If newly-impeached Bill Clinton resigns, one of his final duties as president could be appointing Bermuda's next United States Consul General.

Some US columnists have speculated that if Mr. Clinton does the unexpected and bows out of the White House he may do so with guns blazing -- in a last attempt to put his political "friends'' in comfortable places.

And to make sure he could recuperate from his recent public woes in style he might appoint a buddy to Bermuda so the door would always be open for him to spend a bit of time here -- out of the limelight.

The highly-coveted role was touted as the "best'' of the appointments likely to be up for grabs in a recent Washington Post report.

It even listed the Consul General's luxury $15 million Paget residence, Chelston, as a draw card for top talent.

It made no mention of recent reports that Chelston was to be sold and replaced with a smaller property to cut costs of the US diplomatic service.

In fact the Washington Post writer gushed about the property as one of the position's main perks.

"The job comes with a small but adequate 10,000-square-foot house named Chelston, on a 14-acre spread with lovely beach front,'' it read.

It did not mention the complementary membership of all the Island's golf courses which the new Consul General would also receive.

But there were drawbacks, too, as was proved by the rejection of the job by one potential candidate -- Nebraska businessman Vin Gupta -- who in June chose to be US Ambassador to Fiji rather than Consul General here.

"The job does not require heavy lifting in terms of diplomacy, but one is obliged to make maximum use of the spectacular grounds for entertaining,'' it read.

It emphasised that an important part of the role was entertaining Presidential allies like Mr. Clinton's official lawyer and close personal friend Bruce Lindsey who holed up at Chelston for a week in September.

"Also, the mansion is presumed to be available as a halfway house for impeachment-weary Clintonites looking for a little winter escape,'' it said.

Current Consul General Robert Farmer -- a former Democratic National Committee treasurer -- was appointed in 1994 when it was planned he would quit Bermuda in August 1997. He even attended a church service last year and bade farewell to Bermuda and then expected to leave the Island a year ago this month.