Political Quotes

“Prof. Garrison Nelson is one of our country's foremost experts on Congress and the Presidency, and Vermont has been lucky to call him our own during his tenure at the University of Vermont. He recently wrote an interesting column for Roll Call about the historical record of Senate leaders who run for president. It is an entertaining and informative analysis that I hope other Senators will have a chance to read. I ask that an article entitled ``Can Dole Escape Senate Leaders' Poor Presidential Record?'' be printed in the Record. The article follows: Can Dole Escape Senate Leaders' Poor Presidential Record? Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole's (R-Kan) decision to resign from office in the midst of his presidential campaign isn't so surprising when you take into account the history of Republican Senate leaders in presidential contests. That's because, almost without exception, a Congressional leadership post has been the kiss of death for White House aspirants. Dole is the latest of several Congressional leaders throughout the nation's history who have sought the presidency. Whether he, by abandoning his post, will have more success than others did remains to be seen. In a recent assessment, I found some 112 broadly defined ``blips'' made by Congressional leaders on the presidential radar screen from 1856 through 1966.…”