presidential blunders

Adios!

2009-07-13T21:14:00.004-07:00

I got tired of this blog, so I killed it. But I'll leave it up for others to enjoy over time.

In the meantime, I've moved on to create two new blogs. Please join me there:

www.CriticBigot.com

If the Shoe Fits

2009-05-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lyndon Johnson had his troubles. Opposition to the war in Vietnam eventually forced him from seeking another term in 1968. But perhaps we shouldn't feel sad for him because, among other special luxuries, Johnson had shoes specially designed for him because his feet were different sizes. His right foot was size 11C, while his left was 11.5C. We know this quirky fact courtesy of Johnson & Murphy, which was commissioned to make several pairs of shoes for Johnson, including a black plain-toe slip on, as well as a chestnut-colored, five-eyelet lace-up. Johnson & Murphy's Shoes of the Presidents is an entertaining look at presidential footwear.

President Review: James Buchanan

2009-05-14T00:00:00.001-07:00

What would you say if you were one of the country's worst presidents? No need to ponder that question, because a real-life example exists for us to marvel at. James Buchanan often gets the nod as one of the worst presidents, and perhaps it's well deserved. Under Buchanan's leadership, the country slipped into a terrible economic recession. In addition, he was ineffective at preventing states from eventually seceding from the Union. He sat idly while slavery spread into the western territories. He gets a lot of blame for the Civil War. He also sported a very bad haircut. All told, a dismal performance while in the White House. Buchanan knew that he was judged harshly. His excuse is a shocker: "Whatever the results may be, I shall carry to my grave the consciousness that I at least meant well for my country."

Cleveland's Secret Surgery

2009-05-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Over the years, many presidents have gone to extreme lengths to mislead the country about their health. Never a good idea. In 1893, Grover Cleveland became aware of a strange spot on the roof of his mouth. His doctor, Major Robert O’Reilly, took a biopsy of a growth that appeared to be "nearly the size of a quarter with cauliflower granulation." Results of the test revealed it to be a nonmalignant though troublesome cancer, making surgery necessary. But Cleveland didn't want his condition to be known so as not to panic the financial markets. An elaborate scheme was put in place to hide his condition, which wasn't revealed until nine years after his death. On July 1, 1893, the first of two delicate oral surgeries was performed on Cleveland on the Oneida, a yacht owned by Commodore Elias Benedict. In addition to several teeth, a large chunk of Cleveland's upper left jaw and palate was removed. Eventually, the deep recess was filled with a rubber implant which the president wore for the rest of his life.

Ford Falls

2009-05-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's ironic that one of our most athletic presidents became known as the clumsiest. Gerald Ford played center and linebacker for two national championship seasons at the University of Michigan. He was also an accomplished golfer, having once hit a hole in one at the Colonial Country Club golf course in Memphis, Tennessee. But despite Ford's athleticism, he suffered a series of high profile public slips and falls. Saturday Night Live's Chevy Chase lampooned Ford's falls, which contributed to Ford's reputation as a hapless and awkward (and non-elected) caretaker of the White House.

The Scream Heard 'Round the World

2009-05-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest gaffes by a presidential candidate (and still the funniest) occurred on January 19, 2004, when former Vermont governor Howard Dean suffered a disappointing third place finish in the Iowa Caucus. Dean had been leading the polls heading into Iowa, but his high expectations were dashed when the Johns (Kerry and Edwards) finished ahead of him. Dean gave his concession speech at the Val-Air Ballroom in West Des Moines where, in rolled up shirt sleeves, he gave what is now known as his impassioned I Have a Scream speech. "You know, I was about to say, I'm sure there are some disappointed people here. You know what? You know something? You know something? If you had told us one year ago that we were gonna come in third in Iowa we would have given anything for that. And you know something? You know something? Not only are we going to New Hampshire, Tom Harkin, we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico. And we're going to California and and Texas and New York. And we''re going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan, and then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House! YAAAAAAAA!" Dean, whose candidacy was never the same, went on to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He is now a CNBC contributor.

Maligned Vegetable

2009-05-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

March 22, 1990, was a dark day for legions of broccoli lovers. That's when George H.W. Bush, a well known broccoli hater, defended his dislike of the green floret-topped vegetable. "I do not like broccoli and I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it," said Bush. "And I'm the President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli! Now look, this is the last statement I’m going to have on broccoli. There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that’s coming in." The caravan Bush referred to was 10 tons of broccoli shipped to the White House in protest by broccoli growers.

LBJ's Vietnam

2009-05-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

It's an understatement to say that the Vietnam war was a boondoggle. And Lyndon Johnson owns it. President Kennedy had intended to reduce the number of U.S. military advisers in Vietnam, but LBJ reversed Kennedy's order to pull a thousand troops out. Next, incidents in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964 gave Johnson the authority he wanted to ratchet up activity in Vietnam in an attempt to stop the spread of Communism. But the Gulf of Tonkin incidents, in which it was purported that North Vietnam ships attacked U.S. vessels, was mostly a ruse...and Johnson knew it. In taped conversations between LBJ and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, LBJ admitted that the Gulf of Tonkin incidents weren't definitive. Here's a transcript snippet of their September 18, 1965 conversation, as featured in Michael Beschloss's excellent Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965.

