Obama Drops His Name Into the Other Presidential Biographies

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**Frazzled**

This is interesting and by interesting I mean it screams 1930s PRAVDA.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/05/15/obama-drops-his-name-into-presidential-biographies/

Contentions Obama Drops His Name Into the Other Presidential BiographiesSeth Mandel | @SethAMandel
05.15.2012 - 9:08 AM Many of President Obama’s fervent devotees are young enough not to have much memory of the political world before the arrival of The One. Coincidentally, Obama himself feels the same way—and the White House’s official website reflects that.

The Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper tweeted that Obama had casually dropped his own name into Ronald Reagan’s official biography on www.whitehouse.gov, claiming credit for taking up the mantle of Reagan’s tax reform advocacy with his “Buffett Rule” gimmick. My first thought was, he must be joking. But he wasn’t—it turns out Obama has added bullet points bragging about his own accomplishments to the biographical sketches of every single U.S. president since Calvin Coolidge (except, for some reason, Gerald Ford). Here are a few examples:

•On Feb. 22, 1924 Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
•In a 1946 letter to the National Urban League, President Truman wrote that the government has “an obligation to see that the civil rights of every citizen are fully and equally protected.” He ended racial segregation in civil service and the armed forces in 1948. Today the Obama administration continues to strive toward upholding the civil rights of its citizens, repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, allowing people of all sexual orientations to serve openly in our armed forces.
•President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare signed (sic) into law in 1965—providing millions of elderly healthcare stability. President Obama’s historic health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, strengthens Medicare, offers eligible seniors a range of preventive services with no cost-sharing, and provides discounts on drugs when in the coverage gap known as the “donut hole.”
•On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations.
•In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.
I imagine Bill Clinton will be especially receptive to Obama’s habit of shoehorning himself into the limelight previously occupied by others. As you can see, the bullet points make clear that while each president has done something historic or notable, Obama is carrying forward every one of those accomplishments since Coolidge. No wonder he always seems so proud of himself.

Frazzled note: The historical biographies have attachments at the end with a "Did You Know" section with some blurb about Obama. Some do note links with other Presidents though (Bush mentions teaming up with Clinton on Haiti victims)
I really like this one:

Did you know?

•President Barack Obama awarded George H.W. Bush the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for his commitment to service and ability to inspire volunteerism throughout the country, encouraging citizens to be “a thousand points of light.” The administration continues to promote service and civic engagement, honoring heroes of local communities as “Champions of Change” and fostering civic participation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**gorgon**

No, it really doesn't considering the site is for the White House and the current WH occupant is Barack Obama. In other words, there's a context involved. They haven't rewritten textbooks and I hazard to guess he's not the first president to use the WH web site to promote himself.

**Frazzled**

gorgon wrote:No, it really doesn't considering the site is for the White House and the current WH occupant is Barack Obama. In other words, there's a context involved. They haven't rewritten textbooks and I hazard to guess he's not the first president to use the WH web site to promote himself.

WH represents the office of the President of the United States, not Obama. Putting a bunch of blurbs behind each bio is just...weird.

**Redbeard**

If this is true, and I really doubt it (like a President has nothing better to do than add a teenage prank to a website) then it's just bizarre. As if no one would see right through this or question it?

If this happened, it's highly unlikely that it's the work of the office of the president. They'd have to be mental and deluded to think anything good could come of it, and Obama has proved that he's a bit more savvy when it comes to modern communication mediums. If anything, it's probably a member of another party, or an unaffiliated person, hoping to make the President look bad by doing something this blatantly.

**Frazzled**

Go to the whitehouse website and look it up. Thats where I pulled the second quote.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt

**ShumaGorath**

This topic is misnamed, and this article is kind of a pile. Bullet pointing a modern accomplishment and comparing it to a past presidents is hardly new or controversial and the scramble to take credit for the fall of the soviet union and comparisons to Reagan are like conservative oats. They live on that gak. This isn't unique, that isn't unique, this article is poorly written and bad. This is just partisan stupidity.

•President Barack Obama awarded George H.W. Bush the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for his commitment to service and ability to inspire volunteerism throughout the country, encouraging citizens to be “a thousand points of light.” The administration continues to promote service and civic engagement, honoring heroes of local communities as “Champions of Change” and fostering civic participation.

I do enjoy this.

**Ahtman**

Frazzled wrote:Go to the whitehouse website and look it up. Thats where I pulled the second quote.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt

Are you referring to the footnote in which a Democratic President shows support for a previous Democratic President's policies? MY GOD THE DEVIL HIMSELF WOULD DO NO SUCH THING!

