These Failed Presidents Provided Their Own Headstones
We do not remember much about the presidencies of recent Presidents.
FDR, yes: the New Deal and World War II. Phrase: "There is nothing to fear except . . . fear itself." (1933 Inaugural address.)
Truman, yes: World War II, the 1948 victory over Dewey, and the Korean War. Phrase: "The buck stops here." (Sign on his desk.) Back-up phrase, on politics: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
Eisenhower, yes: the Korean War's truce and eight years of peace. Phrase: "I shall go to Korea." (Campaign promise, fulfilled.) Back-up phrase: "Military-industrial complex." (Farewell address, three days before he left office.)
Then came Kennedy: the Bay of Pigs, the near-catastrophic October nuclear war crisis, his decision to start the war in Vietnam, and his assassination. Phrase: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." (Inaugural address. Its importance: the stark contrast between his upbeat inaugural speech rhetoric and the disasters of his Presidency.)
Johnson: the Vietnam War, mass war protests, race riots, and failing to run in 1968. Phrase: "I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party as your President." Back-up phrase: "I never trust a man unless I've got his pecker in my pocket."
Nixon: Watergate. Phrase: "I am not a crook." This replaced his November 1962 statement to the press after his defeat by Edmund G. "Pat" Brown for governor of California: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." This was the most inaccurate political prediction in American history.
Ford: Nixon's pardon (in advance). Phrase: "I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln."
Carter: 12% inflation, defeat. Phrase: "Malaise." (He never said it.) Back-up phrase: "Trust me." (Campaign promise. That killed the phrase in American politics, hopefully forever.) He didn't say that, either. He said, I'll never lie to you."
Reagan: lower marginal tax rates, jokes. (He is perceived as a winner). Phrase: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Back-up phrase: "Trust, but verify." (Soviet/American nuclear disarmament policy) (Reagan ranks alongside Lincoln as the rhetorical master of the Presidency. His style was less profound, but he gave far more speeches. He was a master of humor. His one-liners are incomparable. Here is a list.)
Bush I: Desert Storm (victory), recession, defeat. Phrase: "Read my lips: no new taxes." (Campaign promise. He raised taxes. Then a recession hit.)
Clinton: Monica. Phrase: "I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
Bush II: Afghanistan, Iraq, and the 2008 meltdown. Phrase: "Mission accomplished." (Banner on an aircraft carrier) Back-up phrase: "This sucker may go down." (2008 financial crisis)
Obama: ObamaCare. Phrase: "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan."
Reagan excepted, for 60 years, American Presidents have retroactively registered in the public's mind as either losers or nonentities. Kennedy excepted, they are perceived (accurately) as self-inflicted losers. Kennedy is perceived as a winner, which he wasn't, who was cut down by a loser. Message: "Nice guys finish last."
Carter used this for his campaign autobiography's title: "Why Not the Best?" It became a source of retroactive amusement for Republicans. Clinton used this as his 1992 campaign video: The Man from Hope. Obama's 2008 poster: Hope. It led to knock-offs: Nope and Dope.
Hope is what Americans are losing in politics. This is positive.