With today’s inauguration of President Obama, I should be looking forward to a bright future instead of looking back at the other Presidents during my lifetime. But I can’t help but to reflect back on the others, simply because they make President Barack Obama seem that much more miraculous…
- Jimmy Carter was President when I was born in 1977, but I had not clear understanding of who he was until my mid-teens. I think that baby Meredith would have liked Jimmy Carter because he has kind, gentle eyes. My Approval Rating: 55%
- Ronald Reagan. I remember learning about Ronald Reagan when I was in grade school. He was the President, but I never questioned the when, why and how. To young children, such things just are. Mom is mom, Dad is dad, and Ronald Reagan is President, which is like being America’s principal. Like most children, I went with the status quo, and it didn’t occur to me that I could have an opinion about Ronald Reagan. I did have impressions of an old man who was married to a skeleton woman who had dual obsessions: keeping kids from doing drugs and keeping kids from being kidnapped by strangers. Nancy Reagan, thanks for the childhood of fear. My Approval Rating: 8%
- George HW Bush. Another old white guy? I was beginning to sense a pattern. Desert Storm coincided with my nascent rebellious phase, and the anti-war sensibilities that I inherited from listening to late-Sixties acid rock flared my dislike for Bush Senior. Even more damning, teenaged Meredith was adamantly Pro-Choice, and anyone who wasn’t could suck her left one. My Approval Rating: 5%
- Bill Clinton. I have strong memories of watching the Clintons dancing to Fleetwood Mac at the Democratic Convention and just welling with happiness. It felt like the Dark Ages had lifted. I loved Bill Clinton. And for all his faults — NAFTA, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” welfare reform, blow job — I still love Bill Clinton. Is it a coincidence that he was President during my wild years? My Approval Rating: 69%
- George W Bush. Where did he come from? I remember thinking. I couldn’t figure out what he brought to the table. I couldn’t even see the charm that everyone crowed about. He always struck me as arrogant and stupid. Even 9/11 didn’t inspire any blind devotion in GWB, simply because I couldn’t understand why we should rally around the Administration that allowed such a massive eff-up to happen. The only redeeming thing about his Presidency is the sheer amount of laughter provoked by his stupidity. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats. My Approval Rating: 2%
