FROM THE ARCHIVES

Vote Bush/Eastwood in ’88?

Former president almost enlisted Clint Eastwood as his running mate.

Would George H.W. Bush have been elected for a second term with Vice President Clint Eastwood by his side? We’ll never know, but apparently Eastwood was actually considered as a possible running mate for the former president. In 1988, Bush faced tough competition from Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis and the Bush camp was desperate for any boost to push him past Dukakis, who was in the lead by 17 points. Enter actor, director and then-mayor of Carmel, California, Clint Eastwood. “Honestly, [Eastwood] was suggested in not an altogether unserious—well, he was a mayor. He was a Republican mayor,” said former Bush campaign chairman and Secretary of State James Baker. Baker’s comments were part of a slew of audio interviews with members of the first Bush administration released today.