Moral Decay

Back in 1976 and 1980, I recall the question as to whether a divorced man could be elected president.  Ronald Reagan's first wife divorced him and he remarried.  Divorced was a moral failure.  If you can't maintain your marriage, how do you run a country?  This was just before divorce really kicked into gear across the country.  It turned out that a divorced man could be elected but it is interesting that the question was asked.

In 1992, many asked if a philanderer could be elected?  Sure, we had had philanderers throughout US history but with the modern media that was not so easy to conceal.  Being unfaithful to one's spouse was a moral failure.  If you can't be true to your spouse, can you be true to the country?  Bill and Hillary appeared on 60 Minutes to say that their marriage wasn't perfect but they had worked through difficulties to become stronger.  It turned out he could be elected, and even re-elected.

Today, the mainstream media are not asking if a woman who advanced her career by having an affair with a married man is electable.  Indeed, in 1994, Kamala Harris was having an affair with California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.  Brown appointed her to the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission.  She was 29, he was 60.  Gee, this sounds like another scandal from the 90s.  However, the Clinton Presidency mostly ended these sorts of questions, at least as far as Democrats running for office.  Republican sex lives are still fair game.

As mentioned, most of our presidents and vice presidents have had moral failings but they were not widely known among the public.  Now that it is, the public doesn't care.  Yes, one wants to have candidates with the 'correct' policy positions but is there really a lack of such people who also have morals?  It seems so.