# Obama: my grandma (1922-2008) lived through TWO world wars!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 3, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944 "2008-11-03T23:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/1 "2008-11-03T23:45:16Z")
Just thought I’d get a jump on all you wingnuts who want to elevate this extemporaneous misstatement into a national security issue, or the value of a Columbia/Harvard education, or some secret Muslim/socialist code or whatever today’s talking point is. Go nuts, if you’re not there already. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/2 "2008-11-03T23:47:33Z")
What’s funny is that you can tell he realized what he’d said right after saying it–the portion of his speech afterwards was very halting and hesitant. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/3 "2008-11-03T23:48:15Z")
In what alternate universe? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/4 "2008-11-03T23:50:26Z")
Link? I can’t find anything. I do know that people often mix up dates and chronology, especially when stressed. (The other night on Bill Maher’s show, I’m pretty sure I heard Amy Holmes, an inexplicably Republican but otherwise fairly bright young black lady, refer to FDR being President in 1929 when the stock market crashed.) ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/5 "2008-11-03T23:53:00Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Link? I can’t find anything. > > I do know that people often mix up dates and chronology, especially when stressed. (The other night on Bill Maher’s show, I’m pretty sure I heard Amy Holmes, an inexplicably Republican but otherwise fairly bright young black lady, refer to FDR being President in 1929 when the stock market crashed.) Probably not a link yet, as it literally JUST happened in a speech in NC. I saw it live. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/6 "2008-11-03T23:55:52Z")
Yeah, I typed it about 20-30 seconds after he said it. He was speaking in NC, I think, at about 6:40 something, if you want to look. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/7 "2008-11-03T23:58:57Z")
Ah; I’ve got the live stream from CNN now. Sounds like he’s on top of it now. ETA: It’s been literally years since I’ve listened to an entire presidential speech. Always used to, even with presidents I didn’t like, like Reagan and GHWB. But with GWB, I just can’t. Man, Obama would be a nice change. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/8 "2008-11-03T23:59:57Z")
Surely The Struggling Global War for Iraqi Freedom and Liberation and Terror and Islamic Radical Extremism counts! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/9 "2008-11-04T00:00:47Z")
Well, there’s WW2 and Bush’s Global War on Terrorism, right? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/10 "2008-11-04T00:02:32Z")
Obviously he was referring to Armstrong’s Toyota’s [War on Prices.](http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3696645/10170670)\* \*Link goes directly to video. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/11 "2008-11-04T00:05:18Z")
World War II War on Drugs Star Wars War on Terror War of the Worlds (Orson Welles radio broadcast) Cola Wars What a gaffer, he completely underestimated the number of wars. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/12 "2008-11-04T00:06:51Z")
…the Cold War? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/13 "2008-11-04T00:12:23Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > World War II > War on Drugs > Star Wars > War on Terror > War of the Worlds (Orson Welles radio broadcast) > Cola Wars **WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE, IT WAS ALWAYS BURNIN’ SI–** I mean, um. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/14 "2008-11-04T00:13:47Z")
There were three world wars in the 20th Century: WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/15 "2008-11-04T00:13:50Z")
[hijack]What creeps me out slightly is that I’m only half Obama’s age, yet my grandparents actually did live through both world wars[/hijack] It’s probably just a case of 'Well, it happened in the first half of the last century, and she was born in the first half of the last century…" without actually bothering to work the numbers. Which is understandable, since I doubt this speech was planned too far in advance. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/16 "2008-11-04T00:24:07Z")
The Cold War wasn’t a World War? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/17 "2008-11-04T00:26:50Z")
Noooo, you’re behind-the wingnuts are too busy telling everyone how he killed her and destroyed his REAL birth certificate!!! Yeesh, people, get your conspiracy theories straight! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/18 "2008-11-04T01:00:20Z")
More seriously, the Cold War is called World War III often enough he could reasonably say that’s what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/19 "2008-11-04T01:39:28Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > More seriously, the Cold War is called World War III often enough he could reasonably say that’s what he meant. I’ve never agreed with that. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944/20 "2008-11-04T01:46:55Z")
> **[Obama On Grandmother And Campaign: "Bittersweet"](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/obama-on-grandmother-and_n_140698)** > > Obama On Grandmother And Campaign: "Bittersweet" [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-my-grandma-1922-2008-lived-through-two-world-wars/470944.md?page=2)