Sex, Lies and Integrity in the White House

Mason Weems, who wrote a biography of our first President is responsible for the following famous myth: Young Washington received a new hatchet and used it to chop down his father’s prized cherry tree. His father demanded to know how the tree had fallen. George was tempted to deny his misdeed, but then, “looking at his father with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out, ‘I cannot tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet.’” The reason I tell this story is to look at how far our leaders have fallen from that cherry tree. While the story is indeed a myth, it was told as a representation of just how honest George Washington was. Here was a man who was looked up to. A man who was so honest that his biographer felt compelled to create a parable about honesty.

Today we are plagued with politicians who not only lie with impunity, they believe it is part of the job to befuddle the public and misrepresent the truth. In an age of video and audio, television and the Internet, you would think politicians today would know their lies would eventually catch up to them, but they "honestly" do not care.

Our 16th President was also well known for his honesty. There is the story of how he once ran several miles from his general store simply to give money to a customer who had overpaid. He ended up with the nickname, "Honest Abe" Lincoln. Could any politician today actually receive such a moniker without derision? Would anyone be able to hear "Trusty George" Bush without laughing? Another Lincoln story tells of his partner dying soon after their joint venture in the general store went under. Although he was in no means responsible for the debt of his late partner, he vowed to pay off all their debtors and did so over a period of 15 years . . . even paying the heirs of some debtors who passed before the debt was paid off. Most politicians today would find a loop-hole to get out of their debt.

If ever there was a politician who had an opportunity to further his career through dishonesty, it would be Harry S. Truman. After serving as a Captain in France during World War I, he returned to Missouri and started a haberdashery. He then entered politics through the sponsorship of Missouri Democratic boss Thomas Pendergast. This was a time of extreme corruption in Missouri, yet Harry retained his integrity and stayed honest throughout his political career. He was never one to put the blame on others, especially if the ones to blame worked for his administration. His famous quote, "The buck stops here," is very telling of his philosophy. This was a man of honesty and responsibility.

Although there are rumors of politicians of the 18th and 19th Centuries having affairs, it was during the 20th Century when infidelity really came into its own. Warren Harding not only had several affairs, he even had a child out of wedlock and continued to see the mother of this child after becoming President. FDR's long standing affair with Lucy Mercer is well documented. Mercer was even with FDR at the time of his death. Dwight David Eisenhower had an affair with his driver, Kay Summersby, during World War II, but Eisenhower had a little more integrity. He openly admitted the affair to Mamie and was seeking a divorce so he could marry Summersby, but his superior at the time, Gen. George Marshall, threatened to bust him out of the service. Under Marshall's guidance, the affair was kept under wraps and didn't see the light of day until 1975 when Summersby wrote her tell-all book.

When it comes to extra-marital affairs, the king would have to be John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Who else could lay claims (at least to his closest friends) of bedding a movie star (Marilyn Monroe) and a Mafia moll (Judith Exner)? JFK had so many women, he worked out a system for getting them in and out of the White House without anyone seeing them.

For some reason, the 20th Century slowly gave rise to dishonesty and a diminishment of integrity in the highest office of the land. What happened? In my opinion, the quest for power overtook the desire to serve. Men used to become part of the government through a sense of duty or a thirst for justice. Much of this change began in earnest during the years of the Civil War when corporations started gaining the ears of politicians. This of course did not go unnoticed. In a letter to Col. William F. Elkins, Abraham Lincoln wrote:

We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood. . . . It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.

It is the love of the almighty dollar that is the driving force for many of today's politicians and when you have men who are interested in the accumulation of wealth, you also have men who are not beyond stepping out on their wives or lying to the American Public. While many of these men were, without a doubt, outstanding legal minds and deft politicians, it is their weaknesses which keep them from pantheon of our ideal leaders. In my mind Richard M. Nixon was on track to becoming one of the greatest Presidents we ever had, but he betrayed the trust of our citizens. He was so paranoid he kept an enemies list; he used the FBI to spy on people he disliked; and he violated his oath of office by committing a crime of conspiracy and covered up another crime.

Still, we know it is possible for a man of integrity to be elected, Truman is a great example, and more recently, we saw the rise and fall of James Earl Carter. Jimmy Carter is undoubtedly an honest man. Some have even speculated that it was his integrity and honesty that led to his naivety about world affairs. It was his lack of understanding of foreign affairs that led to his downfall and the advent of Reaganism and the neo-conservative ideal. In retrospect, it is ironic that a pious and Christian Democrat could inadvertently lead to the rise of the Christian Right. Today Carter is a well-respected man who has learned so much about foreign policy that he is often called upon in matters of election reform and peace negotiations. He spends his spare time picking up a hammer and helps build homes for people in need through his Habitat for Humanity program..

William Jefferson Clinton is another great leader who lost his spot in the pantheon through lies. A Democrat in the vein of his idol JFK, Clinton was a womanizer and it nearly led to his downfall. He became only the second President in history to face an impeachment hearing. Money is still a prime motivation. Today Clinton, like other politicians, is paid a great deal to speak in public. He made millions off his biography.

Finally, we come to George W. Bush. Here is a man who leads an administration that is so proficient in lies that web sites seem to pop up daily to bring those lies into the light of day. He used lies to start a war based on vanity. He wanted to show the world that he could be a war president, even if he had to mislead the public to get the war he wanted. Weapons of Mass Distraction. Bush's lies once inspired me to write a Dr. Seuss-style poem. I'll use that piece of honest nonsense to close this piece.

The Bush and the Dwizzle

The Dwizzle is a mighty thing that grows and grows and grows,

It feeds upon the fibbles where the dandyliar flows.

It likes a little falsie and it nibbles on the fudge,

And likes a slice of whopper between a little nudge

It slanderizes, perjursizes, distorties and decepts,

Exaggerates, equivocates, enfabricates, mis-reps.

It tells a tale, distorts the facts and makes believers too,

Hypno-shies, disinforms and gives red herring clues.

One day while throwing a fraudu-lance it came upon the Bush.

It claimed its fish was bigger and asked the Bush to push.

The Bush said “you got nothing that concocts a bull like me,

When it comes to spreading manure, I’ve spread from sea to sea.”

The Dwizzle was disjointed, the Dwizzle was aghast.

Could it be the Dwizzle’s dwizzle had met its match at last?

“I can’t believe your claimish, it surely is a fibble,

But if it is a falsie fact, I’d like to have a nibble.”

The Bush looked the Dwizzle in the eye and let fly from his lung

A libel stream of prevar-a-cake pass past his fork-ed tongue.

A concoction of mendacity the Dwizzle never heard,

It went on for a month of days without a truthful word.

And when at last the string-along had humbugged to a close,

The Dwizzle reached behind his head and freed his long false nose.

The Pinocchiole proboscis is only for the champ,

And sir your fibbles are the best, they leave me cold and damp

You slanderize, perjursize, distortie and decept,

Exaggerate, equivocate, enfabricate, mis-rep.

You tell a tale, distort the facts and make believers too,

Hypno-shy, disinform and give red herring clues.

The Dwizzle was a mighty thing that now no longer grows,

It lost a battle with the Bush and lost its growing nose.

It still eats on the falsies and nibbles fudge to wush,

But nothing tells a falsehood any better than the Bush.

© 2005 by Robert L. Rouse