excalibur
Diamond Member
- Mar 19, 2015
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There was a time before the MSM ruined the nation, not all that long ago in fact.
www.nationalreview.com
Joe Biden is in Surfside, Fla. But why?
The fact that this question will be received in most quarters as facetious if not outrageous is one more little data point illustrating the metamorphosis of the American president from chief magistrate to chief priest.
There was a time â and it wasnât even all that long ago â when presidents werenât expected to make ritual pilgrimages to scenes of suffering.
As John Dickerson recounts in his very readable The Hardest Job in the World, a series of tropical storms pounded the United States in 1955, doing more damage than had been inflicted during any hurricane season on record. Dwight Eisenhower was on vacation in Gettysburg and did not interrupt his family retreat. There was no public outcry or criticism â this was utterly normal. Vice President Richard Nixon joked that Washington staffers used President Eisenhowerâs absence to catch up on their sleep. âHe has the ungodly habit of getting up early,â Nixon said. The storms kept up: In 1957, Hurricane Audrey killed more than 600 people in Louisianaâs Cameron Parish. President Eisenhower was again nowhere to be seen. He did not visit Louisiana, did not make a heartfelt public speech, did not rush to put together a federal response. No one thought this was remarkable on his part.
Things were much the same for John Kennedy when Hurricane Carla struck Texas in 1961. He did not tour that scene or the scene of a catastrophic East Coast storm a few months later. He did not parachute in and perform five acts of sympathy theater.
âNeither Kennedy nor Eisenhower was callous,â Dickerson writes. âIke believed, like most did at the time, that local governments, civil defense forces, and the Red Cross were supposed to stack the sandbags and distribute food packets and blankets after a storm hit. The federal governmentâs job was to rebuild structures. Eisenhower believed that if the federal government preempted the local duty to care for neighbors, it would jeopardize the core American value of Americans giving back to their communities.â
The fact that this question will be received in most quarters as facetious if not outrageous is one more little data point illustrating the metamorphosis of the American president from chief magistrate to chief priest.
There was a time â and it wasnât even all that long ago â when presidents werenât expected to make ritual pilgrimages to scenes of suffering.
As John Dickerson recounts in his very readable The Hardest Job in the World, a series of tropical storms pounded the United States in 1955, doing more damage than had been inflicted during any hurricane season on record. Dwight Eisenhower was on vacation in Gettysburg and did not interrupt his family retreat. There was no public outcry or criticism â this was utterly normal. Vice President Richard Nixon joked that Washington staffers used President Eisenhowerâs absence to catch up on their sleep. âHe has the ungodly habit of getting up early,â Nixon said. The storms kept up: In 1957, Hurricane Audrey killed more than 600 people in Louisianaâs Cameron Parish. President Eisenhower was again nowhere to be seen. He did not visit Louisiana, did not make a heartfelt public speech, did not rush to put together a federal response. No one thought this was remarkable on his part.
Things were much the same for John Kennedy when Hurricane Carla struck Texas in 1961. He did not tour that scene or the scene of a catastrophic East Coast storm a few months later. He did not parachute in and perform five acts of sympathy theater.
âNeither Kennedy nor Eisenhower was callous,â Dickerson writes. âIke believed, like most did at the time, that local governments, civil defense forces, and the Red Cross were supposed to stack the sandbags and distribute food packets and blankets after a storm hit. The federal governmentâs job was to rebuild structures. Eisenhower believed that if the federal government preempted the local duty to care for neighbors, it would jeopardize the core American value of Americans giving back to their communities.â
The Magic President | National Review
Bidenâs visit to the Surfside, Fla., disaster site illustrates the unwelcome evolution of the highest office in the land.
www.nationalreview.com
