Hillary Clinton listens as Robert Gates answers questions from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. in December, 2006.
Twice before in Hillary Clinton's adult lifetime, a Northeastern Senator has been the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both times, the nation was at war. In both cases, the war, presided over by a Republican President, was unpopular--especially with Democratic activists.
In 1971, Richard Nixon was managing a fighting retreat from Vietnam. Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine was favored to be his 1972 opponent. Centrist enough to be a favorite of the Democratic establishment, liberal enough to be respected by many on the left, Muskie had impressive credentials: first Governor, then Senator for a dozen years, as well as having been...
