Obama on 'Funny or Die': Would JFK, Reagan have done Web comedy?
Would John F. Kennedy have appeared on 鈥淏etween Two Ferns鈥�? David Gergen doesn鈥檛 think so. The veteran presidential adviser and cable commentator tweeted on Wednesday that it is 鈥渦nimaginable鈥� that Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, or Reagan would have appeared on the satirical 鈥淔erns鈥� talk show on the Funny or Die website, as President Obama did this week.
鈥淭hey carefully protected majesty of their office,鈥� .
Well, maybe. It鈥檚 certainly true this bunch was clear about the demands of the office for a certain formality. Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur for disrespecting the authority of the president. Eisenhower 鈥� an experienced leader 鈥� got furious with people who wasted his time. Kennedy wore expensive clothes and made speeches with rhetorical flourishes that sometimes seemed translated from Latin. Reagan wore a suit coat in the Oval Office as a sign of respect for the presidency itself.
Some of them would never have appeared on 鈥淔erns鈥� under Mr. Obama鈥檚 circumstances. Republicans Ike and Reagan wouldn鈥檛 have backed a new national health-care mandate, meaning they would not have needed to go on TV to push young people to sign up.
But c鈥檓on, 鈥渕ajesty鈥�? All modern presidents have known that they need to strike a balance between projecting strength and humanizing their office. And they are human, after all. Truman publicly threatened physical damage to a critic who ripped his daughter鈥檚 singing. Eisenhower appeared on 鈥�,鈥� a pioneering TV show hosted by comedians Abbott and Costello, who themselves were no more dignified then 鈥淔erns鈥� host Zach Galifianakis.
Kennedy ... OK, we鈥檙e not sure he would have traded barbs with a star of 鈥淗angover.鈥� He鈥檇 have sent Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davis Jr. to do the job. The old movie and TV pro Reagan would have loved it, though, if it weren鈥檛 about expanding the government鈥檚 role in health care. He did comedy bits with after winning the Oval Office. And of course, he famously appeared with a monkey as a co-star during his Hollywood days.
What鈥檚 maybe more interesting about Gergen鈥檚 tweet is the fact that there are presidents he skipped. What about LBJ? Yeah, he鈥檇 have done it, but the host would not have gotten a word in edgewise. President Nixon鈥檚 not mentioned because he famously appeared on the sketch show 鈥溾�� during the 1968 campaign. He uttered one of the show鈥檚 signature lines: 鈥淪ock it to me.鈥�
Bill Clinton talked about his underwear on MTV. Given that context, 鈥淭wo Ferns鈥� would have been just a morning鈥檚 work. George W. Bush appeared on the game show 鈥淒eal or No Deal,鈥� hosted by that well-known policy analyst Howie Mandel.
We don鈥檛 mean to pick on Gergen here: Lots of others had the same opinion. On Fox News, Bill O鈥橰eilly opined that Abe Lincoln would never have done what Obama did. During Tuesday鈥檚 daily press briefing at the White House, ABC News鈥檚 Jim Avila asked whether Obama had damaged 鈥渢he dignity of the office.鈥�
鈥淣辞,鈥� Jay Carney. 鈥淲e obviously assess opportunities that we have and look at whether or not they鈥檙e going to be successful and wise, and I think we made the right call here.鈥�
