Not one to dwell too long on electoral victory, the President has over the past year, thrown himself into the task at hand. He envisions, a prosperous, peaceful, well governed Guyana, which provides a good life for all Guyanese.

While it is too early to talk about a legacy, Mr. Granger said, when the Presidency is behind him, he would want to look back and see that he had created the “good life” he promised.

“What I’d like my legacy to be is one that people can look back and say ‘‘yes, I got a good life; I felt safe, I was employed and I was able to move around my country freely; I was able to enjoy my civil rights.’ I just want them to feel that they had a good life under Granger.” he said, adding “I don’t walk on water but I just want people to feel that this is the best country to live in. It’s safe from disease and from criminal violence. It’s a place you’d want to bring your children and get a good education, to enjoy good healthcare; they won’t want to migrate… I want to see happy people.”

The man behind the Presidency

The man behind this vision, though, remains one that is satisfied by the simple things in life. His personal quarters at State House illustrate those things that are important to him and those that make him happy. Principle among them is his family. There are numerous shelves dedicated to murals and photographs of his family, from his parents to his grandchildren.

The care and precision with which they are displayed tell of a man who not only places much priority in his family life, but who is also infinitely proud of his family.

The President recalled his relationship with his two daughters as being very close. Though his busy lifestyle as Commander of the GDF and his travels would sometimes take away from home, he said that he ensured that special time would be set aside for which he would have picnics and other types of quality time with his daughters.

And though both of his daughters married very young, President Granger said that their close relationship never faltered, and that closeness has even been extended to his bond with his grandchildren.

And apart from his Presidency, his time in the GDF and his many other accomplishments, President Granger is also a published author, having penned several books on Guyana’s history and National Defence.

When it comes to his hobbies, he says some might find me boring but his manner and excitement while explaining the art and the rules of Chess which he referred to as “a game of perfect skill” would make even someone with little interest in the game take a second look. It was the same type of enthusiasm displayed when he proudly displayed his coin collection, a hobby he has had since he was 15 years old.

Some of his eclectic music collection may surprise some; prominently displayed is Buju Banton’s “Til Shiloh” album and other popularly known music of the 50s, 60s and 70s, as well as less surprisingly, classical music.

Most of it, however, will not surprise those who have come to know the President as a man of faith.

While going through a prayer book given to him when he was a young man, President Granger admitted that when in doubt, he often turns to the Psalms of David, which he says helps him in many ways.

“A lot of the psalms are very inspirational; they sometimes describe the struggle that David is trying to overcome. They show David as human, he is depressed, he is searching for guidance and support and he turns to the Lord, and so it goes. They [the Psalms] are very inspirational to me,” he said.

As he shuffles through the prayer book, one can see that President Granger too is human – a man of great substance, deep knowledge and intense sentiment; above all, he is a man who loves his country dearly.

(Contributed)