LBJ: Take the best military man you have, though, and just tell him that I've been watching and listening to these stories for thirty years before the Armed Services Committee, and we are always sure we've been attacked. Then in a day or two, we are not so damned sure. And then in a day or two more, we're sure it didn't happen at all!
McNamara: Yeah, yeah.
LBJ: Just say that you want to be sure...that we were fired upon. Because you just came in...a few weeks ago and said that, "Damn, they are launching an attack on us. They are firing on us." When we got through with all the firing, we concluded maybe they hadn't fired at all.

Pictured are Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Johnson and McNamara at a Cabinet meeting, courtesy of Yoichi R. Okamoto, White House Press Office.

The Biggest Supreme Court Losers

2009-05-06T00:00:00.001-07:00

With David Souter retiring, President Obama has his first opportunity to make a mark on the U.S. Supreme Court. But the nomination process can be a minefield of potential stumbles and mistakes. If history is an indicator, Obama shouldn't have too much of a problem, especially because of the large Democratic majority in the Senate. Most nominees are confirmed. But some presidents have had more difficulty than others. The all-time loser is John Tyler, with a whopping eight failures: four of his nominations were withdrawn, one rejected, and three others died in the U.S. Senate due to lack of formal action. (Several of Tyler's nominations were of the same candidates.) Behind Tyler are Grant and Fillmore with three failures, then Washington, Madison, Polk, Cleveland, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan with two each. The most recent Senate rejection was Reagan's choice of Robert Bork (pictured) in 1987. The latest nominee withdrawal was George W. Bush's selection of Harriet Miers.

Worst VP Picks

2009-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a fascinating online article by Elana Schor from Guardian.co.uk that appeared on August 23, 2008, which focused on the best and worst vice president picks of all time. It's difficult to argue with her picks. Here's her worst five:
1. Aaron Burr: Pictured right, Burr was chosen by Thomas Jefferson but dropped from the ticket in 1804. He killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
2. Spiro Agnew: Nixon's first vice president, tax evasion forced from office.
3. Dan Quayle: Chosen by George H.W. Bush to appease conservatives...but he couldn't spell well.
4. John Tyler: He ascended to the presidency when William Henry Harrison died. Often referred to as "His Accidency."
5. Hannibal Hamlin: Lincoln chose him as his first-term running mate, but saw him as a mistake and dropped him for another loser: Andrew Johnson.
Read Schor's excellent analysis, and her top five picks, here.

Selling the White House's Junk

2009-05-04T00:00:00.002-07:00

A good chunk of presidential history has been lost, and you have Chester Arthur to thank. Before moving into the White House after James Garfield died, Arthur had the White House redecorated. Louis C. Tiffany was tabbed to overhaul this effort. To pay for the renovation, which included "the finest contemporary furniture, fabrics, rugs, and wallpapers promoting the American Victorian Aesthetic Movement," according to the President Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site, a whopping 24 wagon loads of historic White House furniture and items were sold at a public auction. Among the items sold are said to have included a pair of pants once worn by Abraham Lincoln and a John Quincy Adams hat, according to Cormac O'Brien's Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents. Former president Rutherford B. Hayes bought a large portion of the White House memorabilia, which can be viewed at Hayes' home in Fremont, Ohio.

Healthcare Reform

2009-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

President Obama has signaled his intent to reform the nation's health care system. Bill Clinton tried to do the same thing, with famously disastrous results. But they weren't the first to have become embroiled in the debate. One of the earliest presidents to have waded significantly into the health reform waters was Franklin Pierce, who issued a lengthy and stinging veto of a bill that would have funded the building and management of state insane asylums. Franklin was well known for opposing any involvement by the federal government in state and local issues. Rather than just a simple veto of the bill, Franklin issued an astonishing 4,621-word written letter to the U.S. Senate on May 3, 1854, in which he stated his position in a way that has reverberated to this day. Franklin wrote:

"I readily and, I trust, feelingly acknowledge the duty incumbent on us all as men and citizens, and as among the highest and holiest of our duties, to provide for those who, in the mysterious order of Providence, are subject to want and to disease of body or mind; but I can not find any authority in the Constitution for making the Federal Government the great almoner of public charity throughout the United States."

An almoner, as defined by Merriam-Webster's is "one who distributes alms." To what extent the government should be involved in private health matters will frame the current health discussion...just as it did 155 years ago.

The Lame Duck New President

2009-04-30T00:00:00.001-07:00

It's tough for a lame duck president to push his agenda forward. When a president announces he won't run for re-election or when he nears the end of his second term, the Congress has historically gone its own way. So to retain power, it behooves a president to avoid being seen as a short timer. Unless you're Rutherford B. Hayes. He campaigned on a promise to serve only one term. Shortly after becoming president, he affirmed his intention to not seek a second term. Hayes was a staunch supporter of single terms for presidents. In fact, in his inaugural address, given on March 5, 1877, Hayes announced his support for a single term of six years.

