As it turns out, the next vice president of the United States won鈥檛 be married to an Oak Bay grad.
On Tuesday, political betting sites 鈥� yes, there are such things 鈥� listed Susan Rice as the favourite to become Joe Biden鈥檚 running mate, but no, the Democratic presidential candidate chose Kamala Harris instead.
Not that Rice鈥檚 Victoria-raised husband, Ian Cameron, sounded devastated by the decision.
鈥淚t was a real honour to have gone through the process,鈥� he said, on the phone from their home in Washington, D.C., sounding very much like someone used to the world of high-level diplomacy, which he is. Rice was a pillar of the Obama administration, which is one reason why, despite never having held elected office, she found herself among the women being vetted for the second slot on the Democratic ticket. The couple know how Washington works.
Still, Cameron acknowledges, it鈥檚 nothing he dreamed of while growing up on Vancouver Island.
He comes from a well-known family. His grandfather was a Texan who moved to Victoria and became a big deal in forestry and shipbuilding. Ian鈥檚 father, Newton Cameron, founded his own company, Victoria Plywood, in 1950. Newton and Marjorie Cameron were married for almost six decades before dying within five months of one another in 2008.
Ian went to Oak Bay High, where he was student council president in 1979, before attending Stanford University, which is where he met Rice in 1983. They went on to have a long-distance relationship 鈥� Cameron worked in television in Ottawa, earned a master鈥檚 degree from the London School of Economics, then became a producer for the CBC鈥檚 current affairs show The Journal in Toronto in 1988.
Rice, a Rhodes scholar who earned a doctorate at Oxford, joined him in Toronto a couple of years later, taking a job with some management consultants. In a CBC interview last year she told Adrienne Arsenault of the impact legendary CBC host Barbara Frum had on their lives: 鈥淪he was a real champion of our impending marriage and very enthusiastic about it.鈥� Rice got cold feet, though, wasn鈥檛 certain she was ready to commit 鈥� something she wasn鈥檛 sure of until the morning in 1992 when she switched on the radio and learned that Frum had died. 鈥淚t made me realize this was a relationship I wanted to be in for the rest of my life, that she was right about the fact that we were right together,鈥� Rice told Arsenault.
鈥淏arbara was really attached to Susan and Susan was attached to Barbara,鈥� Cameron says. Rice and Cameron wed in September 1992.
They moved to Washington, D.C., after she was recruited by the Clinton administration to serve on the National Security Council. Cameron thought they would go back to sa国际传媒 after a couple of years but 鈥渟he won the cross-border battle of which country we鈥檇 end up in.鈥� He stayed with the CBC in Washington until 1998, when he joined ABC News, working as senior producer at World News Tonight before becoming executive producer of This Week With George Stephanopoulos in 2008.
He left in 2011, and now spends much of his time doing non-profit work, sitting on boards, tutoring kids.
The couple have a daughter in high school in Washington and a son at Stanford where 鈥� shades of Alex P. Keaton of Family Ties 鈥� he became president of the Stanford College Republicans.
Rice spent Barack Obama鈥檚 first term as the U.S.鈥檚 ambassador to the United Nations before becoming the president鈥檚 national security advisor. In 2012 she was considered a frontrunner to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, though the job eventually went to John Kerry. There鈥檚 a Victoria connection there, too: It was Kerry who hired St. Michaels University School grad Marvin Nicholson for his congressional office. Nicholson eventually moved to Obama鈥檚 2008 campaign team, later becoming White House trip director and, perhaps more importantly, the friend the president would turn to when he wanted to blow off steam by going golfing or shooting hoops.
Cameron said it was 鈥渟omewhat surreal鈥� to go to the White House during the Obama years and end up talking about Vancouver Island with Nicholson or Obama鈥檚 brother-in-law, Konrad Ng, who earned his master鈥檚 degree at UVic. Likewise, Cameron found himself swapping Island tales with Diana Krall when the Nanaimo singer performed at the White House. 鈥淰ictoria is never too far from my mind,鈥� Cameron says.
In fact, it鈥檚 a rare year that Rice and Cameron don鈥檛 come to Vancouver Island. 鈥淲e usually get up every summer to visit,鈥� Cameron says. He shares a family place at Shawnigan Lake with his siblings. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing better.鈥�
There鈥檒l be no Island trip this year, though. Rice will be campaigning for Biden, with whom she is expected to have a future should he unhorse Donald Trump.
鈥淚f she is not chosen as vice-president and Mr Biden wins the election, she could potentially become secretary of state,鈥� the BBC鈥檚 White House correspondent wrote this week. On Tuesday, a Reuters analysis floated Rice as a potential presidential candidate in 2024.
She is already a lightning rod for criticism by conservatives, though Cameron says that just comes with the territory. 鈥淭he thing about Susan is she has taken that before and knows how to deal with it.鈥� Her journey is not over.