**Frazzled**

Ahtman wrote:
Frazzled wrote:Go to the whitehouse website and look it up. Thats where I pulled the second quote.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt

Are you referring to the footnote in which a Democratic President shows support for a previous Democratic President's policies? MY GOD THE DEVIL HIMSELF WOULD DO NO SUCH THING!

Evidently he supports previous Republican policies as well. Evidently Nixon created the Export Council to complete Obama's goal of doubling the naiton's exports by 2014.

•In 1973, Richard Nixon created The President’s Export Council, which was expanded and reconstituted under President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Today the PEC continues to work towards reaching President Obama’s goal of doubling the nation’s exports by 2014’s end.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**dogma**

Frazzled wrote:
WH represents the office of the President of the United States, not Obama.

The White House represents whoever happens to be sitting in the Oval Office. You can't have a Presidency without a President, if you could then your criticism is still off based as this wouldn't be the doing of the Obama Administration, but of the Office itself; implying that even the very building knows Obama's greatness. But, seeing as that makes absolutely no sense...

**Frazzled**

Sure you can. The Office of President existed before Obama and will exist long after him.

**dogma**

Frazzled wrote:Sure you can. The Office of President existed before Obama and will exist long after him.

But the Office doesn't actually do anything if there's no one in it. Its just an institution, it has no voice of its own, and barely even maintains continuity of personnel from Administration to Administration anymore. Its like arguing that Congress continues to exist if there're no Congressmen, or that the Supreme Court is somehow separate from the Justices. Sure, institutions have history, but that history is ultimately secondary to the actions of the people presently occupying them.

**biccat**

Not just his own:

•President Dwight Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness on July 16, 1956 (now known as The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports) after learning from a study that American youth were less fit than European youth. Today the Council is still going strong—with Olympians and professional athletes on board—working in conjunction with the First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiativeto help promote healthier lifestyles.

**Frazzled**

dogma wrote:
Frazzled wrote:Sure you can. The Office of President existed before Obama and will exist long after him.

But the Office doesn't actually do anything if there's no one in it. Its just an institution, it has no voice of its own, and barely even maintains continuity of personnel from Administration to Administration anymore. Its like arguing that Congress continues to exist if there're no Congressmen, or that the Supreme Court is somehow separate from the Justices. Sure, institutions have history, but that history is ultimately secondary to the actions of the people presently occupying them.

E$xactly. Its an institution, like Congress. SCOTUS etc. WE're not constantly rewriting history for these other chambers. have the bio then leave it alone.

**dogma**

biccat wrote:Not just his own:

•President Dwight Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness on July 16, 1956 (now known as The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports) after learning from a study that American youth were less fit than European youth. Today the Council is still going strong—with Olympians and professional athletes on board—working in conjunction with the First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiativeto help promote healthier lifestyles.

Expanded the bold for clarity, the italicized bit was omitted by biccat. A mere oversight I'm sure.

**biccat**

dogma wrote:Expanded the bold for clarity, the italicized bit was omitted by biccat. A mere oversight I'm sure.

Your ability to quote my post verbatum while suggesting that I omitted something is nothing short of astonishing.

Truly sir, I am in the presence of greatness.

**Frazzled**

I don't see it omitted Dogma, just not in bold. Was that edited?

(Edit wow I really can't type at all can I...)

**dogma**

Frazzled wrote:
E$xactly. Its an institution, like Congress. SCOTUS etc. WE're not constantly rewriting history for these other chambers. have the bio then leave it alone.

History isn't being rewritten as none of the blurbs about Obama actually attempt to insert him into past events. Its just an attempt to tie his policies to those of past Presidents, something nearly all Presidents and Presidential candidates have done.

And yes, it is an institution, but institutions aren't immutable. In fact, they generally change quite a bit depending on their current membership, both in terms of reality and public perception. The Congress of the Red Scare is not perceived in a manner that is especially similar to the Congress of today.

**ShumaGorath**

Frazzled wrote:
Ahtman wrote:
Frazzled wrote:Go to the whitehouse website and look it up. Thats where I pulled the second quote.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt

Are you referring to the footnote in which a Democratic President shows support for a previous Democratic President's policies? MY GOD THE DEVIL HIMSELF WOULD DO NO SUCH THING!

Evidently he supports previous Republican policies as well. Evidently Nixon created the Export Council to complete Obama's goal of doubling the naiton's exports by 2014.

•In 1973, Richard Nixon created The President’s Export Council, which was expanded and reconstituted under President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Today the PEC continues to work towards reaching President Obama’s goal of doubling the nation’s exports by 2014’s end.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This really doesn't seem so out of place to me. I could say "My house, created in the mid sixties and expanded in the 80's continues to work towards reaching my goal of not letting it rain on it's residents heads."

