By John Sammon
Columnist - John Sammon
Hillary Clinton, if elected, will definitely be a package deal. You get Bill Clinton with it. Or with her, rather. In fact, Bill’s taken matrimony one step farther, a way back to the White House and power.
Instead of “wedded bliss,” we might call it a, “politically expedient union.”
Hillary Clinton’s public schedule, 11,000 pages of them, were recently released to the public. They outline her role as First Lady during husband Bill’s presidency in the 1990s.
According to the documents, she was the most active First Lady in history in actual involvement in affairs of state. She is basing her run for the presidency on her so-called experience during these years. I remember at the time, critics accused Clinton of letting his wife run things.
That she was the real president, and not him.
Turns out, according to the documents, she did run some things, but not all. Not enough to brag about as “blanket experience” in an election run.
That isn’t the point here. Since when did a First Lady take over any part of government on her husband’s behalf? Did Abraham Lincoln’s wife run things?
Did Jackie Kennedy run a portion of the government?
So, let me get this straight. When I vote for a president, it’s now with the understanding that his or her spouse, a completely separate individual, will also be a kind of co-president, despite the fact no one voted for that person directly. Isn’t this kind of like a dual monarchy, a king and queen, who have roughly equal powers?
Since Clinton’s wife helped him run the government in the 1990s, then that means, that if Hillary gets elected, Bill will become her co-president. Bill Clinton will once again be president (half of it)…..without being elected. It seems to me this takes a giant ego to say, “I’m so smart, I’ll just start serving in an official capacity to which I alone set the parameters.”
Now I see. When you elect a president, you also elect his or her spouse, despite the fact their name was not on the ballot. It all makes perfect sense.
But let’s suppose. Suppose the president becomes ill or dies. His wife doesn’t succeed to the post. The vice president does. Given the new unwritten rule that apparently Hillary inaugurated on her husband’s behalf, does that mean that the vice president steps up…to half the presidency….to be shared with the late ex-president’s wife?
No, wait a minute; the vice president’s wife would then take over as co-president. The late ex-president’s wife could claim that since she was never legally elected, she doesn’t have to step down. And she has no intension to. In that case, like the Roman Empire, we have a triumvirate, three rulers, a vice president, his wife, and the wife of the late ex-president.
It’s making more and more sense to me.
At least once in history, during the administration of Woodrow Wilson, Wilson’s wife took over secretly as pseudo president when Woodrow became too ill to continue.
Given that the post of vice president is also no longer the ridiculous impotent shut out of the loop post it used to be (Dick Cheney was the most influential VP in history).
Given this. I see a prediction. I predict an ongoing power struggle between the vice president and the spouse of the current serving president.
All of a sudden, it might be a dream come true to be the spouse of a president.
Think of it. You can become president (half of it) without having to run for office. Just let your spouse run. They take the insults and the heat. You sit back and reap the benefits if they win…with no muss or fuss.
Welcome back to the White House Bill.
Copyright 2008 Sammonsays.
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