"The President of the United States of necessity owes his election to office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political party, the members of which cherish with ardor and regard as of essential importance the principles of their party organization; but he should strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best who serves the country best. In furtherance of the reform we seek, and in other important respects a change of great importance, I recommend an amendment to the Constitution prescribing a term of six years for the presidential office and forbidding a re-election."

Hayes was unsuccessful at convincing Congress to approve this change. Being a man of his word, Hayes did not stand for re-election. Instead, he left office and retired to his home in Fremont Ohio, serving on the board of trustees of Ohio State University until his death in 1893.

What's in a Nickname?

2009-04-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you were president and were looking for a way to lose election to a second term, a place to start might be to become well known for excessive drinking. Wait...that's been done already. Ask President Martin Van Buren. When he was younger, his heavy drinking earned him the nickname "Blue Whiskey Van." During the election of 1840, his opponent, William Henry Harrison, used this nickname as a weapon against him, which helped Harrison defeat Van Buren. Harrison's campaign also mocked Van Buren for his diminutive size. At just 5 feet 6 inches, Van Buren was the second shortest president, beat out only by James Madison, who was 5 feet 4 inches tall.

Burning Down the House

2009-04-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Most historians agree that James Madison made a terrible blunder in failing to stop the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain. The war was preventable, but Madison felt pressured to declare war (which he did on June 1, 1812) by the War Hawks, 20 members of Congress who strenuously objected to Britain's practice of boarding American ships and abducting Americans while purportedly searching for Royal Navy deserters. The 1814 burning of Washington was a direct consequence of Madison's decision. Among the structures torched were the Senate and House of Representatives buildings, the Library of Congress, the United States Treasury and, most alarmingly, the White House.

Tax Man

2009-04-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for someone to blame for our current tax system, you might not have to look any further than Theodore Roosevelt and his famous speech supporting taxation, which is often referred to as the New Nationalism Speech or The New Nationalism. It's in this speech, given on August 32, 1910, in Oswatomie, Kansas, that Roosevelt, a Republican, pushed for the concept of a graduated income tax, where the richest pay the most tax.

"No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. Every dollar received should represent a dollar's worth of service rendered, not gambling in stocks, but service rendered. The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size, acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and in another tax which is far more easily collected and far more effective, a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion, and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate."

Roosevelt gave this speech as the 16th Amendment (passed by the Congress on July 12, 1909) to the U.S. Constitution was being considered by the states. Ratification of the amendment was completed on February 3, 1913, when New Mexico became the 36th state to support the measure. Today, the 16th Amendment still stands: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration. Read the full text of Roosevelt's speech here.

FDR's Shame

2009-04-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

One of Franklin D. Roosevelt's worst moments came in 1939 when he refused entry to the St. Louis, a German ship filled with 937 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution. The ship was first denied entry into Cuba. Then, despite desperate and repeated pleas to President Roosevelt, the ship was turned away from American soil. Canada was the next country to turn a cold shoulder to the St. Louis, forcing the ship to return to Europe where passengers finally disembarked in the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands. While the majority of the passengers survived World War II, research by Scott Miller and Sarah Ogilvie, as documented in their book Refuge Denied, estimates that 254 were eventually killed in the Holocaust. The story of the St. Louis has been told in the movie Voyage of the Damned.

Lincoln's Biggest Mistake

2009-04-23T00:00:00.007-07:00

What was Abraham Lincoln's biggest mistake? Cyberspace is filled with diverging views on this topic. Here's a few of them.

Many people claim that Lincoln's biggest error was the selection of Andrew Johnson as his running mate. You can read about this on A. Lincoln Blog, Civil War Memory, and Civil Warriors.
OEsheepdog's Blog takes the unique viewpoint that Lincoln was proven terribly wrong when he said that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here" in his Gettysburg Address.
Philip Schoenberg says Lincoln's biggest blunder was playing a practical joke that could have cost him his life. Lincoln in a duel?
Many people have the opinion that Lincoln's biggest blunder was his appointment of George B. McClellan as general in chief. Jame's McPherson holds this opinion.

The video below claims to feature every known photograph of Lincoln. (Photo by Alexander Gardner. Colorization by Bryan Eaton.)

Carter's UFO Sighting

2009-04-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you aspire to be president of the United States, it's probably not a good idea to be seen embracing the paranormal, such as UFOs. But that's just what happened to Jimmy Carter during the 1976 campaign. A 1973 report that then Georgia Governor Carter filed with the International UFO Bureau describes his UFO sighting that occurred shortly after dark in October 1969 in Leary, Georgia, while standing outside with other members of the Leary Georgia Lions Club. According to the report, which appears handwritten by Carter, the object was "at one time as bright as the Moon." During the 1976 campaign, Carter's UFO sighting was an embarrassment and distraction, though he answered reporters honestly: "It was the darndest thing I've ever seen. It was big, it was very bright, it changed colors and it was about the size of the moon. We watched it for ten minutes, but none of us could figure out what it was. One thing's for sure, I'll never make fun of people who say they've seen unidentified objects in the sky. If I become president, I'll make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public and the scientists." Here are links to Carter's UFO report: Page one; Page two. (Photograph: Alliance Studying Paranormal Experiences)

