Letters to the Editor

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It had to be hard for the high-achieving candidate's wife to give up her career -- and I'm in a feminist fury about it.
  • What makes you think Bill Clinton can't run for anything else?

    The only job he can't run for is president. He could still run to be a senator, governor, congressman, state legislator, or dog catcher.

    After being president, John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, serving for seventeen years, from 1831 until his death. In 1834 he also ran (unsuccessfully) for governor of Massachusetts.

    Frankly, I would like to see Bill Clinton run for either the House or the Senate and reenter the arena of electoral politics. It might help people remember that in our country the legislature is supposed to be a co-equal branch of government. As it is now, brilliant, talented people like Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama think that the only prize worth having is the presidency, so they give up what could be very productive careers as senators to chase after the presidency. It's really just an ego trip. If strong people like these would focus on making their Senate careers worthwhile, they could help reestablish the power of the US Congress as a counterbalance to the imperial presidency.

    Ted Kennedy, once he finally accepted that he would never be president, turned his full attention to his work in the Senate, and as a result has become one of the most important political figures of this age.