GateHouse Media
January 3, 2019
The passing of former President George H.W. Bush marked the
loss of the patriarch of a political family intimately intertwined with an
unprecedented era in American presidential history.
Three names have dominated national politics in the second
half of the 20th century and now the 21st century. Each of those candidates had
a unique impact on the criminal justice system as well.
Only four national elections since 1952 did not have Nixon,
Bush or Clinton on the national ticket. One of those national elections had a
primary that came down to the wire, narrowly preventing one of those names from
once again being on the national ticket.
In 1952, a young California Senator named Richard M. Nixon
joined Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Republican candidates on the national
ticket. Nixon won re-election as vice-president in 1956. In 1960, Nixon won the
GOP presidential nomination and lost the election to JFK. However, Nixon was
not done.
He made a political comeback in 1968 beating Hubert H.
Humphrey in the presidential election and winning a resounding re-election in
1972.
When Richard M. Nixon was making his second bid for
president he introduced campaign operatives to the concept of crime as a
divisive, hot-button issue. At the time, race relations were tenuous, at best,
and Nixon knew it. Crime control became a surrogate for race control.
Nixon resigned from office, in disgrace, in 1974.
Soon after Nixon’s departure President Gerald R. Ford had to
choose a VP. Although Nelson Rockefeller became vice-president, a new name
emerged during the search - George H.W. Bush, a former House member who was
then chairing the Republican National Committee.
In 1980, George H.W. Bush joined the GOP ticket with Ronald
Reagan. Bush was again the vice-presidential nominee in 1984. Bush spent two
terms as vice president before being elected president in 1988.
Bush’s opponent in 1988 was Massachusetts Governor Mike
Dukakis. A political newcomer put Dukakis’ name in nomination at the Democratic
National Convention in Atlanta - Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.
Bush put race front and center during his campaign. The GOP
ran a commercial depicting intimidating-looking African American men walking in
and out a revolving prison door. The commercial assailed Dukakis for his
support of a weekend furlough program that released convicted killer Willie
Horton who committed a rape and robbery while on furlough.
The “newcomer,” Clinton, defeated Bush in 1992 and won
re-election in 1996. Clinton was a novelty at the time, a Democrat who
supported the death penalty. He even returned from the campaign trail to
oversee an execution in his home state, further bolstering him as a “tough on
crime” candidate.
In 2000, George W. Bush avenged his father’s loss, beating
Clinton’s vice president Al Gore in one of the closest elections in American
history. When it came to the death penalty, Bush was not going to be out done
by the man who beat his father. Bush presided over 152 executions as governor
of Texas, at the time, more than any other governor in U.S. history.
“W” was re-elected in 2004. In 2008, none of the three names
that had dominated politics appeared on the national ticket, but Hillary
Clinton, Bill’s first lady, fought Barack Obama for the nomination all the way
to the national convention. Obama was ultimately elected president.
In 2012, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush - H.W.’s son and
W’s brother - toyed with running for president but declined. He did run in 2016
and left early as his campaign failed to gain traction.
Hillary Clinton won the 2016 Democratic nomination only to
be upset by GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Clinton came under attack during the campaign for her
support of her husband’s tough on crime rhetoric. She was confronted with a
quote about young “super-predators” and attacked for fueling the high
incarceration rates of African American men and women.
And the beat goes on - Hillary Clinton’s name is often
mentioned as a challenger to Trump in 2020.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett,
Kelly & George P.C. His book The Executioner’s Toll, 2010 was released by
McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him
on Twitter @MatthewTMangino.
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