Work on Those Final Words

2009-04-21T00:00:00.003-07:00

Most people would agree that a president's last words should be memorable and inspiring. But it hasn't always worked out that way. Millard Fillmore, after eating some soup, said, "The nourishment is palatable" and then expired. Ulysses S. Grant reportedly uttered "Water!" before he died. Lyndon Johnson's "Send Mike immediately!" is memorable for having been uttered into his bedroom telephone upon feeling ill. Some presidential final phrases reflect that they weren't aware of their impending doom. Just before Oswald's bullet hit him, John F. Kennedy answered, "That's obvious," to Mrs. Connolly's question: "Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you." Moments before Booth put a bullet in his head, Abraham Lincoln said, "It doesn't matter," when his wife refused to hold his hand. Other presidents had the opportunity to be rather eloquent, such as Dwight Eisenhower's, "I've always loved my wife, my children, and my grandchildren, and I've always loved my country. I want to go. I'm ready to go. God, take me." Grover Cleveland's, "I have tried so hard to do right," is rather touching. Theodore Roosevelt's final words, "Please put out the light," seem inadvertently perfect. But the award for the lamest final words goes to Andrew Johnson, who said, "I need no doctor. I can overcome my troubles." (Photo of Andrew Johnson, Library of Congress)

How Old Were You?

2009-04-20T00:00:00.001-07:00

Major Garrett, senior White House correspondent for Fox News, caught President Barack Obama in a small but noteworthy slip up yesterday. During his speech at the summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Obama took a swipe at those blaming the United States for attempting to topple Castro's Cuban government in 1961: "To move forward, we cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements. I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old. Too often, an opportunity to build a fresh partnership of the Americas has been undermined by stale debates. We've all heard these arguments before."

But as Garrett notes, "Actually, the president misspoke on the sequence of events in Cuba. The invasion of CIA-trained rebels at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba occurred in April 1961. Obama was born August 4, 1961."

Here's a handy guide showing Obama's age during other moments in history:

Cuban Missile Crisis: 1
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution approved by Congress: 3
Israeli-Arab Six Day War: 5
Martin Luther King Jr. assassination: 6
Man first steps on Moon: 7
Woodstock Festival: 8
Nixon visits China: 10

Presidential Hot Air

2009-04-19T00:00:00.002-07:00

Lyndon Johnson once said famously of Gerald Ford: "He can't fart and chew gum at the same time." But according to a variety of sources, he certainly could fart, and had fun with it. Cormac O'Brien, in his book Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents, says that, "According to his Secret Service detail, the president would loudly let one rip and then always attempt to put the blame on one of them with indignant remarks like, 'Jesus, did you do that? Show a little class.'" O'Brien says that Ford would fart with "alarming frequency and abandon." Personality, Character and Leadership in the White House, by Steven J. Rubenzer and Thomas R. Faschingbauer, also recounts this presidential quirk (with footnote and documentation), though quotes Ford as saying, "God, show a little class," when accusing his Secret Service detail. (Photo by Dennis Brack)

Debate the Handshake

2009-04-18T00:00:00.003-07:00

We'll certainly be hearing a lot of noise the next few days regarding Barack Obama's side-meeting handshake yesterday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Or perhaps the hand-on-the-arm, overly friendly intimate handclasp. You can be certain that some will accuse Obama of appeasement and being too apologetic. Others will argue that we need better relations with the world and that, for goodness sakes, it was just a handshake. We'll be reminded of Chavez's greatest hit quotes:

"I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet."
"It’s a policy of permanent aggression, of war, of terrorism by the US empire. That’s the great guilty one, the great Satan."
"The devil came here yesterday. And it smells of sulfur still today."

RightPundits.com's Cathryn Friar wrote, "The only other thing I can say is we can be relieved that The One didn't bow." Ouch. The last time a handshake received such attention was when there wasn't one between Obama and Republican Presidential Candidate Arizona Senator John McCain. Relive the moment below. (Venezuelan Government Photo)

Are We Being Taped?

2009-04-17T00:00:00.002-07:00

One of the most fascinating mysteries of presidential history relates to why Richard Nixon didn't destroy the secret White House tapes. If he had, he might very well have served out his second term instead of being forced to resign. But the tapes remained safe, except for the infamous 18 1/2 minute gap. The record strongly suggests, however, that Nixon wanted the tapes destroyed. On April 18, 1973, just days after the existence of the tapes became public, the following conversation took place between Nixon and H.R. Haldeman, his chief of staff:

Nixon: "I'd like you to take all these tapes, if you wouldn't mind. In other words, uh..."
Haldeman: "Yeah."
Nixon: "I'd like to because there's some material in there that's probably worth keeping."
Haldeman: "Yeah."
Nixon: "Most of it is worth destroying. Would you like, would you do that?"
Haldeman: "Sure."

