Hillary is the presumed heir to her husband's political legacy. She was by his side for six terms as Governor of Arkansas and we all remember the "two-for-one" deal we got when he ascended to the White House.
After a bumpy start including the travel agent fiasco, the larger and more expensive National Health Care fiasco, and the suicide of their friend, Vince Foster, his wife moved to the background. But Monica put the spotlight back on Hillary and she took the bit and ran with it. She is superb in that role; invoking sympathy is her strong suit. And now we are being asked to elevate Mrs. Clinton to the same job held by her husband. Ask yourself this: Could my spouse do my job?
But her qualifications are incidental, for we all can think of similar situations where underlings were promoted to the big chair simply because they were there--they served their time and were assumed to have earned the right to step into the leader's role: Chairman, President, Head Coach, Pope, whatever the institution, the right of passage is a human trait.
I suggest that whatever your persuasion, Bill Clinton's Presidency, will not go down in history as a bad one. He may be forgotten or he may be remembered for Monica, but with a strong economic tail wind at his back and no major wars on his watch, I don't think he will be remembered as a bad steward. But that is not the stuff of history. And so, despite Hillary's tenuous connection to anything meaningful, the field is weak; the Democrats may be stuck with Bill Clinton's wife.
So lets look at at some of those "chair in waiting" transitions. The list below is not weighted or rated, but simply my memory of some of the great leaders of my lifetime that were followed by successors-in-waiting. Your list, no doubt, will be different. Note: These are people who ran things not people who led causes, e.g., Ghandi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, etc.
1. Ronald Reagan
2. Red Auerbach
3. Winston Churchill
4. John Wooden
5. Mary Kay Ash
6. Vince Lombardi
7. Abraham Lincoln
8. Michael Dell
9. Paul "Bear" Bryant
10.John Paul II
Do you know who followed them? I didn't. I had to look up half of them, which led me to write this. (See answers below.)
Now, I wouldn't put Bill Clinton on this list, but what else do we credit Hillary with other than being his wife. A Senator? But even if qualified to be a Senator from NY, what experience does that bring to the table; managing a Senate staff? What's that, fifty people?
The Republican Party has dug itself a big hole, but they may be outdone by the Dems. Hillary would cause the biggest Republican turnout in history. I live in three states; I'd vote in all of them.
Answers:
1. Ronald Reagan: OK, this one is easy, but Reagan to "read my lips" Bush is the perfect example. The first George inherited Reagan's third term. He couldn't keep it.
2. Red Auerbach: Bill Russell assumed the mantle and immediately lost the world championship.
3. Winston Churchill: Clement Atlee, Churchill's Deputy Prime Minister, displaced Churchill in 1945. 6 years later, the Brits returned Churchill to office.
4. John Wooden: Gene Bartow. Gene who? He lasted 2 seasons.
5. Mary Kay Ash: I have no idea who succeeded her. Do you?
6. Vince Lombardi: Phil Bengtson. Phil who? He lasted 2 seasons.
7. Abraham Lincoln: Not a voluntary hand-off, but Andrew Johnson WAS Lincoln's VP. Impeached.
8. Michael Dell: Forced back in the chair after a failed hand-off to Kevin Rollins.
9. Paul "Bear" Bryant: Ray Perkins resigned after 4 seasons. Pressure.
10. John Paul II: Herr Benedict II. Now we have the rigid doctrine without the charisma.
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