Over the last several years, some individuals have promoted the idea that “The President” serves as a moral example to the rest of the citizenry.
I wonder how this idea matches dopers memories of their childhood and education. I was born in 1952. I cannot remember a single instance of my parent’s using the President as an example. Nor can I remember any instance of a teacher doing this.
Is this a regional thing (I grew up in Tacoma, Washington)? A generation thing? Counter-examples, anyone? Any cites from text books, readers, film strips, etc?
(I would rather not get into the specific mis-deeds of previous Presidents, if this can be avoided.)
Without turning this into a Great Debate, let me state that many people believe that a leader should be a moral person. The highest leader of the land, therefore, the president, should be expected to be a moral person (following this line of reasoning).
OTOH, it’s not like my parents, when I was a wee little lad, said “Why can’t you behave more like President Ford?”
Again, trying to avoid the GD-ness of it all.
Because the President is head of state as well as head of government, the idea is that he embodies the government, and therefore, represents the country. It follows that if the country is to be moral, the President should set an example.
Certainly this is a recurring theme throughout U.S. history. On the positive side you have young George Washington confessing to chopping down the cherry tree and young Abe Lincoln walking miles to return a book he borrowed. On the negative side, you have a variety of gossip and rumor about almost every person who’s held the office attached to them by their opponents (“Ma, ma, where’s my pa?” “Rum, Romanism and Republicans” – obviously, it ain’t new.)
You’re the same age as I am, Prince. Don’t you remember the high gloss attached to JFK? His bravery on PT 109, “Profiles in Courage” etc.? Much was also made of of Johnson and Nixon working their wy up from poor childhoods, as well as Carter, Ford and Reagan’s comparatively middle-class backgrounds.
My mom is 85 years old. Every morning after breakfast she sits down at the table with a cup of coffee and watches C-SPAN while playing a couple of hands of solitaire. During the Clinton years it was a virtual certainty that someone would call in to C-SPAN complaining about Clinton’s activities in the White House and how they were corrupting the country’s morals, and this would get her going on one of her standard speeches. “I’ve lived to see 15* Presidents in the White House and I’ve never once looked to a single one of them for moral direction. I expect them to be statesman, I expect them to work hard for the country’s best interests, I expect the to be leaders, but I don’t give one twit about their morality! I don’t remember a single teacher ever pointing to a president as a moral example, and I’ve lived to see some pretty fine presidents.” And here’s where she usually goes off into a bit of a tangent, “And somehow we all loved our country and were patriotic without ever saying that damned pledge of allegiance.”
For you statistical gathering purposes she was born in Marlin, Texas in 1916.
Ya’know, now that I reread your post I find it amazing how close her language matches yours, especially the part about never having a teacher or parent point to the President as an example of morality. Uh… Mom, is that you?
*I’m guessing at the 15 number.
Let’s see… Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush père, Clinton, Bush fils.
Close: 16.
Anyway, back to the OP. I would imagine that it has to do with a lot of people being pissed off at Clinton (for reasons I need not state). I imagine, however, that if there was C-SPAN during the early 1970s, then we’d be hearing all about “Tricky” Dick during our cornflake hour.