John Feehery: What history can teach us

“They were about the most paranoid people I’d ever seen in my life.” 

That’s how Skip Allen, who served in the White House Usher’s Office, described Bill and Hillary Clinton in Kate Andersen Brower’s fascinating new book about life in America’s most famous house, called The Residence.

Andersen Brower describes the back stories behind the Clintons’ domestic disputes, Hillary Clinton’s foul language, an incident in which the first lady angrily threw a lamp at the president, and the drama that suffused the White House during those long eight years. 

{mosads}The book also describes a campaign by the Clintons to fire another usher, Chris Emery, who had been close to the Bush family, precisely because he had talked to Barbara Bush on the phone. 

White House staff members have nothing but nice things to say about the Bush family, especially George H.W. Bush, who would play horseshoes with them. 

Jeb Bush didn’t live in the White House when his father was president, so it isn’t clear how the now-former Florida governor would treat the White House staff. But if he is anything like his father and brother, George W. Bush, you can assume that he would treat them with respect and affection. 

Right now, the two front-runners for the 2016 presidential election are Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. 

We know what to expect from Clinton, if she returns to the White House. 

We can expect paranoia. We can expect domestic drama. We can expect shenanigans from her husband. We can expect political vindictiveness. We can expect her to fire people who she doesn’t trust. 

The irony is that the White House members of staff, although officially nonpartisan, are thought to be mostly made up of Democrats. So this is what the Democrats are saying about the Clinton family, who really know them and really know how they treat people.

I just have to wonder if the American people are ready for a return to this kind of drama. 

We don’t know what to expect, precisely, from Bush, because he never lived in the White House. He might bring some drama of his own — you never know. But you can assume that there will no lamp-throwing in a Bush White House. At least, not from the first couple. 

Bush is too close to his father, in temperament and in personality, to think that it is OK to berate the White House staff the way the Clintons routinely did. 

It is altogether possible that the American people will reject both Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush next year. Political dynasties often vie for the White House but only rarely seize it. Indeed, of our 43 presidents, only six have come from named family dynasties (the Adamses, the Roosevelts and the Bushes).

The American people’s hunger for change is palpable. 

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) put it pretty well when he said in his own announcement for the presidency, when referring to Clinton: “Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday. Yesterday is over — and we’re never going back.”

I imagine the White House staff is hoping that Rubio is correct, especially when it comes to Clinton. 

I can’t think it will be very pleasant for those who serve on the White House staff, should the Clintons return to the Oval Office. Given her paranoid nature, I would venture to guess that the former first lady has already read Andersen Brower’s book — and is looking forward to firing those who dared to speak truth to power. 

Feehery is president of QGA Public Affairs and blogs at www.thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) when he was majority whip, and as speechwriter to former Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).