GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra made the first round of cuts to be Hillary Clinton's running mate this year.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s spent her entire career with one company. However, the history-making executive was under consideration for a bigger title than the “Chairman” that she added last year: Vice President of the United States.
Barra, who has never publicly espoused any political aspirations, was listed among 39 potential candidates to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate, according to a hacked email released today by WikiLeaks.
In a list broken down by adviser John Podesta into what he labeled as “food groups,” Barra found herself mentioned with several other top executives, including: Michael Bloomberg, chairman of the news group that bears his name and former mayor of New York City; Microsoft Founder Bill Gates, as well as his wife, Melissa; Apple CEO Tim Cook; Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz; and several others.
The overall list had some names that one would expect, such as Elizabeth Warren, Claire McCaskill, Eric Holder, and even her Democratic primary challenger, Bernie Sanders.
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To eliminate any speculation about her actual running mate, Tim Kaine was also on the list of the “first cut of people to consider for VP” in the March 17 message to Clinton.
The email is part of a batch of thousands of emails that WikiLeaks has released to the public. The topics have covered a range of issues. While she made the first round, nothing suggests that Barra actually pushed to be considered or was even aware that she had made the first cut.
GM declined to comment on the report.
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While she’s never been “politically motivated,” Barra was a guest of first lady Michelle Obama during the 2014 State of the Union address after being named GM’s first-ever female CEO. Additionally, ties between the automotive industry and politics are numerous.
In fact, one only need go back one election cycle to find the most recent connection: Mitt Romney’s father, George, was the chairman and president of American Motors Corp., then became governor of Michigan. He was initially the front runner for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1968, ultimately becoming Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Nixon Administration.
Prior to that, Robert McNamara, who was part of the “Whiz Kids” who breathed new life into Ford Motor Co. in the ’50s and was named the company’s president in November 1960, left the job after five weeks to become Secretary of Defense for President John F. Kennedy and later Lyndon B. Johnson.
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As Chrysler rebounded in the 1980s, there was a brief period where the company’s boss, Lee Iacocca, considered a run for president in 1988. In fact, he was far enough along in the planning to create a the campaign slogan “I Like I”, before being talked out of it.