Who remembers Gary Hart? If you’ve had as many as 50 birthdays, you almost certainly remember the former Colorado senator and two-time candidate for the United States presidency. If you remember Hart’s name, you likely remember another: Donna Rice. You see, Gary Hart had a girlfriend. And (sit down for this) Gary Hart was married at the time.
I’ll share a brief slice of American-scandal history for those of you who may not remember Hart and friend. Only 47 years old in 1984, Hart sought the Democratic nomination in an election that would send Ronald Reagan back to the White House for a second term. Hart seemed Kennedy-esque: lots of dark hair, a solid jawline, sparkling pearly whites. It wasn’t until the next presidential campaign, though, that we learned just how Kennedy-esque Gary Hart truly was.
In the spring of 1987, thanks to journalists doing what we do, America learned that Hart had carried on an extramarital affair with Rice, a woman he claimed was nothing more than a “campaign aide.” But when a photo of the two in each others’ arms appeared on the cover of the National Enquirer, that was the end of the next Kennedy and any hopes he had of occupying the Oval Office.
I’ve thought of Gary Hart often the last few years, every time the name Donald Trump makes news. It’s been 36 years and nine presidential elections since that tabloid cover ruined Hart’s political rise. But what the hell has happened to presidential scandal? Gary Hart was nationally ridiculed for an extramarital affair and Donald Trump has already served a term as U.S. president.
The notion of Trump being excluded from a campaign for the highest office in the land over a mistress seems as laughably silly as a desert coyote coming back to life after repeatedly blowing himself up as he hunts a roadrunner. But that’s the America — that’s the office of U.S. president — we have before us, here in 2023.
How does Donna Rice on your candidate’s resume compare with being twice impeached in your first try at the presidency? How does shagging someone who doesn’t wear a wedding ring you placed on her finger compare with federal charges of absconding with enough classified documents to stuff your bathroom? How does ruining your marriage compare with being the cheerleader for an insurrection mob during your last month as president?
It’s astounding. Rewind to those innocent, clearly naïve days of 1987, and candidate Trump would have been ruined by an association with the likes of Stormy Daniels … his “Donna Rice.” Here in 2023? That association is merely one of three likely indictments candidate Trump will face as he leads (is that the right word?) the Republican party into the election year of 2024.
Jimmy Carter — as decent a man as has ever occupied the White House, if not a great president — essentially turned over the presidency in a 1979 speech when he dared mention an American “crisis of confidence.” Short on confidence? Swagger? Not us hearty Yanks. Let me ask you: What kind of confidence in America do supporters of Donald Trump show when they ignore one scandal after another, each larger in impact than the one before? This is the best we can do? Two impeachments and three indictments. Not to mention, ahem, three wives. (Psst … Donald Trump had a girlfriend, too.)
I was 18 in 1987, and plenty naïve. Even at that age, I wondered if a man might actually be able to lead even if he failed as a husband. My foundational thought was that a man could not lead if he didn’t care fully for the office of president and the country that office represented. He might make mistakes (as Carter did) and he might be short on qualifications (as Reagan was), but an American president would never make us feel scandalous as a country. That was my innocent thinking at its worst. I know Gary Hart would appreciate.
Frank Murtaugh is the managing editor of Memphis magazine. He writes the columns “From My Seat” and “Tiger Blue” for the Flyer.