Thanks, But No Thanks

By Jacob V. Lamar Jr

Lee Iacocca does not want to be President of the U.S. Sure, the man has led a triumphant life: the son of Italian immigrants, he scratched his way to the top of the Ford Motor Company, then guided Chrysler from the brink of financial ruin to robust health and considerable profits. And, yes, he has become a household name as the earnest TV pitchman for his company's cars. He is also the author of the best-selling autobiography ever (more than 5 million copies, hardcover and paperback, are in print) and a proud patriot who raised $277 million for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. But Iacocca has said he is "repulsed" by the world of politics and its "dirty tricks" and has often stated his resolve against seeking elective office. Nevertheless, this modern American folk hero has found himself in the frustrating, if flattering position of having to implore his admirers to quit trying to recruit him for the 1988 presidential race.

In Washington last week, the organizers of the Draft Lee Iacocca for President Committee, some of them experienced political consultants, announced their determination to persuade the bluntspoken 61-year-old auto manufacturer to pursue the Democratic nomination for the presidency. After analyzing the nuances of electoral rules and regulations, the committee members declared that they plan to launch a campaign without their candidate's consent. Their hope was that Iacocca would eventually give in to the pressure of voter support and join the race. "Mr. Iacocca would probably prefer for us to cease and desist," conceded the group's chairman, Michigan State Representative Richard Fitzpatrick. But, he added, "we need the best leadership we can find. And where America's future is concerned, we think the voters shouldn't take no for an answer."

No was precisely the answer that Iacocca gave in a statement released last week: "I am not a candidate, do not plan to become a candidate, and see no circumstances that would change my mind." In a letter to the drafters, Iacocca wrote that he must "request in the most unambiguous terms that you cease all efforts in my behalf, including the collecting of contributions and expenditure of funds, and that your committee be dissolved. I have written to the Federal Election Commission disavowing any activity on my behalf." He noted in his statement that he has already returned hundreds of campaign contributions that he had received personally.

Despite Iacocca's rejection of its overtures, the committee seems bent on continuing its quixotic mission. "He made his statement, and we take him at his word," said Committee Member Terrence O'Connell, a Washington political consultant. "Now we're going to go ahead and do what we said we would do." Never mind that a presidential draft has not succeeded in modern times. Never mind that the avenue presenting the fewest technical barriers for the campaign would be an awkward "national surrogate" strategy involving a stand-in who would go on the stump, presumably pressing palms and kissing babies for Iacocca. There is no direct precedent for a substitute enunciating the views of a silent and absent candidate. Such a campaign would draw close FEC scrutiny if it attempted to get federal financing.

The committee members seem blinded by their would-be candidate's extraordinary popularity. A Gallup poll found that the only public figures more highly esteemed in America are Ronald Reagan and the Pope. A poll conducted for TIME by Yankelovich, Clancy, Shulman shows Iacocca as the first choice for the Democratic presidential nomination among 18% of Democrats and Independents. The Chrysler chairman's ranking was second only to that of Colorado Senator Gary Hart. There is some doubt, however, whether his standing -- which rests primarily on name recognition -- could be converted into real voter support in an actual campaign.

Lee-loving Democrats compare their man to another inexperienced presidential candidate by the name of Eisenhower. But War Hero Ike entered politics before presidential campaigns became two-year marathons and television extravaganzas. There is no telling how Iacocca, if he did accede to a candidacy, would fare under the spotlight of a national campaign. Questions would be raised about his loyalty to the Democrats: a former Republican, he now votes independently.

Moreover, some of the qualities that Americans love in Iacocca the gruff, can-do businessman might work against Iacocca the presidential candidate. Could a hard-driving corporate titan, accustomed to speaking his mind and having his way, cope with the subtleties and compromises of American realpolitik? The draft-Iacocca boosters may underestimate the depth of his lifelong love affair with the auto business. He adores the nuts and bolts of it, the marketing strategies, the finite way in which success (or failure) is easily measured. With Chrysler on the rebound, Iacocca harbors impossible dreams of driving his company past Ford to take the second spot behind General Motors. Nothing, in fact, would please Iacocca more than overtaking his old boss and nemesis, Henry Ford II, the man who sought to end his career after a bloody power struggle in 1978. Always one to hold grudges and flaunt success, Iacocca recently bought Ford's first house in Grosse Point Farms, Mich., on a street where many Ford family members live.

According to insiders at Chrysler, the chairman stands a good chance of bucking the company's tradition of retiring executives at 65. With perhaps another decade of wheeling and dealing in the auto business ahead of him, Lee Iacocca might simply be enjoying himself too much to run for President.

With reporting by Laurence I. Barrett/Washington and Paul A. Witteman/San Francisco