RedStateEclectic

Who's Your Favorite President

In the comments section below, tell us who your favorite President was/is.  I have a couple that I like--for different reasons, I guess. I'll try to share more later.

Presidents' Day

We all know about Washington as the Commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and as the first president under the U.S. Constitution. But did you know that Washington was a very successful business man?

John Berlau writes:

During a time period of America’s existence as an English colony and then a young nation – when, to put it mildly, communication and transportation faced challenges – [Washington’s] enterprise processed 1.5 million fish per year sent throughout the 13 American colonies and the British West Indies. The mill he built grinded 278,000 pounds of branded flour annually that was shipped through America and, unusual during colonization, even exported to England as well as Portugal. And in the 1790s, during the last years of his life, this mogul built one of the largest whiskey distilleries in the new nation.

George Washington was an entrepreneur (the backbone of any prosperous society) and a really good one to boot even with the restrictions placed upon him by King George III at the time. Also, Washington was said to have been a very handsome red-haired fellow; unlike the white-haired gentleman with which we have become familiar.

Today is the celebration of Lincoln as well but, since it’s a holiday, I’ll just abide by the old adage that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. So, here it goes. ......................................... He was one of the finest examples of government-in-action that I have ever read and he could spin words with the best of them. ............. I liked his hat.

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." – George Washington

Presidential Trivia

Submit your answers (or guesses) to the following questions in the comment section.  I'll post the actual answers this evening.

1. Which president adopted a pet raccoon while in office?
2. Who was the first vice president to have an actual office in the White House?
3. Which Republican ticket was dubbed "Bozo and the Pineapple" by the media?
4. How many U.S. Presidents did not attend college, and who was the most recent?
5. What famous singer advised Vice President Spiro Agnew not to resign and promised to loan him the money to pay his back taxes?
6. What future president received one electoral vote in the 1976 election?
7. Name the three Democrats to be re-elected to a second term of office in the 20th century.
8. Who was the first incumbent president to lose an election?
9. Name the first political party to hold a nominating convention for a presidential candidate.
10. What election marked the first time a party officially nominated a candidate for president?

The Things They Say

In honor of Presidents' Day (when I was a kid, we still celebrated Washington and Lincoln's birthday's separately, although not with a federal holiday), try your luck at this quiz of Presidential quotes.  I scored 13 out of 20 (it was pretty hard).  How about you?

The Truth about Bush

Vee haff got itt all under Kontrolle: More seriously: If you would like to know what Europe would be like if it were an empire - take a look at America = European politics + army capable of imperialist meddling. PS My friends at RedStateEclectic all know me to be an admirer of America. So, when I speak of America in the above equation I refer to politically directed America. My friends also know that I feel the world could not be Americanised enough, provided America started to re-Americanise herself. How to do it? Ask Ron Paul.

Coolidge Republicans

Just stumbled on this article at the American Spectator marking the 76th anniversary of the death of President Calvin Coolidge.  Coolidge, who became President on the death of Warren Harding, and then won re-election himself in 1924, is an oft-ignored President--in large part, it would seem, because of his more unassuming (almost shy) persona.  While those of us of a certain age tend to point to Ronald Reagan as "the great conservative of our time"--we forget that Reagan often claimed as his "model President" Calvin Coolidge.

Anyway, maybe a rebirth of Coolidge interest is in order--maybe the only way that Republicans can redeem themselves is by remembering the virtues of the 30th President--the only President, by the way, to have been born on the 4th of July.  From Cole's American Spectator article:

On this day, 76 years ago, Calvin Coolidge died at the age of 60. Shortly before his life ended and the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt began, Coolidge reportedly told a friend, "I feel I no longer fit in with these times."

If Coolidge felt out of step in the Era of Roosevelt, he would have been a truly lost soul in the coming Age of Obama.

We are entering a time when the American president is simultaneously the sole arbiter of good and bad in the universe, a fashion plate, a paparazzi-attracting celebrity and a pop art icon. His face graces public transit tickets. Schoolchildren numbly chant his campaign slogans. The notion that a simple and shy New Englander such as Coolidge could ever occupy today's White House is absurd.