How do we know about this conversation? Simply because, ironically, Nixon and Haldeman were being recorded. And Haldeman never followed through on Nixon's instructions. During the historic 1977 Nixon/Frost interviews, Nixon was specifically pressed on this question. His answer was that "it would have been an open admission, or at least appeared to be an admission, well, I'm trying to cover something up." But the facts don't support this spin. Simply put, Nixon wanted the tapes to disappear. But Haldeman didn't cooperate. Here's a link to a transcript and audio recording of the April 18, 1973 Nixon/Haldeman conversation, courtesy of the Presidential Recordings Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. (Pictured is a photograph of the original Nixon White House tape recorder and tape, courtesy of the American Historical Association and the National Archives and Records Administration.)

By Any Other Name

2009-04-16T00:00:00.002-07:00

What's your opinion of President Blythe? How about President King? If you haven't heard of them, you're not alone. But they were presidents, just the same. That's because some presidents have undergone name changes over time. Here's a look at the morphing names of presidents.

Born Hiram Ulysses Grant, a Congressman mistakenly identified him as Ulysses S. Grant when nominating him for admission to West Point. Grant objected to the error, but it stuck.
Leslie Lynch King Jr.'s stepfather was Gerald Rudolff Ford. At a very young age, Leslie's mom and stepfather (though never legally adopting him) began calling him Gerald Rudolff Ford Jr. He formally changed his name in 1935, but chose a different spelling of his middle name. Thus he became Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.
William Jefferson Blythe III's father died before he was born. His mother remarried to a gentleman named Roger Clinton. When William was 14 years old, he formally changed his name to William Jefferson Clinton.
While not a name change, Harry S. Truman's middle initial stands for...nothing. His parents didn't give him a middle name, just the letter S.
Dwight David Eisenhower was actually born David Dwight Eisenhower. He changed the order of his names when entering West Point.

Jefferson's Humility

2009-04-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

A visit to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia, reveals an oddity that might seem to be a huge mistake. At his burial site on the grounds, Jefferson's grave is marked with a tombstone memorial with the following epitaph:

"Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom and Father of the University of Virginia."

What? No mention that he was governor of Virginia? Or that he served as Secretary of State or Vice President? Perhaps more important, the tombstone doesn't say that he served as president. An oversight, surely. A grievous mistake. Nope. Jefferson famously wrote his own epitaph, and even designed the modest monument. He wrote that his tombstone should be a "cube of three feet without any mouldings, surmounted by an obelisk of six feet height, each of a single stone; on the faces of the obelisk the following inscription and not a word more. Because by these, as testimonials that I have lived, I wish to be remembered." Jefferson says that the monument should "be of course stone of which my columns are made, that no one might be tempted hereafter to destroy it for the value of the materials." Ironically, Jefferson's original 1833 tombstone was damaged by visitors, and was eventually replaced with a new one. The original tombstone was donated to the University of Missouri, where it can be seen on the Francis Quadrangle. (Photo: Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Libby Fosso)

The Patent President

2009-04-14T00:00:00.001-07:00

Many historians rank Abraham Lincoln as the best president. Despite the almost universal acclaim for having held the country together through the Civil War, Lincoln's failures and mistakes are well known: failing in business, suffering nervous breakdowns, and losing many elections. But one of his failures is famously obscure and, perhaps, the most interesting. Lincoln is the only president to successfully obtain a U.S. Patent. On March 10, 1849, Lincoln filed a patent application for his invention designed to help raise boats off sand bars and shoals through the use of inflatable horizontal floats. In addition to a detailed description, Lincoln's patent application included a drawing of his invention and a wooden model with his signature. On May 22, 1849, Lincoln's ambitious invention was awarded U.S. Patent 6,469. To Lincoln's disappointment, his contraption was never built, but he visited the Patent Office during his presidency to view his original model. Here's two fascinating links relating to Lincoln's failed invention:

A Mistake Not to Run Again?

2009-04-13T00:00:00.001-07:00

Presidential historians don't often give Calvin Coolidge high marks. He is almost always ranked in the bottom half when scholars rank presidential success, and often significantly toward the cellar. The most common reason cited for his low scores is his failure to anticipate the impending financial crisis. That may or may not be fair, considering that his successor, Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, made the Great Depression his own. Besides, Coolidge wasn't a raving Hoover fan, saying, "For six years that man has given me unsolicited advice—all of it bad." Hoover's performance in office has made some wish that Silent Cal had run again in 1928. The 22nd Amendment restricting presidential terms did not exist at that time, but Coolidge chose not to run. "If I take another term, I will be in the White House till 1933. Ten years in Washington is longer than any other man has had it—too long," said Coolidge. "The Presidential office takes a heavy toll of those who occupy it and those who are dear to them. While we should not refuse to spend and be spent in the service of our country, it is hazardous to attempt what we feel is beyond our strength to accomplish."

