When Reagan Left the White House, He Left the Scene

When Reagan left the White House, he left the White House. No clinging to the scene. No acting as kingmaker in the Republican Party. No taking potshots at his successors. And when he left the White House, Bush Sr. didn’t have to re-order fine china and silverware. Bush Sr. has followed largely the same course, and I am confident Bush Jr. will as well, but hopefully not for another four years.

What explains the fact that Clinton and Carter feel the need to wear out their welcome? OK, admittedly, at least Clinton wore it out for me a long time ago, so I am not without partisan bias. (Being all of eight years old when Carter took office, it took a little longer for me to be sickened by him.)

Carter’s greatest contribution to humanity was curing the “malaise” he had diagnosed his subjects with in the course of his dismal presidency by getting trounced in his re-election bid. It’s an inadvertent contribution, but is no less praiseworthy for that fact. Why not rest on his laurels and leave it at that? Clinton’s greatest contribution was easing the workload for late night comedy writers, who are usually under great stress to produce decent material. It puts him on par with O.J. Simpson, but you don’t see O.J. thinking that accomplishment worthy of having him in the public eye every second of the day.

Maybe the fact that these two guys cannot simply leave the scene is attributable to their comparative youth when they left office, but I think Bush Jr. will prove that thesis wrong. But if I am wrong, and youth is the common denominator, then I would seriously consider voting for the older candidate, or the one of more frail health, if only so that (like Reagan) they can be gone when they leave.

I think the explanation really is quite simple. Reagan and Bush know that the American people do not need them, which is a testament to their comparative humility. It is pure hubris to think oneself the “indispensable” politician in this country, as some are no doubt prone. And they have the class, wisdom, and requisite level of self-assurance to know that they themselves do not need the American people - they don’t need the validation of the chattering classes or of history. They didn’t self-consciously fret over how history would one day view them, perhaps because they know the judgment of history is the judgment of man, and whether or good or bad, it is not the judgment that ultimately matters.

It was said of Bush Jr. during the 2000 election that, in contrast to Gore, he didn’t need the presidency – life would go on for him, whereas for Gore the loss would take a far greater toll. Certainly the prediction for Gore now wrings true. He needed the presidency, much as Clinton and Carter needed the presidency, and the latter, having had it, clearly became addicted to it. There is something unseemly about the ego required to even aspire to the office, and the founding fathers used to routinely express disinterest in holding such power. Even if only feigned, their protests at least recognized the dangers inherent to vesting power in the hands of a powerful ego. Unseemly or not, the job has to be filled by someone. What is far more disturbing is the ego that not only aspires to and attains the office, but hangs on to the scene as if all hope will be lost without its presence. The self-justification is always that the country needs me, but the truer cause in the case of some is that they need the country.