578
edits
Changes
MyWikiBiz, Author Your Legacy — Monday May 06, 2024
Jump to navigationJump to searchDirectory:Article Heaven/List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents (view source)
Revision as of 07:10, 7 August 2009
, 07:10, 7 August 2009from WP
<!-- Please do not remove or change this AfD message until the issue is settled -->
<!-- The nomination page for this article already existed when this tag was added. If this was because the article had been nominated for deletion before, and you wish to renominate it, please replace "page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents" with "page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents (2nd nomination)" below before proceeding with the nomination.
-->{{AfDM|page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents|logdate=2009 August 1|substed=yes }}
<!-- For administrator use only: {{oldafdfull|page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents|date=1 August 2009|result='''keep'''}} -->
<!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point -->
{{Orphan|date=February 2009}}
{{Rescue}}
The following is a list of ''[[faux pas]]'' (violations of accepted, although unwritten, social rules), [[gaffe]]s (unintentional things said or done that proved embarrassing or humiliating) and unfortunate incidents (those things that were not gaffes or ''faux pas'' yet were nonetheless considered to be regrettable or embarrassing to the party or parties involved) involving [[President of the United States|U.S. Presidents]]. Some were by Presidents themselves while others were made by those either associated with or who reported about the U.S. President of the day.
[[Image:Warren G Harding portrait as senator June 1920.jpg|thumb|right|President Harding's poor use of English became notorious during his presidency.]]
==Warren Harding==
[[Warren Harding]]'s poor grasp of the English language, coupled with his insistence on writing his own speeches, produced notorious linguistic errors. He once commented:
<blockquote>"I would like the government to do all it can to mitigate, then, in understanding, in mutuality of interest, in concern for the common good, our tasks will be solved."<ref name="Pile">Stephen Pile, ''[[The Book of Heroic Failures]]'' (Futura, 1980) p.180.</ref></blockquote>
Following Harding's death, [[poet]] [[E. E. Cummings]] said "The only man, woman or child who wrote a simple declarative sentence with seven grammatical errors is dead."<ref name="Pile"/>
==Harry S. Truman==
[[Harry S. Truman]] had unexpectedly become President owing to the sudden death of longterm President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Few expected him to secure election as the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 1948. In an effort to boost his ratings, during the [[Democratic National Convention]] the party released dozens of doves into the convention hall. The action backfired spectacularly when some of the doves died in the intense heat and others, made dizzy by the heat, desperately tried to escape and [[dive bomber|dive bomb]]ed the delegates.[http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/decision2004/DNC_04/conventionGaffes/gaffes.html (Christian Science Monitor)]
==Lyndon B. Johnson==
[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was well-known for his coarse language and occasionally unrefined behavior. While not a gaffe in office, an embarrassingly personal tape of LBJ ordering pants from Joe Haggar on August 9, 1964, was later released to the public. In it Johnson belches, complains about the pants riding up and cutting him "down where ya nuts hang" when he gains a little weight, like "riding a wire fence," and asks for more material "under my back of my [[bunghole]]" that he can let out if need be. {{listen|title=Listen to President Johnson|filename=LBJ ordering pants.ogg}}
==Gerald Ford==
[[Gerald Ford]], who succeeded Richard Nixon in 1974, made numerous gaffes and faux-pas, many of which, while making people see him as human and less [[Imperial presidency|imperial]] than his predecessor, made others vote against him for election in 1976.
Among his more famous examples are:
On October 6, 1976, during a televised Presidential debate in the [[United States presidential election, 1976|1976 Presidential election]] with rival [[Jimmy Carter]], President Ford became confused and stated that [[Poland]] and [[Eastern Europe]] were not under the domination of the [[Soviet Union]]. When challenged over his comments, he repeated "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration."<ref>{{cite news |title=Debate One-Liners, Gaffes of Yesteryear |date=[[30 September]] [[2004]] |publisher=ABC News |url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/Vote2004/story?id=96665}}</ref> In the words of Professor [[Alan Schroeder]], author of ''Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High Risk TV'': "That was a gaffe that took him some time to recover from—mostly because he did not back away from the statement".<ref name="Handwerk">{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Handwerk |title=U.S. Presidential Debate Trivia: Gaffes, Zingers, More |date=[[October 12]], [[2004]] |publisher=National Geographic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1008_041008_Presidential_debate.html}}</ref>
==Jimmy Carter==
[[Image:Jimmy Carter and Killer Rabbit.jpg|thumb|President Carter in his fight with a "killer rabbit".]]
