I remember back in the 80’s all the talk about the president and his supposed love affair with jellybeans. I remember seeing Jelly Belly jellybeans (Apparently the president’s fave) coming out of nowhere and becoming a behemoth in the candy biz (That is, being talked about and promoted non-stop and without a moments shame anywhere and everywhere, it seemed).
All fine and nice, I guess. But I also specifically remember reading… or hearing… or seeing (It’s one of those) someone coming out and saying the president in fact hated jellybeans and never liked them in the first place. He did it as a means to make himself appear more folksy and down to earth and give himself an air of approachability.
I kinda like the irony involved in the skeptics take, especially since it’s so clever, but for the life of me I can’t find any corroboration.
Anyone else remember hearing this?
Anyone know if the pres actually liked jellybeans? Or did he really hate them and this all was all a clever ploy designed to manipulate the masses?
Not a definitive answer, but I recall reading articles over the years that the jelly beans were a smoking subsitute. Some people who quit chew gum, some eat snacks. His was supposed to be jelly beans.
I know it was said he always had a jar on his desk, and I have seen footage not all that long ago of a cabinet meeting where he was passing a large glass jar of them around.
If he hated them and did it for an image thing, he did a good job…
Not a definitive answer, but I recall reading articles over the years that the jelly beans were a smoking subsitute. Some people who quit chew gum, some eat snacks. His was supposed to be jelly beans.
I know it was said he always had a jar on his desk, and I have seen footage not all that long ago of a cabinet meeting where he was passing a large glass jar of them around.
If he hated them and did it for an image thing, he did a good job…
Of course, the problem is, if you’re President, and you say you like something, it always gets blown out of proportion. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hated them by the end of his presidency just from being being forced to eat them all the time.
I watched a special on the Food Network, I like cooking shows, and they were talking about how he kept them in all rooms at the White House and he even kept a small supply on him at all times. So it sounds like he really did like then alot.
I had also always heard the story that he used them to quit smoking.
There was a story about Bush the Elder that you may be confusing with this. He often had fried pork rinds that he supposedly didn’t like but used as a prop. They were to make him not look like a preppy dweeb.
I heard he loved them at first, but he got sick of them after having them thrown at him onstage all the time. Oh, wait–that was the Beatles. Never mind.
One of the beatles mentioned that they liked ju-ju beans, not jellybeans. Somehow the public got mixed up, and the next thing you know they got pelted with jellybeans on stage. I forget where the concert was (Ed Sullivan, maybe?) but you can clearly see them getting pelted with jellybeans as they try and perform.
[sup]Did Jimmy Carter like peanuts?[/sup][/ul]