Ford / Clinton

Reverse the tape back to 1980.  The Republican National Convention was in the process of granting its nomination for President to Ronald Reagan.  It had become known that Reagan was holding discussions with former President Gerald Ford about the possibility of Ford becoming his running mate.

The move would help unify the moderate and conservative wings of the party, and give the ticket an immeasurable boost.  The convention hall was ripe with rumor and speculation.  One person who attended told me that if Ford was announced to be the running mate, the place would have exploded with excitement.

But then there was an appearance on network television that exterminated the whole thing.  I believe that it was James Kilpatrick, the syndicated conservative columnist, who, clearly irritated, described why this was a terrible idea.  Ford already had a taste of the Presidency, and had been accustomed to being able to call the shots.   He had been exposed over a period of greater than two years to all the perquisites and prerogatives of the office.

How could he possibly be placed in the White House again as vice-president, and take a second-fiddle role?  How could that possibly work out well?

The idea of Ford becoming nominated, which had become increasingly discussed in excited, almost frenzied tones, became deflated almost immediately with the case made against it by this particular pundit on national television.

Let us now fast forward to the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton.  She ran for US Senate in order to position herself to run for President.  While some might wonder about the marriage of Hillary and Bill, it is difficult to conceive of a Hillary Clinton presidency without Bill in the White House.

Bill clearly loved being President.  He would be in the White House both as an ex-President and First Husband.   The temptation to influence policy, and interfere with the workings of staff, would be intense.  He would continuously have to restrain himself from trying to influence White House decision-making.   At times, Hillary would have to shut him out of the process if they disagreed.  If they deadlocked, what would happen?

There has been remarkably little discussion of this obvious conflict with all the talk about Hillary Clinton's candidacy.  It seems that she is somehow immune to (or exempt from) the types of warnings that derailed a Reagan-Ford ticket.    Yet the dilemmas and conflicts are similar and, indeed, undeniable.

Presumably, getting a Clinton back in the White House, and electing the first female President, override such mundane considerations.

Comments

[Fred Gregory]

Undeniable. Yes , Joe, that is a understatement.

Like the skaters or the twins from Lewis Carroll:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweedledum_and_Tweedledee

[Fred Gregory]

Excuse me. By the skaters I meant the indistinguishable Frick and Frack

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frick_and_Frack

[Joe Guarino]

Interesting analogy, Fred. And it seems almost inevitable that this analogy would hold true as well.

[meblogin]

Hillary will be fine so long as she makes certain that Bill has a few female staffers for him.

[Joe Guarino]

And I suppose he will, meblogin. At least a few.

[meblogin]

I still believe that bill preferred his "not sex" to being president.

[Joe Guarino]

Well, his administration did become considerably less productive after the first year or two...