Hillary has been a feminist and self-styled breaker of glass ceilings practically her entire political life. I can’t imagine she’s going to want to be seen leaning too heavily on her husband’s shoulder - but she could.
Yes. The fact that it was never mentioned on the show made me think that (a) the screenwriters chose to ignore the law for storytelling purposes, (b) they were unaware of the law, or (c) there is no such law in the HOCverse.
I have read the same, and also that CIA briefings are available if they request it. Most don’t. Couldn’t give you a cite off the top of my head.
I seem to recall someone claiming in Fahrenheit 911 that Bush41 was availing himself of briefings while other former presidents were not. This is probably the first time I ever heard that such briefings existed. It is understandable that Bush would indulge; he is a former CIA director, is he not?
I find it hard to believe that a former President like Bill couldn’t be cleared for high-level access on Hillary’s order.
The relevance isn’t obviously clear to me - President Hillary wouldn’t have to declassify anything, just order that former President Bill be granted Top Secret clearance and given broad access in his deliberately untitled, unpaid and officially powerless role as a presidential adviser. It’d be kind of hard to argue that Bill hasn’t been sufficiently vetted, since he held the presidency himself.
For that matter, if a current president wanted to have any former president in the loop on a particular issue and in a position to advise, I fail to see a problem. It’s only that the Clintons are still married that I gather prevents Bill from getting an official role, title and responsibilities.
Barring Congress mustering up some veto-proof legislation clarifying the issue, of course.
The restriction on hiring relatives does not apply to employees hired under 3 USC §105 (“Assistance and services for the President”) and 3 USC §107 (“Domestic Policy Staff and Office of Administration; personnel”)
Hillary, without getting divorced, could appoint Bill to a paid position as Assistant to the President, White House Policy Adviser, White House Chef, White House Butler, etc.
The Democratic Party is already looking at who might replace Hillary if her numbers don’t recover. It’s a little weird, because just a few months ago, she looked like a lock to win both the nomination and the general election.
Cite for this? I would be very surprised if the President can’t have anyone he wants attend one of his meetings. For example, if there’s some ethnic flare up somewhere, he might want a recognized … academic. say … expert in the area’s history to sit-in or even participate in a discussion about it.
Hilary has so much experience at State and in the Senate, she could legitimately be considered an expert in any number of things.
Two for the price of one sounds good to me. But the precedent of Clinton presidency #1 argues against giving the spouse a major role. It just plain generates bad publicity.
Bess Truman was Harry’s salaried “chief adviser” when he was in the Senate. He said then – echoing our thread title – that “I never make any decisions unless she is in on them.” But Harry Truman followed political advice not to continue this into his presidency.
This. I’m sure she’ll talk through various things with Bill in the same way he probably talked various things through with her, but she’s as capable of making her own decisions as he was.
And while she could probably legally employ him in some capacity it would look terrible from an external viewpoint. So she won’t. I doubt he’ll even get a “project”, given the way Hillarycare went down.
And he doesn’t need one. Hillary arguably did at the time, given her ambitions. Bill’s already done what he wanted to do. If he wanted further office, or a SCOTUS nod, that would maybe be a different matter. But he has his hands plenty full with the CGI, which seems to be engrossing, valuable, and important to him.
Except that First Lady projects are usually inoffensive stuff, like encouraging kids to read or stay off drugs. The Clinton Global Initiative involves inserting itself in issues worldwide. I could see that being a little sticky if the person in charge is the spouse of the US President. For that reason, I think they’re grooming Chelsea to take over the organization.
As it is, at the moment, it’s looking like we might not have to worry about whether President Clinton can ask former President Clinton for advice.
In response to Habeed’s comment, “There is nothing even remotely unConstitutional about a former first spouse being President. Would you wonder the same thing about a father and son?”
Your answer perplexes me. We just recently had the son of a president serve as President (and not for the first time in American history), but you wonder if there is anything remotely unconstitutional about the son of a president being elected??
As generally noted in this thread, America has had some accomplished presidential spouses in its time, who have lent an ear to the President and undoubtedly offered plenty of sage wisdom (I believe it’s called “pillow talk”, but in the case of the Clintons, I’m not so sure!). The Bill/Hillary tandem is nothing new.
And it is plainly legal for the President to appoint her spouse to an advisor role.
The more interesting question is whether Bill would want such an appointment. I’ve always imagined him busy traveling the country giving speeches in favor of her policy goals and favored legislation. He would be like a pig in shit sermonizing and shaking hands with supportive crowds, and it’d be a bonus to her to have him pushing her agenda.