Before we head into what could be an interesting week, I thought I’d post this bit of nostalgia. I know that assessments of the Carter administration run the full gamut but there are some things that rise above the politics of it all.
"We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace."
I heard these words from Walter Mondale on C-SPAN. He was speaking as part of a panel at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies on April 26, 2007. The title, "The Role of the Vice President," is a particularly timely one and the discussion, which included Stuart Eisenstat, Albert Eisele, and Craig Fuller, focused on how the role of the VP changed in the Carter administration.
Wilson Center Link
Mondale outlined how he was chosen and what Jimmy Carter envisioned for his VP. Carter’s lack of Washington experience was balanced by Mondale’s extensive Senate career. In their initial discussions, Mondale wasn’t sure VP was the spot for him.
"When [Jimmy Carter and I] were first talking about running together, I told him that I loved the Senate...and I thought I could help him more in the Senate than I could in such a thin role in the White House," said Mondale. "He said ‘I think we should have a different role for the vice president.’"
From that time on, the vice presidency was changed. Mondale was not relegated solely to the Executive Office Building. He had a small office in the West Wing. He had unprecedented access to the president. (Prior VPs had almost NO access. Some had to be cleared to even enter the WH. Others were spurned, ignored or otherwise demeaned by the men whose office they may have to assume, literally, in a heartbeat.) He and Carter had a private, agenda-free lunch every week. His staff was welcomed and even expected at all White House meetings. Mondale was effective on Capitol Hill, not only because he was a creature of the place, but because it became known that "when I was doing so they had a right to assume they were hearing from the president."
There is a lot more in the article. (I could not find the video online.) They do make mention of the challenges and shortcomings of the Carter administration but don’t let that overwhelm the focus of the panel which is the vice president’s office. It is interesting to see where and how the role of the VP began to be something other than the guy who "goes to funerals." What made Mondale and Carter different from the current incarnation is the quote with which I began this diary: "We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace." From today’s perspective, that seems refreshing, unique, and terribly naïve. Would that we had anything approaching that kind of character in office today!