(Anna Nicole Smith, who at age 26 married 89-year-old J. Howard Marshall, who was worth $500 million)
A male gold digger, who marries a woman for her money, somehow seems even worse. Many of the most publicized cases have been of gay men who marry rich women who are either extremely old or extremely addled. When you hear about a case like this, it's hard not to think, what a slimeball.
(David Gest, who was briefly married to Liza Minelli)
Of course, straight guys who marry for the money are no better.
John McCain left his first wife, a former model, after she'd been in a disfiguring automobile accident, in order to marry Cindy Lou Hensley, whose father owned one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributorships in the nation. Cindy helped bankroll McCain's first run for Congress in 1980.
John Kerry married Teresa Heinz, the billionaire widow of Senator John Heinz, in 1995. (Has character ever been better reflected in a face?)
Would either of these men have married their wives had those women not been extremely rich?
Both McCain and Kerry signed pre-nups before getting married, but both men still obviously benefit from access to their wives' fortunes. Kerry keeps a yacht moored in Rhode Island and McCain famously couldn't recall how many houses he owned during the 2008 Presidential campaign.
What does it say about politics that two recent major party Presidential nominees both apparently married for money? What would you have thought had Anna Nicole Smith, or David Gest, run for President? McCain and Kerry are obviously far more intelligent and far more presentable. But is their character all that different?
I've always wondered why their apparent gold-digging tendencies didn't get more attention. I suppose because it's hard to prove. (How does one prove that someone doesn't really love his wife?)
Every time I hear the Democrats excoriate Mitt Romney for being a plutocrat, I can only think, well, at least he earned his own money.
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5 comments:
John,
This is a very astute observation about these particular presidential candidates. That said, I, for one, believe (from experience, reading, and observation) that women (mostly) seek to date and marry men who have promising careers--translation, money. Of course a future US president should be held to a higher standard, but I think the dynamic is widespread and pervasive globally. For most (not all) women, money is an aphrodisiac, kindly correct me if you think I'm off my rocker, which is possible. Thanks, Brian
Thanks Brian. Actually, I think you're right, most women have an eye on the future earnings potential of any prospective husband. I guess it's a matter of degree. I used Anna Nicole Smith as an example because she represents the extreme that I'm really talking about.
I met a few of these types when I worked on Wall Street (I never had enough money to excite their interest myself, but i did have the "privilege" of meeting a few. What sets them apart is, first, they go after BIG money, not just a guy with a solid upper middle class-type income. Second, a lot of them have had plastic surgery at a young age, not just implants and nose jobs, but even stuff like cheekbone enhancements, etc. Third, they pay a LOT of attention to how they dress, and spend serious money on their clothes. Fourth, they are intrinsically dishonest, often giving voice to such thoughts as, "I'm not in the market for a husband," or, "I don't need a man to punch my ticket," when the truth is just the opposite. And fifth, they will go to places where rich guys hang out purely in the hopes of meeting one.
I also noticed that most of them seem to come from broken homes.
So, when I talk about gold diggers, I'm not just referring to your average girl who wants to end up middle class as opposed to lower class.
John--Well put! Thanks, B
David Guest looks absolutely creepy. Too much plastic surgery. Thankfully, Liz Minnelli shed herself of that husband. My parents knew relatives of Liza, believing that it was an uncle and an aunt of Liza's, having the same last name.
-birdie
Birdie --
No question, he's scary-looking.
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