Recent Presidents

• Carter wore a sweater.
• Reagan was a stronger communicator.
• Clinton, alas, will go down for an unfortunate phrase.

Ike Through Carter

Just before Eisenhower became president, his son John went to Korea to serve in an infantry unit. In the New York Times, the younger Eisenhower recalls a conversation that you probably never had with your dad.

As the time for my deployment approached, I discussed my intentions with my father. We met at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago, just after the Republican convention, and I explained my position. My father, as a professional officer himself, understood and accepted it. However, he had a firm condition: under no circumstances must I ever be captured. He would accept the risk of my being killed or wounded, but if the Chinese Communists or North Koreans ever took me prisoner, and threatened blackmail, he could be forced to resign the presidency. I agreed to that condition wholeheartedly. I would take my life before being captured.

Ponder that last line. A president needs a pint or two of very cold blood.

In early 1961, Ike gave his Farewell Address, famously warning of the military-industrial complex. Days later, the torch passed to JFK, who took a distinctly militant tone in the Cold War. Kennedy took full advantage of new technology, starting the practice of holding press conferences on live TV. His successor, Lyndon Johnson, had an earthy way of expressing himself.

In future weeks, we shall discuss Nixon in greater detail. But this brief clip gives a glimpse of what he termed a "cold-blooded" view of international politics. President Nixon sought to rally the "silent majority" for his Vietnam policies.

• Ford was a healer.
• Carter wore a sweater.

Can you tell I'm anticipating the JFK lecture

(click for bigger, readable version)

From what is possibly my favorite website, Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

FDR through DDE

Presidents in the Early 20th Century

Text and short video on Woodrow Wilson's stroke.

Political scientist Wilson reflects on the presidency.

The underrated Calvin Coolidge made the first presidential speech on sound film:



Do you think Hoover was a great media president?

On Today's Media Blitz

So, the President's "full Ginsburg" coincides with our readings of the Roosevelt and Wilson Presidencies.

The book emphasizes Roosevelt's relationship with the Press and his ability to utilize newspapers and magazines to pass his agenda (The Hepburn Act in particular). Milkis and Nelson state "The rise of the rhetorical presidency that began during the Roosevelt administration went hand in hand with an expansion of the executive's responsibility to guide the formation of public policy." They further emphasize Wilson's rhetorical capabilities, concluding "Henceforth presidents would be expected to articulate a vision of the future and guide the nation toward fulfilling it."

And so the President's media blitz today - hitting 4 of the 5 major Sunday morning talk shows (skipping FOX for Univision) - is as good an example as any of how Roosevelt's relationship with the Press and Wilson's use of oratory have shaped the Modern President.

But I doubt the President's efforts will have much effect. As we discussed the other day, few tune into the talk shows or Congressional addresses. If you're singing to the choir, you're not getting anyone else to stand up.

And so the question those Presidents answered - How do I reach the people with my policy message? - must have a much different answer now. Perhaps it's impossible for the President to reach the majority of Americans. While New Media campaigns work for GOTV, I question their merits in political persuasion.

Furthermore, some see the "full Ginsburg" (doesn't that sound like a potentially amazing tie knot?) as demeaning of the President. Peggy Noonan described Obama's media saturation as "boorish." And just glancing over Politico's home-page, where there are about 10 different headlines pertaining to the President ("Obama 'skeptical' about more troops," "Obama: Health Plan 'not radical'," "Job numbers bleak, says Obama," "Obama hedges on immigration timeline," "Obama Punts on ACORN Funding," "Obama: Calming 'paranoid' Russians," etc.), perhaps she's right. Perhaps the President is diluting his message by saturating the market.

But at the same time we can at least recognize his pursuit of a TR/Wilson media bump in his attempt to pass health care. And while I would bet large sums of money the President's numbers don't change in any meaningful way, I would argue it is his prerogative to see how he can preach beyond the choir. But with 100-channel cable and NFL Sunday, I doubt anything got through.

How LBJ Got Congress to Pass Medicare

Watch CBS Videos Online

The Civil War and After

Civil War timeline


Between 1876 and 1892, no president won a majority of the popular vote:

1876 Hayes........... 48.0*
1880 Garfield........48.3
1884 Cleveland.....48.5
1888 Harrison.......47.8*
1892 Cleveland......46.1

*Won fewer popular votes than his main opponent.

Personalities and Feuds

In class yesterday, we discussed the political impact of personal conflicts and long memories. For instance, Bill Clinton's endorsement of Gavin Newsom in part reflects his bitter 1992 contest with Jerry Brown:

http://www.epicjourney2008.com/2009/09/clinton-newsom-and-brown.html

Brown played rough on other issues as well. From the New York Times (March 23, 1992):

"Mr. Clinton is presenting himself as the friend of the Afro-American community," Mr. Brown told the congregation of the Memorial Baptist Church on West 115th Street as he stood before a lighted cross. "Well, even George Bush wouldn't dare play golf at an all-white golf club."

