Nobody has done more to bring Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman back into the news lately than former Vice President Al Gore, simply by saying he?s not going to repeat the general?s famous rejection of interest in the presidency.
On the ABC News talk show Sunday, Gore said he has “no plans” to run in 2008 and doesn?t “expect to ever be a candidate for president again,” but that he sees no reason to voice Sherman?s observation that “if nominated I will not run; if elected I will not serve.”
He explained that “I haven?t made a so-called Sherman statement because it just seems unnecessary-kind of odd to do that.” It?s not so much odd, though, as it is prudent.
On other occasions, the man who often wryly introduces himself to audiences as the fellow “who used to be the next President of the United States” has also said he doesn?t believe in saying never, either. And why should he?
Gore did, after all, win the popular vote in 2000, and only the questionable intervention of the Republican-dominated Supreme Court denied him the White House by breaching its traditional position of staying out of elections run by the states.
In noting he has eschewed any Sherman-like statement, Gore said it?s “not an effort to hold the door open,” but that is the practical effect of not saying it, in terms of encouraging Democrats who want him to run.
Gore said he “can?t imagine any circumstances in which I would become a candidate again,” noting “I?ve found other ways to serve” and is “enjoying them.” Others, however, can easily imagine such circumstances.
One would be a growing sentiment among many Democrats that the current frontrunner in the polls for their party?s Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, for one reason or another, can?t be elected. Some cling to the notion that the country isn?t ready to elect a woman president; others cite her as polarizing figure whose candidacy could pull the Republicans out of their tailspin.
As categorical as General Sherman?s statement was, it is seldom really believed by voters and often eventually ignored by politicians uttering it. In 1948, another retired general, Dwight D. Eisenhower, implored by leaders of both parties to run for them, did stick to his word, but relented in 1952, ran and was elected.
In the 1968 presidential cycle, Republican Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York, backing the struggling candidacy of Gov. George Romney of Michigan, flatly said “I don?t want to be president.” But he finally gave in after Romney folded and Rocky?s longtime foe, Richard Nixon, seemed to have a clear field for the nomination. He failed to stop him.
On a somewhat lower level, presidential candidates often have made Sherman-like statements about their availability for the vice-presidential nomination if they fail to win the presidential nod of their party, but have eaten their words later.
Gone are the days when the prospect of the vice presidency was regarded as a one-way ticket to nowhere. The chances of a running mate eventually being nominated for president, and elected or elevated by fate to the office are confirmed by recent history and now widely recognized.
Presidential candidates nevertheless have almost always treated talk of being somebody else?s No. 2 on the party?s ticket as a severe detriment to their chances of winning the top spot.
In 1980, when George H.W. Bush was seeking the Republican presidential nomination against Ronald Reagan, he repeatedly turned aside suggestions that he be Reagan?s running mate. “Take Sherman and cube it,” he would say ? a clever phrase to express his disdain for the vice-presidential nomination.
But after Reagan had beaten him for the presidential position on the GOP slate, and Reagan “reluctantly” offered to make him his running mate after a failed flirtation with former President Gerald Ford, Bush eagerly accepted. In doing so, he positioned himself for the presidency eight years later.
Sherman-like statements, be they uttered regarding the presidency or the vice presidency, are not ?in the immortal words of Samuel Goldwyn ? worth the paper they?re written on.
Jules Witcover, a Baltimore Examiner columnist, is syndicated by Tribune Media Services. He has covered national affairs from Washington for more than 50 years and is the author of 11 books, and co-author of five others, on American politics and history.