{{main|Jimmy Carter rabbit incident}}
While campaigning for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter candidly noted during an interview with ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine, "I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do—and I have done it—and God forgives me for it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/history/faculty/TROYWEB/Courseweb/JimmyCarterThePlayboyInterview.htm|title=Jimmy Carter The Playboy Interview - Excerpt|date=2001|accessdate=2009-05-15}}</ref>
While on a visit to [[Poland]] in 1977, President Carter delivered a speech which was notoriously mistranslated. For example, one innocent comment by Carter was translated as indicating that the President of the United States had "left America never to return."<ref>{{cite book | last = Blundell | first = Nigel | title = The World's Greatest Mistakes | publisher = Bounty Books | location = New York | year = 1995 | isbn = 0600572323 |chapter=Washington's diplomatic disasters|pages=23–24t}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1880208_1880218_1880227,00.html?imw=Y|title=That's Not What I Said - Top 10 Embarrassing Diplomatic Moments (9 of 10)|publisher=Time Magazine|accessdate=2009-05-15}}</ref>
During an 20 April 1979 fishing trip to [[Plains, Georgia]], Carter encountered a [[swamp rabbit]] that attempted to board the President's fishing boat, which he shooed away with a paddle. The story found its way to the national press a few months later. It was covered for over a week, and Carter was widely portrayed as having acted in a "cowardly" fashion on his encounter with what the press nicknamed the "[[Jimmy Carter rabbit incident|Killer rabbit]]."<ref>{{cite news |pages=A16 |title=A Tale of Carter and the 'Killer Rabbit'; President Orders Photograph |date=[[30 August]] [[1979]] |publisher=New York Times }}</ref>
==Ronald Reagan==
On December 1, 1982, at a banquet in Brazil, President [[Ronald Reagan]] offered a toast to [[João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo|Brazilian President Figueiredo]] and "to the people of [[Bolivia]]."
In 1984, before his weekly radio address, President Reagan was asked to say something to do a soundcheck. He remained quiet for a few moments, then not realizing that the microphone was now on and recording he joked [[Five minutes speech|"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."]] Information about the recording (though the recording itself was not aired) was later released, causing an alert to be triggered in the USSR.
{{listen |
| filename = ReaganBeginsBombingRussia.ogg
| title = "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation<br/>that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes"
}}
In a slip of the tongue, where he meant to say "employment", President Reagan told Americans "We are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we're going to succeed" [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/06/1086460157435.html?from=moreStories (Press Association)]
At a gala dinner in [[Washington, D.C.]] President Reagan called [[Princess Diana]] "Princess David."
"Permit me to add our congratulations to [[Prince Charles]] on his birthday just five days away," he said, "and express also our great happiness that... er... Princess David - Princess Diane (sic) here on her first trip to the United States."<ref>{{cite web | title=21 September | publisher=BBC | work=On This Day | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/9/newsid_4396000/4396846.stm | accessdate=1 January | accessyear=2008
}}</ref>
==George H. W. Bush==
During a town hall debate with rivals [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Ross Perot]], while his opponents were answering, cameras caught a shot of Bush glancing at his watch and looking bored. The action was picked up by the media and reported as a ''gaffe'', in that it showed he wasn't interested in the debate and didn't want to have to spend his time taking part, even though the debate was for the electorate's benefit. ''[[National Geographic]]'' said that "[t]he gesture gave viewers the distinct impression that Bush would rather have been elsewhere".<ref name="Handwerk"/>
As [[Vice-President of the United States]], Bush caused widespread offense when, on being shown the [[gas chamber]]s at [[Auschwitz]], he commented "Boy, they were big on crematoriums, weren't they?"<ref>{{cite journal | author=[[Margaret B. Carlson]] | title=Same Substance, Different Style | journal=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=[[29 February]] [[1988]] | volume=131 | pages=38}}</ref>
==Bill Clinton==
[[Bill Clinton]]'s presidential career was, in the view of many, stymied by his address to the 1988 Democratic Convention. The up-to-that-point 'future candidate to watch', Governor Clinton delivered an infamous 30-minute speech that bored delegates and viewers alike. When he finally said the words "in conclusion" the audience broke out in applause. Clinton however saved his reputation by an appearance on [[The Tonight Show]] where he poked fun at himself for his longwindedness. Though the speech was widely seen as a major faux-pas that could have killed off any future Presidential bid, by 1992 he had overcome it and won the presidency.<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/decision2004/DNC_04/conventionGaffes/gaffes.html Christian Science Monitor]</ref>