Shhh...Don't Tell the Vice President

2009-04-12T00:00:00.001-07:00

Running for an unprecedented fourth term (now forbidden by the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) Franklin D Roosevelt was growing increasingly ill. As a result, he ditched Vice President Henry Wallace in favor of Senator Harry Truman. Just 82 days after his inauguration, Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia, leaving the presidency to Truman. It was only then, as he inherited the Oval Office, that Truman first learned about an awesome secret that had been purposely kept from him throughout the campaign and during his brief stint as vice president: the Manhattan Project. With the world at war and his health failing, you might have expected FDR to have kept his vice president adequately briefed. But that was not the case. Was it a mistake to have kept Truman in the dark about the the development of atomic weapons? Maybe so. Ironically, Truman was the first (and so far only) president to use atomic weapons in wartime. (Photo courtesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum)

Washington and Whiskey

2009-04-11T00:00:00.001-07:00

How much of your salary do you spend on beer? Or maybe whiskey or wine? Apparently a lot, if you were the nation's first president. George Washington's annual salary was $25,000 when he took office in 1789. Controlling for inflation, as calculated by MeasuringWorth.com's online conversion tool, that would be worth $630,278 today. (As a comparison, Barack Obama's salary is only $400,000, though he also has an expense account of $50,000, a nontaxable travel allocation of $100,000, and $19,000 for entertainment.) According to Cormac O'Brien's Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents, Washington spent seven percent of his salary on alcohol, and "he even splurged on such luxuries as leopard-skin robes for his stable of matched horses." Let's see...in today's dollars, that means Washington spent $44,119 a year on alcohol. This shouldn't be a huge surprise, because Washington was one of colonial America's top whiskey producers. (Pictured is George Washington's life mask, cast by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1785.)

To Bow or Not to Bow?

2009-04-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

I'll leave it to you to judge whether or not President Obama actually bowed to Saudi King Abdullah at the G20 meeting earlier this month. And I'll let you decide whether or not it was a mistake or a breach in protocol. Time will tell. For the record, the Obama administration claims it wasn't a bow, although the president later said, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect." But media reaction has been swift. Salon.com's Camille Paglia said, "I attribute that embarrassing incident not to Obama's sinister or naive appeasement of the Muslim world but to a simple if costly breakdown in basic command of protocol." Whisky Fire said it wasn't a bow, but rather a matter of geometry: "Obama is about a foot taller than Abdullah, and so had to kind of contort himself to get into any sort of position to shake the sheikh's hand." But others haven't been so kind. Michelle Malkin said, "So I hope all the lefties who tore into Bush over his Saudi prostration will express equal disgust with President HopeAndChange’s literal bowing and scraping to King Abdullah." And the Dakota Voice's Bob Ellis said, "The leader of the most free nation in the world should not be slobbering on the ring of some king!" Mistake or not, this is a fascinating discussion.

The Last Word on Presidential Oaths

2009-04-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

The flub displayed by Barack Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts isn't the first and likely won't be the last. Article Two of the U.S. Constitution says, "Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Here's a look at other oath miscues.

1909: As remembered by President William Taft, Chief Justice Melville Fuller made a minor error when administering the oath.
1929: Administering the oath to Herbert Hoover, Chief Justice William Taft said "preserve, maintain and defend" instead of "preserve, protect and defend."
1965: Administering the oath to Lyndon Johnson, Chief Justice Earl Warren said, "office of the Presidency" instead of "office of the president." (Hear the sound clip below.)

To date, the oath has been taken a total of 72 times by 43 people due to multiple terms, miscues and inauguration day falling on a Sunday.

The Art of Presidential Gift Giving

2009-04-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Much has been made over the gifts, inappropriate or not, that President Obama gave to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (a collection of classic DVDs) and Queen Elizabeth (an iPod preloaded with photographs and videos of her 2007 visit to the U.S.). Let's see how Obama's gifts stack up historically against a sampling of those given to U.S. presidents from other countries.

In 1939, the Crown Prince and Princess of Norway gave President Roosevelt a gold enameled tea pot, sugar bowl, creamer and tray.
In 1956, Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, gave President Eisenhower Adoration of the Three Wise Kings, a 1500 circa painting by a Southeast German master.
Shimon Peres, then Israeli Defense Minister, gave President Ford a priceless Roman water/wine vessel, likely dating from the first or second century.
In 1985, the President of Algeria, Chadli Bendjedid, gave President Reagan a saddle made of leather, velveteen, woven cord and gold thread. (A photo of the saddle, shown here, courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration).

To see photographs of all these gifts, and for a closer look at those given to U.S. presidents from foreign heads of state and private citizens, see this website from the National Archives' Tokens & Treasures exhibit.

