US News

Clint Eastwood considered as VP choice by Bush Sr., tapes reveal

WASHINGTON — President George H.W. Bush considered selecting Clint Eastwood as his vice presidential running-mate in 1988, according to newly released audio tape interviews with key members of his administration.

In one interview, unearthed by ABC News, former Secretary of State James Baker acknowledged that Eastwood had been discussed as a potential VP pick before Bush eventually settled on Dan Quayle.

After the interviewer went through a list of names that included Sen. Bob Dole, Sen. Alan Simpson and Rep. Jack Kemp, Baker was asked if anyone else was missing from the list.

“You don’t have Clint Eastwood on there,” Baker said. “‘Make My Day.'”

“Did you know that Clint Eastwood’s name was thrown out at one point?” he continued. After some laughter, Baker insisted that Eastwood — who had served as mayor of Carmel, Calif., from 1986-1988 — really had been considered.

“When we were way behind. Honest engine,” he said. “It was suggested in not an altogether unserious … Well, he was a mayor. He was a Republican mayor,” Baker said.

In the summer of 1988, Bush was losing badly in the polls to the Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

“Anyway, it was shot down pretty quick. But we were looking at an 18-point deficit,” Baker said.

Bush went on to trounce Dukakis in a landslide, winning 53 percent of the vote and a 426-111 Electoral College victory

Baker’s interview was included as part of 350 hours of audio interviews with key Bush administration figures recorded between 1999 and 2011. The tapes were made public Friday by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and the Bush Presidential Library Foundation.