Rick Hampson

USA TODAY

As Donald Trump decides not only who to choose as his running mate but how, there are plenty of cautionary tales for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee to consider.

1972: Democratic nominee George McGovern, spurned by many other potential running mates, offered the post to Sen. Thomas Eagleton at the last minute with almost no vetting. It turned that out Eagleton was taking antipsychotic drugs and had undergone electroshock therapy. He had to drop out.

1984: Democratic nominee Walter Mondale, seeking a fresh, exciting face, chose U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro. The first woman on a major party ticket was duly vetted, but not the complicated New York real estate business affairs of her husband, John Zaccaro. They became a constant distraction in the general election campaign, which ended in a GOP landslide.

2008: Seeking a fresh, exciting face, Republican nominee John McCain tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. A rushed vetting process – less than a week, vs. months for others under consideration -- failed to discover Palin’s shallow knowledge of foreign affairs (like the difference between the Iraq and Afghan wars) and U.S. government (like what “The Fed’’ is).

More vetting might not have avoided these pitfalls, but politicos say that if there’s a skeleton in the closet, a skeptical accountant is better than a golden gut.

“You can like somebody personally, but their background can have all sorts of landmines,’’ says Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University Law School expert on the vice presidency.

Before he hires them, Trump typically likes to have seen people operate up close, as an associate or adversary. But now he may have no choice but to rely on expert vetters.

“When he hired me to do Trump Tower, he’d seen me at work,’’ says Barbara Res, a young female construction engineer on whom Trump took a chance in 1980. “But who’s he seen up close doing foreign policy?’’

A comprehensive vetting may be good for the presidential nominee, but not so pleasant for the potential running mate.

Goldstein calls the financial and personal review “very intrusive.’’ Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, had a more graphic comparison: “a colonoscopy without anesthesia.’’

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