News and Notes

Commentary From the Editors

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Brother Can You Spare A Rhyme?

During the height of the Depression, in March 1932, Herbert Hoover called a meeting with Rudy Vallee in the White House, at which Hoover told Vallee that if he could "write a song to drive away the Depression," he would "rate a medal." Vallee demurred, instead recording "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

A history of "meltdown music."

Labels: Herbert Hoover, Rudy Vallee

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 5:35 AM0 comments  

Saturday, January 10, 2009

A Salute to the American Presidency Project

While researching our new profile of CIA nominee Leon Panetta, we came across this great resource from UC Santa Barbara:

• The American Presidency Project

It's a monster collection of public papers of the presidents, plus assorted proclamations, remarks, press briefings, election notes, audio and video. (Want to hear Herbert Hoover address the Puerto Rican legislature? Now you can!)

It's mostly a 20th-century affair -- the heavy detail starts with Hoover -- but there's still plenty from earlier days. A dreary special message from President Monroe, for instance. ("I transmit to Congress a proclamation, dated the 22d of last month, of the convention made and concluded at Madrid between the plenipotentiaries of the United States and His Catholic Majesty...")

Or, here's Panetta at work in a 1996 press briefing, giving background on the choice of Madeleine Albright as the Secretary of State for Bill Clinton's second term.

TAPP has an almost overwhelming amount of material. It's a great research tool. Highly recommended.

Labels: Bill Clinton, Herbert Hoover, James Monroe, Leon Panetta, Madeleine Albright

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 7:18 AM0 comments  

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Phony Presidential Trivia

Here's a swell new Onion interview with writer John Hodgman.

He's the dowdy "PC" on Apple TV ads, and a regular on Jon Stewart's show. He's also the author of the fake-trivia books The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require.

Who2 has a love/hate relationship with Hodgman. Five years ago we wrote a fake trivia book of our own -- Utterly False Trivia -- and couldn't get it published. We're glad Hodgman got his out there, but full of envy and irritation that we couldn't get it done ourselves.

That's not Hodgman's fault, of course. The shame is ours.

However: In honor of the presidential elections of 2008, here are a few choice items from the "Hail to the Chief" section of our unpublished UFT.

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Baseball star Babe Ruth portrayed President William Howard Taft in Big Bill, the only film in the Bambino's brief post-baseball acting career. Ruth played both the president and himself in a scene where Taft throws out the first ball to Ruth at the 1912 World Series. It was the first use of split screen in Hollywood history.

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President Ronald Reagan's Four Famous Commands to Mikhail Gorbachev:

1. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
2. "Mr. Gorbachev, put down that maid!"
3. "Mr. Gorbachev, turn down that thermostat!"
4. "Mr. Gorbachev, make me a ham sandwich!"

                               *   *   *

The Barkley Presidential Length Index (BPLI) uses a formula of height multiplied by length of term to measure the inch-hours served by each chief executive.

William Henry Harrison, at 5'10" but only 33 days in office, has the lowest BPLI. Abraham Lincoln, had he lived, would have had the hightest BPLI of any two-term president. The all-time highest BPLI belongs to four-term president Franklin Roosevelt, if measured while standing instead of in his wheelchair. However, had Lyndon Johnson (6'4") run again for reelection in 1968 and completed 9+ years in office, he could have become the new BPLI leader.

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In his 2004 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush repeatedly referred to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein -- who had been dubbed "the Butcher of Baghdad" -- as "the Barber of Seville."

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In an attempt to raise spirits during the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover had "Hail to the Chief" replaced with "The Charleston" whenever he appeared in public. The original song was quietly reinstated by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.

Labels: Abraham Lincoln, Babe Ruth, Franklin Roosevelt, George W. Bush, Herbert Hoover, John Hodgman, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, William Henry Harrison, William Howard Taft

Posted by Mr. Holznagel at 7:58 AM0 comments  

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