Dammit, why can't I write like this?

Until the plumber arrives to fix my boiler it's too bloody cold up here in the attic for me to compose one of my brilliant and elegantly worded posts - sorry, do you normally spew coffee all over your keyboard?  So I am deeply grateful to 'Buster', a new contributor to D&N, for writing this neat and witty summary of recent American Presidents which appears in the commentary to an earlier post.  Thank you, Buster, I couldn't have put it better myself, in fact I couldn't have put it at all!

Given the hysteria (for that is what is) about President Trump, I found myself reviewing my distant impressions, in no particular order, of various American Prezzies in my conscious lifetime. I don’t know how much other people share these uninformed views of these not so all-powerful people:

Kennedy: Like Elvis, best career move was, sadly and tragically for the poor man, dying young-ish. Definitely had courage, pretty loathsome and corrupt family and milieu. Could not have lived up to his billing.

LBJ: Limited, entertaining, darkly humorous and probably out of his depth and era. Upside is his earthy Texan worldview. Downside is his earthy…

Nixon: Seriously hard to warm to. Possibly an impressive ‘real-politicker’. Completely undone by nascent ‘liberal’ sentiment and hypocrisy post-Watergate, and revisionists might see him as a bit of a martyr. Still think he was a bit of a stinker, but possibly not as stinky as his erstwhile accusers.

Carter/Ford: Clearly, they must surely have been good at something to get where they were, just not obvious what. Dull, dull, dull. Genuinely untalented, and fortunately neither was tested further.
Clinton: Unworthy of the office. A shyster and moral coward. Nice hair. America’s Blair.

Obama: Just a silly manufactured thing. Notable feature; vaguely and only sort of black-ish. Opportunistic, to the extent he could really be bothered to do anything other than luxuriate.

Reagan: Unlikely hero. Flawed, but to his credit would admit it with genuine humour. Grew into office in the face of extraordinary opposition. Quite possibly a great President, on a several hundred-year view.

Trump: Who’d have thought it or indeed welcomed it? Definitely not me! Carries the abundant hair meme to a ridiculous degree. Could though, just possibly, be seriously great. Realistically more likely, though, to end up like Gulliver tied down by Lilliputians. A lovely breath of fresh air, for all that.

Anyone else fancy having a go?

 

Comments

[AussieD]

What an excellent summary.

[Peter Whale]

A truly remarkable synopsis.Reagan had Thatcher as his foil Trump has May as his damp squib.

[backofanenvelope]

I am old enough to remember Reagan. I remember that the same sort of people who dislike (hate) Trump are the ones that didn't like Reagan.

PS. I am the only person I know who has visited the Reagan presidential library in California. Nice staff who kept asking if we knew Margaret!

[Whitewall]

Buster is a fine writer. Glad you featured him today. Hope your heat is on by now!

[Whitewall]

BOE,
PM Thatcher was among the necessary leaders of that generation. She and Reagan had the same sort of enemies then as Trump does now. Odd that.

[missred]

Unfortunately for Trump, May is no Thatcher.
I thought the summary was very fine indeed.

[TheBigHenry]

I have already given Buster my seal of approval and my welcome in the thread where he posted his remarks.