比尔·克林顿能当好第一先生吗

PHILADELPHIA — If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, Bill Clinton will not become a regular at Cabinet meetings, his wife’s advisers say. He will not be invited into the Situation Room. He will step away from his family’s foundation work and may not even have an office in the West Wing, given the undesirable optics of a former president and husband looking over the shoulder of the first female commander in chief.

费城——如果希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)赢得总统大选，比尔·克林顿(Bill Clinton)将不会成为内阁会议的常客，他妻子的顾问如是说。他不会受邀进入局势研究室。他会和家族基金会的工作保持距离，考虑到一个前总统兼丈夫在首位女性三军统帅身后探头探脑的画面令人不快，他甚至可能在白宫西翼连个办公室都没有。

But the steps Clinton aides are planning to shape his new life do little to address a potentially thornier problem: Historically, when Bill Clinton does not have a job to do, he gets into trouble.

然而在克林顿的助手们为他的新生活进行的规划中，很少考虑一个可能更棘手的问题：回顾历史可以看到，当比尔·克林顿无所事事的时候，他会惹麻烦。

It was during the government shutdown in 1995 that Bill Clinton began his affair with Monica Lewinsky. It was in the early years after he left the White House that his friendships with wealthy playboys became tabloid fodder. Sidelined by Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton went rogue and started lashing out at Barack Obama. More recently, his dinner with the businessman Mark Cuban and his tarmac encounter with Attorney General Loretta Lynch were reminders that when Bill Clinton has time on his hands, he can create dangerous distractions for his wife.

1995年政府停摆，比尔·克林顿开始了和莫妮卡·莱温斯基(Monica Lewinsky)的婚外情。离开白宫的最初几年，他和几个身家不菲的花花公子的交情成了小报热点。2008年希拉里·克林顿的总统竞选把他搁置一边，他就胡闹起来，大肆攻击贝拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)。近日，他和商人马克·库班(Mark Cuban)吃饭，在机场和司法部长洛蕾塔·林奇(Loretta Lynch)见面，这些都提醒我们，比尔·克林顿一旦闲下来，会为他妻子制造一些颇为危险的烦心事。

“He loves getting involved in things — no one loves policy and politics more than Bill Clinton,” said Mickey Kantor, a longtime friend and secretary of commerce under Bill Clinton. “He loves, and needs, to have a purpose.”

“他喜欢参与——比尔·克林顿对政策和政治的爱是无人能比的，”比尔·克林顿的老朋友、曾在其政府担任商务部长的米奇·坎多尔(Mickey Kantor)说。“他渴望，也需要有一个目标。”

Putting Bill Clinton to good use, while containing his less helpful impulses, would be a major test for Hillary Clinton as president, given the spotlight and pressure they would be under and her limited ability in the past to rein in his excesses. Hillary Clinton sees him as her most trusted confidant and sounding board on national security issue and the economy, advisers say; one recalled a recent golf outing where Bill Clinton received several phone calls and emails from Hillary Clinton before reaching the 14th hole.

鉴于届时他们将面对的关注和压力，以及此前她无力控制住他的肆意作风，如何用好比尔·克林顿，包括抑制他那些不太有帮助的冲动，将是作为总统的希拉里·克林顿面临的重大考验。希拉里·克林顿的顾问说，她视他为最可靠的知己，会在国家安全和经济方面征求他的意见；有人透露最近和比尔·克林顿一起打高尔夫，还没打到第14洞，他就接到了许多希拉里·克林顿的电话和邮件。

Yet Hillary Clinton is still not sure if she would give a formal position to Bill Clinton or rely on him to help behind the scenes and keep a low profile, aides say. She clearly wants him busy: Appearing on “60 Minutes” on Sunday, Hillary Clinton said that it would be “an all-hands-on-deck time” if she wins the presidency and that she would rely on Bill Clinton — as well as President Barack Obama — and “put ‘em all to work.” At the same time she emphasized, that she and Bill Clinton would not be co-presidents, leaving open the question of how he would spend his days when he is so close to the levers of power that he knows well.

