A friend told me that many years ago, she read an interview of Jimmy Carter. In the interview, he said that shortly after he was sworn in as president, he met with a group of men who called themselves the “Founding Fathers.” What they told him at this meeting was, essentially, what he could and could not do as president of the United States. The implication is that this group meets with each newly sworn-in president to explain to him what he was “allowed” to do, and what he was not.
I know it reeks of conspiracy paranoia, and yet … weirder things have been proven true. Has anyone else read that article or heard of this?
I’ve read a lot of history about the Carter presidency – the killer rabbit episode is one of my favorite presidential stories, not to mention the overblown UFO episode – and this story sounds totally fabricated.
Or, at least, that’s what I’m being instructed to tell you.
Did Carter say who these men were? How they achieved their office? What they did when he told them to piss off? Or did he claim that he was given marching orders by a group of men whom he did not know?
The story makes no sense. Why would a President admit that he was controlled by some outside group when he is supposed to be the one in charge? Couldn’t he just tell them to get out. Even if there were such a group, why would Carter or any other President be willing to talk about it publicly after the fact?
There is a tradition that every outgoing president leaves a private note to the incoming one. I’m sure they range anything from ‘Don’t trust that motherfucker Putin’ to ‘Jessica, one of the chefs, makes a killer Apple Crumbler’
But damn, whould I love to read a collection of all of them.
My one thought was that the story could be been metaphorical (e.g., Jefferson spoke to me through the Declaration of Independence), but was taken as literal (e.g., a shadowy figure told me I can’t do certain things… or else!). I’m just not aware of anything Carter said that sounds like that, plus I don’t think of Carter as being one to speak in allegories.
The “Founding Fathers” cabal is jive. I’ve read a lot about the Presidency over the years and have never read anything like that.
Old joke:
Gerald Ford is leaving the Oval Office on Inauguration Day 1977, and gives Jimmy Carter three envelopes. “Open one of them when you don’t know else what to do,” the outgoing President says to the incoming. “Good luck.”
Carter’s administration gets off to a good start but then the economy turns sour. He tries everything he can think of, but nothing seems to help, so he reluctantly opens the first envelope. Inside is a single piece of paper with “Blame me” in Ford’s handwriting. So Carter goes out and gives a speech blasting Ford for all the problems he inherited, and his poll numbers recover for awhile.
Then more bad stuff happens and Carter just can’t seem to make any headway, so he opens the second envelope. “Blame the press,” he reads. So he goes out and gives a speech blasting the press for sensationalism and badmouthing his administration’s policies, and his poll numbers recover for a little longer.
Then the U.S. embassy is Tehran is seized, Ted Kennedy enters the Democratic primaries, Carter encounters a killer bunny on the lake and is widely mocked for it. He desperately rips open the last envelope.
I remember a Saturday Night Live sketch just after Carter was elected. Dan Ackroyd as Carter says something to the effect of “Remember while I was campaigning I promised you I would never lie to you? Well, now that I’m President, I have learned that I won’t be able to keep that promise.”
Our erstwhile new friend’s friend might be half-remembering hearing about this joke.
Newly elected members of the house and senate take classes that teach them how to do their job - nuts and bolts stuff. But it does not cover how to vote or stuff like that.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there really were a group of super-conservative geezers that think their God-given duty is to keep the president following the true values.
The prez listens nodding politely and when they leave, he says to his staff to never let those fools enter again.
The only context in which I could believe this is if the meeting went like this: “We’re part of the Founding Father’s Historical Society. In order to preserve our historical landmarks, we’re here to tell you that you may not paint the White House yellow, bulldoze the rose garden to build a drive-in movie theater, or allow Andy Warhol to redecorate.”
Actually, the desk in the Oval Office has been changed around several times. Each new President decides what desk he wants.
There are 5 different desks that have been used in the office since it was built in 1909. And there could be more; Geo HW Bush didn’t like any of the four that had been used previously so he got a new one donated (not ‘new’, a 1920’s railroad president’s one). So a new President in 2016 could decide he wants a different desk.
These desks are sometimes modified: the Resolute one (made from wood from the ship HMS Resolute) had a hinged front panel with the presidential seal added in 1933 (mainly to hide FDR’s leg braces). JFK used that same desk, there’s a famous photo of John-John Kennedy playing under his fathers desk and peeking out from that secret door.
We should be able to, eventually, I would think. Everything the President and his or her staff creates is required to be saved. (Since it’s Our property.)