I have to apologize to my followers for not posting anything
in a long time. I have buried myself in
the study of economics and it is all I can think about lately. However, something occurred that deserves
discussion. Therefore, I share the following
with all of you.
There is a story about George W. Bush, the 43rd
President of the United States of America.
Apparently he was visiting the home of his parents, George H. W. Bush,
the 41st President, and Barbara Bush, when he put his feet on the
furniture. Of course, Barbara Bush
called him on it by saying “George, get your feet off the furniture” to which
George H. W. remarked, “You can’t talk to him that way. He is the President of the United States”, at
which Barbara replied “George knows better.”
Barbara Bush’s influence with Presidents extends to Bill
Clinton, the 42nd President.
He is quoted as saying that Barbara calls him son and that he has become
the “black” sheep of the family. Well, I
wonder what Barbara would say about this.
There is a photo of the 44th President of the
United States with his foot on the desk.
Actually, there are photos of many Presidents with their feet on
Presidential desks. There is one of
George W. that Barbara may or may not have seen. There is one of Barack Obama from his first
term, and one of Gerald Ford, both of which I have seen. However, there is a photo of the current
President with his foot on the desk that is characteristically different from
all others.
In each of the other Presidential feet on desk photos the
back of the foot is actually touching the desk.
The back is sometimes covered by material from the trousers. So, the inference is that no damage came to
the desk itself. The same cannot be said
of the photo above. Please note how the
soul of the foot, the same soul that comes into contact with the ground and
picks bits of stone and gravel, namely, things that are know to scratch
furniture, is touching the top of the desk.
The photo also shows off the President’s flexibility and athleticism,
which is quite good for a man of 52. I
have been doing yoga for years and I can’t do that.
There is a great history of Presidential desks. There are six of them in all. The desk used by our current President and
his two predecessors is known as the Resolute Desk due to the fact that it was
created from wood salvaged from the HMS Resolute and given to President
Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1879.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt modified it by having a front panel
installed to hide his leg braces. After
FDR, the desk languished in storage until Jacqueline Kennedy found it and had
it restored and put in the Oval Office.
There is a heartwarming photo of John Jr. peaking out of the FDR panel
as JFK was smiling down on him from his work above.
And now we have a photo with the current President in a
position that could potentially damage that desk. All I can say is, President Obama, you need a
mother. Perhaps you can ask Bill if
Barbara is available.