然而助手们说，希拉里·克林顿仍然没有想好是给比尔·克林顿一个正式职位，还是让他在幕后协助，保持低调。她显然不想让他闲下来：周日在“60分钟”节目上，希拉里·克林顿说一旦赢得大选，将进入“一种全员上阵的状态”，她需要倚仗比尔·克林顿——以及贝拉克·奥巴马总统——“让他们都忙起来。”与此同时她也强调，她和比尔·克林顿不会是联席总统，但回避了一个问题：当他所熟悉的权杖近在眼前时，他的时间都将用来干什么。

Given his insights and experience, Bill Clinton could be more capable than anyone else in ensuring the success of her presidency — or he could cast a long shadow over her.

以他的见地和经验，比尔·克林顿将是最有希望助她成为一个成功总统的人——但他也可能会给她的任期蒙上巨大阴影。

“Their relationship as a current president and a former president would be a very, very sensitive issue early on, and they’d need to carefully work out the rules of the road for the sake of both of them,” said David Gergen, who was a senior adviser to several presidents, including Bill Clinton.

“作为前任和现任总统，两人的关系将来会是一个非常、非常敏感的问题，他们要小心摸索出一套行事规则来，这对双方都有好处，”戴维·格根(David Gergen)说，他曾任多位总统的高级顾问，包括比尔·克林顿。

“There’s some revisionist history underway about his presidency that clearly bothers him, for instance, and he may want to rewrite the story of his presidency partly by influencing Hillary’s policies as president,” Gergen added. “They both have to be very careful with that.”

“比如关于他的总统任期有一些被修正的历史陈述，显然对他是构成困扰的，一定程度上，他可能会通过影响希拉里任期内的政策，来改写他自己的总统故事，”格根说。“这方面他们两人都需要非常小心。”

Aides and allies of the Clintons were emphatic that his sole focus would be on helping his wife as president and doing what she asked of him. They played down any controversies over the last several years, pointing out that Bill Clinton had focused on the foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative during that time. But at the same time they acknowledged that Bill Clinton would not be content to sit idly by or speak only when spoken to.

克林顿夫妇的助手和盟友强调，他唯一关心的是帮助妻子成为总统，完全听从她的调遣。他们不认为过去几年的种种争议事件会有太大影响，并指出比尔·克林顿在这段时间一直把心思放在基金会以及克林顿全球倡议组织(Clinton Global Initiative)的事务上。但同时他们也承认，比尔·克林顿不会安于无所事事地坐在一旁，或是只能被动地回答问题。

At 69, even as age and health have somewhat slowed him, Bill Clinton still has a strong desire to be in the center of the action, friends say, and his intellectual interests and curiosity remain vast.

尽管年纪和身体状况对他多少有了些妨碍，但朋友说，现年69岁的比尔·克林顿仍然渴盼能站在风口浪尖，他的思考兴趣和好奇心仍然旺盛。

One aide says he now spends an extra hour every day reading about world economies, partly in anticipation of helping Hillary Clinton if she asks him to help with economic revitalization, as she has indicated. He enjoys working abroad — his popularity is sky-high in many foreign countries — and he likes calling up whomever he wants, whenever he wants, especially his wife. But if the Clintons return to the White House, his life will inevitably become more circumscribed, and he will be expected to show the self-discipline that most first spouses have demonstrated.

一名助手说，他现在每天都多花一小时时间阅读世界经济方面的资料，部分原因是：如果希拉里·克林顿真像其所表示的那样，就经济复苏议题求助于他，他希望可以助其一臂之力。他喜欢在海外工作——在其他很多国家里都极受欢迎——他还喜欢在他觉得合适的任何时间打电话给他想要找的任何人，尤其是他妻子。但如果两人重返白宫，他的生活无疑会变得更受限制，而且他将需要展现出大多数第一配偶身上的那种自律。

Friends of Bill Clinton say the smartest way to use him would involve a major but focused appointment, like leading a task force to fight climate change, global poverty, or the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which would be natural outgrowths of his foundation work. Others, including some who worked in Bill Clinton’s administration, like the idea of him as Middle East peace envoy, given his herculean efforts in the region during his presidency, or as a kind of jobs mastermind focused on rebuilding the most struggling regions of America.

