When Ronald Reagan sought the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 1980, it was an open question as to whether the former governor’s family life would be perceived disqualifying. Voters had never before elected a divorced president, and there was great uncertainty about whether the electorate was prepared to put aside this apparent taboo. When Bill Clinton sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination 1992, the then-governor publicly conceded that he’d “caused pain” in his... Read this story