I didn't take credit for it, nor did I insert myself into the historical narrative outside of my own occupation of the structure. It's the idiotic and lambastic writing in the article and your propagation of it that makes it seem somehow revisionist.

**streamdragon**

something something mountain something molehill.

**dogma**

biccat wrote:
Your ability to quote my post verbatum while suggesting that I omitted something is nothing short of astonishing.

Truly sir, I am in the presence of greatness.

You failed to place the text that I italicized in bold, which is what I was speaking to by my usage of the word "omitted".

Honestly, I'm surprised that you couldn't figure that out.

Frazzled wrote:I don't see it omitted Dogma, just not in bold. Was that edited?

No, poor word choice on my part.

**rubiksnoob**

This can't be allowed to stand! That damn Kenyan Islamic socialistic wacko is ruining our country!

**Frazzled**

streamdragon wrote:something something mountain something molehill.

What are you crazy? Is something something molehill something mountain! The nerve of some people.

**streamdragon**

Something something dachshund something mastiff then!

(Seriously, this is a huge nonissue.)

**biccat**

dogma wrote:You failed to place the text that I italicized in bold, which is what I was speaking to by my usage of the word "omitted".

By golly, you're correct. I failed to include the bold tags that were in...the...original.

No, that can't be it.

Wait, I was making a point that the Administration included Michelle's name in the accolades, but...didn't...include...background information.

Hm, that can't be correct either.

Well, just to be safe, here's the whole thing. I made sure to bold and italicize the whole thing*, because otherwise I'd be...well, I don't know. Something bad apparently.

Because only ebil republicans would attempt to use emphasis tags to emphasize the point they're making. Or something.

•President Dwight Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness on July 16, 1956 (now known as The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports) after learning from a study that American youth were less fit than European youth. Today the Council is still going strong—with Olympians and professional athletes on board—working in conjunction with the First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiativeto help promote healthier lifestyles.

dogma wrote:Honestly, I'm surprised that you couldn't figure that out.

* after several edits...

**Frazzled**

streamdragon wrote:Something something dachshund something mastiff then!

(Seriously, this is a huge nonissue.)

Well it wasn't until you went all mastiff...

**gorgon**

Here's a proposal. We just make one giant 'OMG LOOK WHAT OBAMA/ROMNEY/SANTORUM/SNOOPY SAID NOW!!!1!1!' thread and have the proud partisans update it as the daily GOP/Dem talking points are released.

That way no one mistakes the political silly season nonsense as real news worthy of discussion.

**dogma**

biccat wrote:
Wait, I was making a point that the Administration included Michelle's name in the accolades, but...didn't...include...background information.

Indeed, you failed to include the segment which separate Michelle Obama's actions from those of Eisenhower when responding to a post about inserting the present Administration into historical records.

biccat wrote:
Because only ebil republicans would attempt to use emphasis tags to emphasize the point they're making. Or something.

Oh, the fact that you're a conservative has nothing to do with it. I simply enjoy habitually pointing out where you behave disingenuously because I consider your web persona to be a laughable pastiche of your chosen political ideology; particularly given the grounds on which you so regularly attempt to criticize everyone you disagree with.

biccat wrote:

dogma wrote:Honestly, I'm surprised that you couldn't figure that out.

I'm glad you agree that you're failure is worthy of a facepalm. Perhaps this will inspire you to do better in the future, though I very much doubt it.

**Frazzled**

gorgon wrote:Here's a proposal. We just make one giant 'OMG LOOK WHAT OBAMA/ROMNEY/SANTORUM/SNOOPY SAID NOW!!!1!1!' thread and have the proud partisans update it as the daily GOP/Dem talking points are released.

That way no one mistakes the political silly season nonsense as real news worthy of discussion.

You know thats a pretty good idea. on the DCM we have two threads that people update -one is about good things, one about bad things that have happened. of course there's also the monstrously long NSFW er "young chickens" thread...

**biccat**

dogma wrote:Oh, the fact that you're a conservative has nothing to do with it. I simply enjoy habitually pointing out where you behave disingenuously because I consider your web persona to be a laughable pastiche of your chosen political ideology; particularly given the grounds on which you so regularly attempt to criticize everyone you disagree with.

On a completely unrelated note, I sometimes wonder what the purpose of dakka's rules are. They apparently don't have any deterrant effect.

**Lux_Lucis**

American political discussions are so much more amusing than ours.

Our politicians doing this would lead to massive arguments between them no doubt, and the public wouldn't care.

Kudos for being involved.