On 20 May 1993, Clinton received a haircut aboard [[Air Force One]] by Beverly Hills hairstylist Christophe. It was reported that during the one-hour haircut the airplane's engines were running and two of the four runways at [[Los Angeles International Airport]] were shut down, forcing some scheduled air traffic to circle the airport waiting to land. The expensive haircut was said to have caused long delays, becoming a source of ridicule less than six months into Clinton's presidency. However, an analysis of [[Federal Aviation Authority]] records by Glenn Kessler of [[Newsday]] revealed that, contrary to reports, only one (unscheduled) air taxi reported an actual delay - of two minutes.<ref>[http://archives.cjr.org/year/93/5/d_l.asp CJR - Darts & Laurels, Sept/Oct 1993]</ref><ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/103115916.html?did=103115916&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&dids=103115916:103115916:&date=Jul+18,+1993&author=JONATHAN+SCHELL&desc=Haircut:+a+Tale+With+a+Life+of+Its+Own Haircut: a Tale With a Life of Its Own]</ref>
While under attack and under oath during taped grand jury testimony prior to his impeachment hearing, he declared that whether he had told the truth hinged on the definition of the word "is": "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is"<ref>{{cite web | title=21 September | publisher=BBC | work=On This Day | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/21/newsid_2525000/2525339.stm | accessdate=8 March | accessyear=2006
}}</ref>
Clinton made the statement "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, [[Monica Lewinsky|Ms. Lewinsky]]." Referring to Lewinsky as "that woman" was widely regarded as crass and a faux-pas. Tests performed by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] later showed Clinton's DNA on a semen-stained navy blue cocktail dress owned by Ms. Lewinsky. Clinton was [[impeachment|impeached]] for making the false statement under oath in what would come to be known as the [[Lewinsky scandal]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sex, lies and impeachment |date=[[December 22]], [[1998]] |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/12/98/review_of_98/themes/208715.stm}}</ref>
==George W. Bush==
{{main|Bushism}}
September 4, 2000 — Thinking he was speaking off the record and privately to [[running mate]] [[Dick Cheney]], then-presidential candidate [[George W. Bush]] said, "There's [[Adam Clymer]], major league asshole from the ''[[New York Times]]''" — at a campaign rally in [[Naperville, Illinois]], unaware the microphone in front of him was live.<ref name="bbc3">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/910614.stm|title=Bush: No apology for gaffe|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=September 5, 2000|author=BBC}}</ref> {{listen|filename=George W. Bush 14092000 major league asshole.ogg|title=Listen to George W. Bush}}
June 11, 2001 — Bush appeared on Spanish television and said "It is a great honor to travel to Spain and visit the King and also Prime Minister Anzar. But I have to practice the very pretty language, and unless I practice I am going to destroy this language". He had in fact mispronounced the name of the [[Prime Minister of Spain|Prime Minister]], [[José María Aznar]]. He called him ''ansar'', a Spanish word for "goose".<ref name="bbc4">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1383385.stm|title=Bush on tricky foreign mission|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=June 12, 2001|author=BBC}}</ref>
August 6, 2004 — Bush told a televised meeting that "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful — and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people — and neither do we."<ref name="bbc1">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3541706.stm|title=President gaffes in terror speech|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=August 6, 2004|author=BBC}}</ref>
November 20, 2005 — Bush attempted to exit a room in China, but it was locked and so he was unable to leave the room, much to the amusement of the world's press.<ref name="bbc2">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4454738.stm|title=Door thwarts quick exit for Bush |accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=November 20, 2005|author=BBC}}</ref>
June 2006 - At a G8 summit, Bush rubbed Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel's shoulders, causing a surprised Merkel to cringe.<ref name="G8">{{Cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2214892|title=Bush's 'Hands-On' Diplomacy With German Chancellor Raises Eyebrows |accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=ABC News|year=July 20, 2006|author=ABC}}</ref>
September 7, 2007 — While addressing business leaders at the APEC ([[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]]) summit of world leaders in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], Bush opened his address by thanking the host, Australian [[Prime Minister]] [[John Howard]] for hosting the "[[OPEC]] summit", referring of course to the [[acronym]] commonly used for the [[Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries]]. After laughs from the audience, President Bush corrected his ''faux pas'' by saying, "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year", and laughed. This correction provides a further gaffe, as [[Australia]] is not a member of OPEC.<ref name="apec">{{Cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSPAR75418520070907|title=Bush shows gift of gaffe at APEC summit|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=Reuters|year=September 7, 2007|author=Reuters}}</ref>