Hoover's Promise

2009-04-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, here's a good idea. With the economy in trouble, let's play protectionism by raising import duties on agricultural and industrial goods. That's sure to help support American farming and numerous industries, right? Well, it didn't work in 1930 during the early days of the Great Depression. Although more than a thousand leading economists fought against this concept, President Herbert Hoover went ahead and signed such a measure: the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. It was, after all, one of Hoover's campaign promises. But foreign backlash was swift. Other nation's raised tariffs on American goods in retaliation. At the precise time when the United States needed sales abroad, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act discouraged it. U.S. imports and exports tanked. The result was a deepening of the Great Depression. (Photo courtesy of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum)

Quiz Answers

2009-04-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the answers to yesterday's quiz (see the April 5th entry below):

1: A
2: F
3: D
4: C
5: B
6: E
7: G

Harry Truman's remark came during a dinner party at Justice Hugo Black's home designed to smooth tensions over a Supreme Court ruling Truman didn't like. The remark was reported in The Pursuit of Justice by Kermit L. Hall and John J. Patrick:

Black's purpose was to reduce tensions arising from a decision that Truman considered a personal rebuke. In his autobiography, Justice William O. Douglas remembered, "Truman was gracious though a bit testy at the beginning of the evening. But after the bourbon and canapes were passed, he turned to Hugo [Black] and said, "Hugo, I don't much care for your law but, by golly, this bourbon is good."

Quiz: Who Said It?

2009-04-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's Presidential Blunder's first "Who Said it?" Quiz. See if you can match the quote to the president who uttered the charming words. Answers will be in tomorrow's posting.

"I would like the government to do all it can to mitigate, then, in understanding, in mutuality of interest, in concern for the common good, our tasks will be solved."
"It's no exaggeration to say the undecideds could go one way or the other."
"I am convinced that UFOs exist, because I have seen one."
"If you can't lie, you can't go anywhere."
"I don't much care for your law, but, by golly, this bourbon is good."
"We are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we're going to succeed."
"I bowled a 129. It was like the special Olympics or something."

A. Warren G. Harding
B. Harry Truman
C. Richard Nixon
D. Jimmy Carter
E. Ronald Reagan
F. George H.W. Bush
G. Barack Obama

Executive Privilege

2009-04-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

While not necessarily a blunder, here's an incredible story about a president using special knowledge for his own benefit. The late Pierre Salinger, then President Kennedy's press secretary, was summoned to the Oval office one evening. There, according to Salinger in a story that appeared in Cigar Aficionado, Kennedy asked him for a personal favor: "I need a lot of cigars." The president asked Salinger to bring him a thousand Petit Upmann Cuban cigars. Salinger recounts what happened next:

I shuddered a bit, although I kept my reaction to myself.

"And when do you need them, Mr. President?"

"Tomorrow morning."

I walked out of the office wondering if I would succeed. But since I was now a solid Cuban cigar smoker, I knew a lot of stores, and I worked on the problem late into the evening.

The next morning, I walked into my White House office at about 8 a.m., and the direct line from the president's office was already ringing. He asked me to come in immediately.

"How did you do, Pierre?" he asked, as I walked through the door.

"Very well," I answered. In fact, I'd gotten 1,200 cigars. Kennedy smiled, and opened up his desk. He took out a long paper which he immediately signed. It was the decree banning all Cuban products from the United States. Cuban cigars were now illegal in our country.

Here's a link to Salinger's full Cigar Aficionado article.

44 Oaths From 43 Americans

2009-04-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like a presidential blunder that presents an opportunity for a quick history lesson. Such a moment came on January 20, 2009, just seconds into Barack Obama's inaugural address when he said, "Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath." Obama's speechwriter was close...but no cigar. While Obama is indeed the 44th president, only 43 men have actually taken the oath. That's because Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as the 22nd and 24th president. Cleveland was first elected in 1884, but was defeated in 1888 by Benjamin Harrison despite winning the popular vote. Cleveland made a comeback in 1892, soundly defeating Harrison.

Dick's Fine Wine

2009-04-02T00:00:00.001-07:00

Some blunders are small. Some result in catastrophe. Others are are just rude, misguided and annoying. Of the latter, let's raise our glasses to Richard Nixon. As reported in Woodward and Bernstein's excellent The Final Days, while entertaining Congressmen aboard Sequoia, the presidential yacht, Nixon would serve a decent Bordeaux to his guests, while secretly drinking his treasured 1966 Chateau Margaux. This deception was accomplished by Nixon's elaborate scheme to have his private wine wrapped in a napkin to hide the label. So while his guests enjoyed one wine, Nixon savored something better.

No Joke

2009-04-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a great way to get a foreign nation to take you seriously: joke about wiping them off the map. That's what Ronald Reagan did on April 11, 1984, when, during a sound check prior to recording his weekly Saturday radio address, he said, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." While the joke wasn't broadcast, some sneaky mole leaked the sound bite to the media. Apparently, the Kremlin didn't get the joke; the Soviet army was placed on alert. (Photo courtesy Ronald Reagan Library)

Betrayed by Cronies

2009-03-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

Warren G. Harding made the mistake of appointing too many of his friends and longtime allies to important government positions. They went on to betray and embarrass him through a number of scandals, especially Teapot Dome. As a result, Harding's brief administration is generally considered as one of the most corrupt in American history. Known as the "Ohio Gang," they included Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, Postmaster General Will Hays, Veteran's Bureau Director Charles Forbes, Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby, Thomas W. Miller, and Jess Smith who was an aid to Daugherty. After Harding's death on August 2, 1923, and subsequent investigations, the Ohio Gang unraveled in spectacular fashion.