比尔·克林顿的朋友们说，启用他的最明智方式是把他安排到一个重要但却单一的职位上，比如领导一个工作组，对抗气候变化、全球贫困或HIV/AIDS疫情，他在克林顿基金会的工作本来就会涉及这些议题。另外一些人，包括曾在克林顿政府任职的人，则赞同让他出任中东和平大使的主意，因为他担任总统期间在该地区付出了艰苦卓绝的努力；或者让他以类似工作议题主脑的身份，专注于重建美国那些最困难的地区。

“In some ways the Middle East is the most natural job for him, because he’s so popular with all sides and he spent so much time on peacemaking,” said Martin S. Indyk, a U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration and a longtime negotiator in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

“在某种程度上，处理中东事务对他来说是最合适不过的工作，因为他在方方面面都吃得开，而且他曾长期致力于促进该地区的和平，”曾在克林顿执政期间担任美国驻以色列大使，长期参与巴以和谈的马丁·S·寅戴克(Martin S. Indyk)说。

Aides to Bill Clinton said Middle East peace envoy was not a job they had heard him express interest in.

比尔·克林顿的助手称，他们从未听他表达过对中东和平大使这一职位的兴趣。

They also noted that for every possible job, there is a potential downside — that he would spark tensions with her secretary of state, Treasury secretary, or other cabinet officer; that he might upstage Hillary Clinton or box her in because she might have difficulty overruling him; or that he would become a political target of Republicans once again.

他们还指出，对每一个潜在的工作岗位而言，都存在潜在的不利因素——他和她的国务卿、财政部长或其他内阁成员之间的关系可能会很紧张；他没准儿会抢走希拉里·克林顿的风头或者令其处境尴尬，因为希拉里或许难以否决他的决定；他还有可能再次成为共和党人的政治靶子。

Bill Clinton is excited to return to the White House because he thinks he can genuinely help Hillary Clinton, his advisers say, so relegating him to a narrow role — like being the head of a task force — might leave him wanting more.

比尔·克林顿的顾问说他满怀兴奋地想要重返白宫，因为他认为自己真的可以对希拉里·克林顿有所帮助，因此如果让他退居一个职权有限的岗位——譬如担任某个工作组的负责人——那他可能会感到不满足。

“We’re never had a former president who, as a behind-the-scenes roving emissary, would have so much power to speak on behalf of a sitting president,” said Douglas Schoen, a former adviser and pollster to Bill Clinton. “He is uniquely qualified to be her consigliere, and I think it would thrill him because intellectually he is always restless and engaged. She just has to channel him the right way.”

“身为幕后巡回使者的前总统有如此大的代表在位总统发言的权力，是我们前所未见的，”曾担任比尔·克林顿的顾问和民调工作人员的道格拉斯·舒恩(Douglas Schoen)说。“他绝对有资格当她的军师，我认为那会让他感到兴奋，因为他在智识方面一直是一个永不满足、全情投入的人。只是她必须以正确的方式引导他的能量。”

Advisers to Hillary Clinton, asked about specific roles that Bill Clinton may play, said she had not given the matter much thought.

当被问及比尔·克林顿可能会扮演的特定角色时，希拉里·克林顿的顾问说她还没太考虑过这一问题。

“She would certainly seek his advice and counsel,” said Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton. “Beyond that, it being July, it would be getting ahead of oneself to talk about any sort of formalized role for anyone in an administration.”

“她当然会听取他的意见和建议，”希拉里·克林顿的发言人尼克·梅里尔(Nick Merrill)说。“除了这一点，才7月份便讨论哪个人会被正式安排到哪个职位上之类的话题，有些操之过急。”