Skip to main content

RS/BS: The Cornball & Hokum List of Presidential Nicknames

 


One of the things that I like about politics is the push and pull of sparring and competition, and the parts that are almost reminiscent of what they used to highlight on the Olympics and in sports shows. Remember the show opened with:  “Thrill of Victory ...(pause)...and the Agony of Defeat”. And we find that the most interesting moments in sports are those that show the human side of the competition.

At times, I hear historians talk and lament that we don’t see our founding fathers as people anymore, but rather just idealized symbols. This brings to mind some of the funniest things I’ve heard about politicians. I can’t remember where I came across this list, but it has always been passed down in my notes as the “Cornball & Hokum List.”

 These include the nicknames for some of our esteemed past presidents. And many are nicknames given to them by OTHER Presidents...The Kennedys and Johnsons, it has been well-documented, really couldn’t stand each other. The list is in keeping with the present punditry that decries all the negativity and the partisanship that is found in politics.  Here’s a reminder that it may be accelerated by the internet, but there has never been a period of time in American Political Life where we didn’t find the tribalism of friends vs enemies. So without further ado, here is the list of Presidential nicknames.

 From the past:

 

·         Beginning with John Tyler, who stumbled into the Presidency: His Accidency

 

·         Chester A Arthur: Known simply as Walrus

 

·         James K Polk was “Napoleon of the Stump”

 

·         Rutherford B Hayes: Known to his critics as: “Rutherfraud’ or His Fraudulency

 

·         There’s Grover Cleveland, known as His Obstinacy or Uncle Jumbo

 

·         Benjamin Harrison was The Human Iceberg...

 


Moving into the 20th Century: There was Lyndon Johnson, who reportedly had a nickname for his penis: Jumbo



 And the infamous Kennedy/Johnson behind the scenes squabbling begins with the Kennedy’s dubbing LBJ: The Cornball Express and The Cornpone Special. Johnson was the Vice President for Kennedy, and they called him “Rufus Cornpone” & Riverboat behind his back. LBJ returned the favor, referring to them as “The Harvards” Another one that stuck for LBJ was “Bullshit Johnson” LBJ also had a history with the nickname “Landslide Lyndon” referring to a dubious 87 vote win in 1949 that gave him his Senate seat.



Moving on into the modern era, we remember Richard Nixon as Tricky Dick. Reagan was affectionately known as “Dutch’ to his colleagues. Less affectionate was the nickname for Bill Clinton: Slick Willie, but there was also the more collegial Bubba. George W Bush has been known as “W” by friends as well as critics, and Obama was usually dubbed “No Drama Obama” to both critics and fans. 



This brings us to the present day, where we can see that the Internet and Social Media and a President who has definitely garnered his share of fans and enemies is racking up an impressive array of nicknames.  From The Donald to many other unprintable monikers, Trump has helped to ratchet up the ante for ongoing lists (Sleepy Joe is a favorite of his for Biden) which will result in a continuing legacy of Presidential nicknames as we move further into the 21st Century.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hillary and the Man in the Arena

From the standpoint of one who voted for and endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton, there seems to be a question hanging in the air. How could someone who opposed the Clintonian dynasty support Hillary’s bid for the Presidency? Isn’t it a bit hypocritical? Or at least inconsistent with the view previously taken? This is true for many supporters of Obama. Some on the left cannot support her bid for President.They see many of her acknowledged flaws and conclude she cannot be a viable option. My view comes from watching her over the course of the past eight years, four as the Secretary of State within this Administration. And having watched the two debate in 2008- Obama vs. Hillary- there can be little question that the divide that separates them on most issues is a small one. Theirs is a centrist left view of the world. On Foreign Policy, I daresay that Hillary would never have worked for Obama had she held wildly opposing views from his own world view. But the...
Post a Comment
Read more

What hath We Wrought?

If someone waking from a deep freeze just saw that tape where Trump was bragging off the record about the way he treated women, grabbing them by the crotch because they "let you do it", it would seem that so many red flags are raised that they would immediately conclude it as disqualifying for any candidate for higher office. It goes without saying that women are not objects, or something lesser to be grabbed and treated as toys or groped simply because someone believes themselves immune from the rules of polite society, an ethical code of conduct or common human decency. It was obvious that Trump couldn't handle even the small amount of power that is bestowed on a Hollywood TV Reality star. Why would anyone think that this person could handle the immense power and pressure that the highest office in the land entails? That does say something about the voters. Voters didn't vote simply for change, they voted for the strong man who didn't just fall to the top...
Post a Comment
Read more

The "Why Not?" of Hope & Change

The “hopey-changey” thing that Ms. Palin refers to is the stuff that dreams are made of. The reason some politicians succeed where others have failed is predicated upon their ability to convince people to get on board with their pie-in-the sky visions for a better tomorrow.   Starting with FDR, who told us “Happy days are here again” in the middle of the worst Depression in US history, we’ve learned to listen to what our leaders say and take it with a grain of salt. He said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Actually, as one pundit pointed out recently, that’s not true.   There were a hell of a lot of things to fear during the Great Depression. But Roosevelt made us believe all things are possible.   John F Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” With those words, he instilled a generation of young people with hope and passion to change the world by joining the Peace Corps and working to...
Post a Comment
Read more