The curse of finance ministers

[big bad fab]

Paul Martin, Peter Costello, Gordon Brown.

3 long-serving finance ministers and heir-apparent turned failed and disappointing politicians.

Is there a trend here ?

Of course, there are Manmohan Singh, Paul Keating, Helmut Schmidt, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing...
But, well, you can add Kenneth Clarke, Denis Healey, Rodrigo Rato, even Gaitskell, Butler, Ludwig Erhard (economics minister), Antoine Pinay or Raymond Poincaré.

So, maybe it's more the curse of too long-serving Nr.2 ?

Like in France with the cursed Prime ministers who lose the next presidential election (except for Pompidou, but it was more dynastic than anything else): Chaban-Delmas in 1974, Chirac in 1981 and 1988, Barre in 1988, Balladur in 1995, Jospin in 2002, Rocard and Fabius never candidates afterwards.

Do you any other example for or against this "curse" ?
Please discuss, throughout the ages and the hypotheses....

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's the No 2 effect more than anything else.  For instance, in the United States, we've only had three Vice Presidents ascent to the Presidency via election after their President did not run again, John Adams, Martin Van Buren, and George H.W. Bush.  None of them had an easy time in office, and none were elected to a second term.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I wonder how many British P.M's since the end of the First World War can't seriously be described as "failed and disappointing politicians" by someone... er... Attlee and Thatcher, I think. Arguments (whether fair or not) can be made for all the others.

If we turn this to postwar Canada, the only such exception would be Pearson...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

And I don't see why Gaitskell is on that list, anyway. The only reason for his "failure" to become P.M was his tragic, untimely death.

[big bad fab]

And I don't see why Gaitskell is on that list, anyway. The only reason for his "failure" to become P.M was his tragic, untimely death.

Why ? Because I post too late in the night...
Sorry for this lil' insult to Hugh's memory.