Would George DWI Bush be the first convicted criminal ever elcted President?
I’m not sure that a misdemeanor conviction qualifies one as a “convicted criminal.” After all, under that qualification, someone who crosses the street against the light could also be called a “convicted criminal.”
Zev Steinhardt
Hmmm.
No president that I can think of ever spent time in jail before becoming President. Of course, W’s arrest was a misdemeanor, resulting in a fine, not prison time. I’m sure someone else can go through and come up with a list of all Presidential parking, speeding, and reckless driving tickets.
In addition, other Presidents had engaged in much more direct violation of laws, though none were ever charged or tried- Andrew Jackson had killed four men in duels, and had been a bigamist (though it must be noted that he was unaware that he was commiting bigamy when he married his still-married wife); Lord knows what Richard Nixon could have been charged with had he not been pardoned; one could claim ‘treason’ as a crime commited by Washington, Adams, Jefferson, etc.
But still, I think that called W a “convicted criminal” is very hyperbolic. Driving while kind of loaded was not a major deal back then- the stories of LBJ driving around his ranch at 90 MPH with one hand on the wheel and the other hand holding a cup of beer; the Washington Post, during their “millenial celebration” of last year reprinted an article from 1980 talking of the gas crisis and the long lines and how one gas station was alleviating customers’ stress by passing out free beer to those in line- a statement which carried absolutely none of the condemnation or shock that such a line would give today.
President Grant was arrested for reckless driving while in office. Given his reputation, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn he was drunk at the time. He didn’t spend any time in jail for it, of course.
Driving what? A horse and buggy? If so, I don’t think it was called reckless driving. Maybe ‘public drunkedness’.
Wouldn’t this make her a bigamist, not him? (IANAL)
I’m having trouble finding a citation for this, but if memory serves, Andrew Johnson once had a ten-dollar reward on his head for throwing rocks at windows. He was a teenager.
As far as Grant goes:
“1869–70: President Ulysses S. Grant is arrested for speeding in his carriage, down M Street in Washington, D. C. One of the new black police officers in the city makes the arrest, and is thoroughly embarrassed when he realizes who he had apprehended. In a smiling gesture, President Grant nevertheless instructs the policeman, remarking, ‘Officer, do your duty.’ The president proceeds to walk back to the White House, while his horse and carriage are impounded.”
–from americanpresident.org
Dammit! I completely forgot about Andrew Johnson.
Johnson was signed into indentured servitude to a North Carolina tailor in his youth; in his early teens, he ran away from the tailor and escaped into Tennessee. A ten dollar bounty was placed on his head (standard for run-away servants), but he was never apprehended and made a somewhat successful living as a tailor until his friends convinced him to run for public office.
Zen- from the way I’ve read the historical accounts, Jackson would be considered the one in violation of the law (remember, weaker sex and not responsible for their actions and that sort of crap), but I could very well be wrong; I’m not a lawyer, either.
And for what it’s worth, there’s a strong argument to be made that Andrew Jackson should have been aware he was committing bigamy. Rachel Donelson Robards had left her husband Lewis when she met Jackson. They fell in love and ran away together. They then heard that Lewis Robards had filed for a divorce. Based on this, they were married.
What happened was that while Robards had indeed initiated divorce proceedings he had not followed through on them. It was obviously fairly reckless of Andrew and Rachel to assume he had done so without checking. When they found out the truth (two years later) Rachel filed for divorce and when it was completed the Jacksons were married a second time.