 

....His rearing in rural Vermont imparted in the future president the values of thrift (he never owned a car or even a house until after his presidency), a disdain for his era's version of political celebrity. ("We need more of the Office Desk and less of the Show Window in politics. Let men in office substitute the midnight oil for the limelight," he once said.) And strikingly to us in today's era of the superstar chief executive and the revived hyperactive federal government, Coolidge understood that there are some things the government and its chief executive are not capable of doing. He considered the Constitution a limiting document to be adhered to, not adjusted.

Today, the faithful prepare to flock to the nation's capital to participate in what increasingly seems like a coronation. Simultaneously, train trips are being planned and an ancient bible is being brought out, rather immodestly, to remind us of the supposedly uncanny similarities between Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln. Before the president-elect takes the oath of office in front a crowd of millions, it is worth remembering Coolidge's own assumption of the presidency. When news of President Warren G. Harding's death reached Plymouth Notch, Vermont, Vice President Coolidge, out of necessity, was administered the oath of office by his father, at the family homestead, using a family bible by the flickering light of an oil lamp.

Coolidge took that oath and assumed the presidency without promises to heal the soul of the country, change the world, or make loaves and fish magically appear. Instead, when asked for his thoughts on assuming the presidency, Coolidge simply replied, "I think I can swing it."

Be sure to read the rest: it's an interesting (and brief) account of a chief executive who would--in many ways, I think--be very much at home with a Ron Paul presidency, had that happened. 

LLE

Poppy's Dream

While I've indicated that I thought that Jeb Bush might have been the better President (comparatively speaking) of the Bush sons, I don't think there's the proverbial snowball's chance that this is ever going to happen, and if the Republicans made the mistake of nominating him, well, we deserve the drubbing we'll take. 

Papa Bush: 'I'd like to see him [Jeb] be president'

Another Bush in the White House?

The father of the outgoing president still thinks it's a good idea for Jeb Bush to make a White House run, but admits that the public probably thinks there's been too many Bushes in the White House lately.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, former President George H.W. Bush says he hopes his son Jeb runs for the Senate in Florida and maybe even president.

"I think he’d be an outstanding senator. ... I’d like to see him be president some day,"  Bush the elder said. "Right now is probably a bad time because maybe we’ve had enough Bushes in there."

The former president said he's obviously biased, though. "Of course, you’ve got to discount that because he’s my son."

At least he seems to recognize his bias, and the unlikelihood that this would actually happen.  So maybe they just caught him in a sentimental, unguarded, proud fatherly moment.

LLE

UPDATE:  Here's a more detailed version of the story, as well as video.

It's Not Healthy Being President

An interesting piece which continues the ongoing anecdotal discussion about how the Presidency ages those who serve.  I'm a little skeptical about some of this--I've seen a lot of middle-age/late middle-age folks who have aged quite a bit in 8 years' time, so while I'm sure stress may be a factor, I wonder how well this really factors in the natural aging process--and the manner in which other family members have aged.  Some families, it seems, manage to stay looking young for a long time; with others, it seems, there is a moment when they all of a sudden start looking their age.  Still, I'm betting that whether it's a result of being President, or just advancing in age from being 48 to 52 (and then 56 if re-elected), that Barack Obama will have a lot more gray hair when he leaves office.

LLE

Gubbelee or Dubbelee

This is a "report" from a German comedy show. Don't take it too seriously - however, there are a lot of people around like the ones appearing in the clip. Ignore the first 30 seconds. (Marcel Reich-Ranicki is a German literary critic whose bubbly TV appearances and lisping Polish accent have made him a household name in Germany.)

Analyzing Bush

Doug Wead, who has been writing a series of interesting articles on how Ron Paul should run again in 2012, has one up that "psychoanalyzes" George Bush--in a manner of speaking.  It's an interesting read--and while it doesn't excuse questionable actions, it does--perhaps--help to explain them.  Wead has the unique perspective of one who has worked for the Bush family, which makes his analysis even more compelling.

LLE