Mr. Clinton, who has been winning more than half of the black vote in the primaries, has conceded that it was wrong for him to play golf a few times a year for several years at a whites-only club in Little Rock, Ark., and has vowed not to do it again.

Mr. Brown said that unlike most states, Arkansas does not have a state civil rights statute. He also said that in the Georgia primary campaign Mr. Clinton appeared in a newspaper photograph, standing in a prison before a group of inmates, all of them black."What's the message of that?" Mr. Brown asked the congregation, which interrupted with applause and shouts of "yes!" and "amen!" "He's saying: 'We have them under control, folks. Don't worry.' "

Party leaders give Mr. Brown little chance of winning the nomination, fearing his only role now could be to weaken Mr. Clinton and thereby help President Bush.
Mr. Brown said in an interview that he resented such talk, adding: "What is this, the Politburo? There is only the candidate picked by the power structure?"

"I'm not the spoiler," he continued. "Slick Willie's the spoiler. If he gets the nomination, he's going to ruin the whole Democratic Party."

Early 19th Century Presidency

If you think that the president got rough treatment...



Attack ad



War of 1812





Look here for maps showing the territorial growth of the United States.

The Presidential Stare Down

So last night was the President's health care speech. While I still need time to digest it and think about its merits, one certainty from last night is that Rep. Wilson (R-SC) made a gaffe and got the most intense Presidential stare down I've ever seen.



In related news, his opponent raised $100,000 last night.

Modern Take on an American God

In light of today's discussion on America's reverence of George Washington, I thought that this video would serve as a modern incarnation of the cherry tree myth. Instead of chopping down trees, though, here he flies on rainbows. This video is all true facts about the man.

Warning: strong language and images...if you're manly enough to handle them, like Washington was.

The Presidential Libraries

We have two Presidential Libraries in Southern California!

The Nixon Library is located in Yorba Linda and the Reagan is in Simi Valley.

May I suggest either an official or unofficial class trip to one or both of these?



As an FYI from the Claremont Republicans:

"This Sunday former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough who now hosts MSNBC's Morning Joe will be at the Reagan Library to tape Morning Joe."

President's Inspiring Words to America's Students

** I tried to do this as a comment to the previous post but was unsuccessful**

If you are a words person and would like to read the script for the President's Education speech, that was made available online the day before. How often does the President release his remarks ahead of time?


I was particularly fascinated by the other resources and the menu of classroom activities made available in the weeks before the speech, as well.

The President's Education Speech

So today was the back to school address.

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I read it yesterday and am a fan. Even GOP leaders like it (Newt Gingrich approves, the Florida GOP chair who last week denounced the speech as an opportunity for the President to advance Socialism said he would show it to his kids...). Yet controversy surrounds the speech.

Going in folks were worried about accompanying lesson plans and political messages. Those concerns were dealt with.

Going out, more conservative outlets mention that in 1991 Democrats ordered the GAO to investigate Bush 41's education speech for ethics violations. I was disappointed to find no accompanying text or video, but digging through C-SPAN I discovered it.



Letting slide the video quality and awkward presentation/speaking style, the speech was extremely similar to Obama's. No policy initiatives were pushed and no political agenda was forwarded. The school Bush 41 praised was even a public school. So my question is why were Democrats so up in arms?

My Congressman, Jim Himes (probably better known as the guy who ousted Republicans from New England rather than on his personal merits) wrote an article in our local paper about the speech and decision by some schools not to show it. He writes

Let's set aside what seems to be a complete absence of respect for the office of the President...

But I'd rather not set that aside. There is some grandeur associated with the office, some implicit respect people should have for the institution if not for the man. Like we said yesterday, the President is unique partly because he is head of State and head of Government. Obviously using one to buttress the other is possible, and giving such a broadly acclaimed and non-partisan speech leading into tomorrow's Health Care speech and the subsequent polling seems cagey. Still, a nation's leader is the face of the nation. There's something grand there.

Moving forward, I wonder how much the President's numbers tic upwards and if giving this speech before the Health Care speech might be problematic - if approval numbers rise, some could argue it was due to the former rather than the latter. One could just look at the Health Care questions, but polling on that issue is so tricky and variable on wording that it doesn't show much.

At the end of the night I'm reading Washington's First Inaugural. Given the events of the day, this part struck me:

I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world.

And while politics and partisanship will play out during the legislative session, at least in these education speeches I see Washington's Executive vision.

The Presidency: A First Look

Article II of the Constitution

The oath, sort of:

The White House today.