Daugherty resigned in March 1924 as a result of a bootleggers kickback scam.
Fall was jailed for conspiracy and bribery.
Hays resigned to become president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.
Denby resigned following the Teapot Dome Scandal, which linked him with fraudulent oil field leases.
Miller was jailed for fraud conspiracy.
Smith committed suicide.

Here's a fairly detailed overview of the Teapot Dome Scandal from the Brookings Institution.

The Presidential Puke

2009-03-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

In the category of "I wish I hadn't done that," we'll nominate George H. W. Bush for best performance of a president vomiting on a another country's head of state. On January 8, 1992, Bush was in Tokyo at a state dinner being held in his honor at the home of Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. A video of the incident shows Bush's chin dipping to his chest, as if he's falling asleep. But the next moment he loses consciousness and topples to his left, vomiting on Miyazawa's lap. While Secret Service agents rush to help him (one leaps over the head table) Barbara Bush speeds to her husband's side with a napkin. Commotion ensues. After a while, Bush adequately recovers to stand up, smile and pump his arm in victory.

The First Woman President

2009-03-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Imagine a president suffering a stroke while in office and being almost entirely incapacitated by an illness for more than a year. Now imagine that his illness is kept secret from his vice president, cabinet and the nation. While you're at it, imagine his wife serving as acting president. Unimaginable today. But it happened. Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke in September 1919. For the remaining year and a half of his presidency, his wife, Edith Bolling Wilson, was, by all accounts, the shadow president. She took over the day-to-day operations of the White House to such an extent that she is often referred to as the first woman president. The seriousness of Wilson's illness was kept secret until after his death. Certainly, Wilson should have resigned the presidency, but the First Lady was against the ascendancy of Vice President Thomas Riley Marshall--unthinkable by today's standards and, we think, a misguided and unfair blunder. Wilson's illness, incapacitation and subsequent secrecy helped lead to the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on presidential succession. Learn more at The Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Foundation.

Admitting Mistakes

2009-03-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, presidents point fingers at themselves. For a time, George W. Bush famously denied he made any mistakes. But at least one predecessor took a more modest view of himself. Dwight Eisenhower has been quoted as saying the two biggest mistakes of his presidency were the appointments of Justice William J. Brennan Jr. and Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court. According to Kim Eisler, who wrote a biography of Brennan, Eisenhower's regret was documented in Justice Harold Burton's diaries. Says Eisler: Burton recounts a meeting with Eisenhower in 1957, when he told the President he was leaving the Supreme Court. He confirms that Eisenhower expressed his regrets in appointing Warren and Justice Brennan and described both appointments as big mistakes. The President described the favorable recommendation he had received on Justice Brennan as ''off-base.'' Eisenhower finished his observations to Burton by saying that in finding a replacement, he would pay more attention to ideology than he had in the Warren and Brennan appointments, which were both made for political reasons. You can read Eisler's full comments here, as published in The New York Times.

Ford's Infamous Gaffe

2009-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Gerald Ford might have won in 1976 if he hadn't made one of the biggest gaffes in the history of presidential debates. On October 6, 1976, during a debate with Jimmy Carter at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts Theater, Ford made his infamous claim: "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration." Ford's questioner, Max Frankel, who was then associate editor of The New York Times, smiles and clearly exhibits a look of disbelief. Frankel says, "Did I understand you to say, sir, that the Russians are not using Eastern Europe as their own sphere of influence in occupying most of the countries there and in and making sure with their troops that it's a Communist zone, whereas on our side of the line the Italians and the French are still flirting with the possibility of Communism?" Unflinching and in his wooden monotone, Ford doesn't back down. Instead, he digs himself in even deeper: "I don't believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union." Ford refused to retract or modify his statement during the following weeks. And he lost the election which, at that time, was the closest since 1916. (White House Photograph Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library)

If the Speech Didn't Kill Him...

2009-03-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

The award for dumbest presidential decision might as well go to William Henry Harrison who, on March 4, 1841, gave the longest inauguration speech in history...and perhaps died from it. The facts are well documented. His speech of more than 8,000 words took about two hours to deliver, and in a snowstorm, no less. Worse, he wasn't wearing a hat or overcoat. Four weeks later, on April 4th, the hero of Tippecanoe died from complications that began with a cold. Whether delivering his lengthy speech in such conditions led to his illness, there's no telling. But who wants to hear someone talk for two hours anyway? Today, Harrison's claim to fame is the shortest presidency. At least it's something. If you care to read the mammoth speech, you can find it here.

Worst Blunder of Them All?

2009-03-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Who has screwed up the most? Presidents, that is. Easy to point a finger at a number of W's decisions. Or Nixon's Watergate fiasco. Maybe Clinton's affair with Lewinsky. Hey, we've got time. Let's talk about them all. To start, some presidential scholars blame Buchanan for the Civil War. If true, I guess that might win the prize. The University of Louisville's McConnell Center conducted a Presidential Mistakes Survey, ranking Buchanan's failure to oppose secession as the top error of all time. The full survey will help get this blog started. Check it out here.