{{wikiquotepar|George W. Bush}}
==Barack Obama==
January 20, 2009 - During his inaguration speech, Obama said "Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text-obama.html</ref>. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted as both the 22nd and the 24th President. So in fact only 43 individuals, including Obama, have served as President of the United States and have taken the oath. <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States</ref>
January 27, 2009 — While attempting to enter the [[Oval Office]], [[Barack Obama]] mistook a window for the door several feet away.<ref name="Oval office door gaffe">{{cite news | last = Oneill | first = Lisa | title = Hey Bam, that's not the door! | publisher = New York Daily News | date = January 28, 2009 | url = http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/28/2009-01-28_hey_bam_thats_not_the_door.html }}</ref>
February 24, 2009 — During a speech before a joint session of Congress, Obama claimed the automobile was invented in the United States. German [[Karl Benz]] is generally credited with inventing the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine.<ref name="Obama auto gaffe">{{Cite web | url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/obamagaffeamericadidntinventautomobile | title = Obama Gaffe: America Didn't Invent Automobile | accessdate=February 25, 2009 | dateformat=mdy | publisher=CNN | year=January 14, 2002 | author=LiveScience.com}}</ref>
March 2009 — During an exchange of gifts with British Prime Minister [[Gordon Brown]], Obama returned a bust of [[Winston Churchill]] and gave Brown a collection of 25 American movies.<ref name="Obama gift gaffe1">{{Cite news | first = David | last = Saltonstall |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/03/06/2009-03-06_london_aghast_at_president_obama_over_gi.html | title =
London aghast at President Obama over gifts given to Prime Minister Brown | publisher= New York Daily News | year=March 7, 2009 }}</ref> The [[DVD-Video|DVDs]] had a North American [[DVD region code|region code]].<ref name="Obama gift gaffe1">{{Cite news | first = Tim | last = Walker |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/5011941/Gordon-Brown-is-frustrated-by-Psycho-in-No-10.html | title =
Gordon Brown is frustrated by 'Psycho' in No 10 | publisher= The Daily Telegraph | year=March 18, 2009 }}</ref> The British press saw the move as a snub of Brown.
<ref name="Obama gift gaffe2">{{Cite web | url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101561670 | title = Obama's Gifts To Brown Irk British Media | accessdate=March 14, 2009 | dateformat=mdy | publisher=NPR | date=March 6, 2009 }}</ref>
July 2009 Obama caught criticism when he said that the police acted stupidly when asked about the arrest of Harvard professor [[Henry Louis Gates Jr.]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*[http://www.ciaonet.org/book/sca02/ Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High-Risk TV], Alan Schroeder
*Mark Crispin Miller, ''The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder'' (W.W. Norton)
[[Category:Presidency of the United States|Faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents]]
[[Category:Lists relating to the United States presidency|Faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents]]
<!-- The nomination page for this article already existed when this tag was added. If this was because the article had been nominated for deletion before, and you wish to renominate it, please replace "page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents" with "page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents (2nd nomination)" below before proceeding with the nomination.
-->{{AfDM|page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents|logdate=2009 August 1|substed=yes }}
<!-- For administrator use only: {{oldafdfull|page=List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents|date=1 August 2009|result='''keep'''}} -->
<!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point -->
{{Orphan|date=February 2009}}
{{Rescue}}
The following is a list of ''[[faux pas]]'' (violations of accepted, although unwritten, social rules), [[gaffe]]s (unintentional things said or done that proved embarrassing or humiliating) and unfortunate incidents (those things that were not gaffes or ''faux pas'' yet were nonetheless considered to be regrettable or embarrassing to the party or parties involved) involving [[President of the United States|U.S. Presidents]]. Some were by Presidents themselves while others were made by those either associated with or who reported about the U.S. President of the day.
[[Image:Warren G Harding portrait as senator June 1920.jpg|thumb|right|President Harding's poor use of English became notorious during his presidency.]]
==Warren Harding==
[[Warren Harding]]'s poor grasp of the English language, coupled with his insistence on writing his own speeches, produced notorious linguistic errors. He once commented:
<blockquote>"I would like the government to do all it can to mitigate, then, in understanding, in mutuality of interest, in concern for the common good, our tasks will be solved."<ref name="Pile">Stephen Pile, ''[[The Book of Heroic Failures]]'' (Futura, 1980) p.180.</ref></blockquote>
Following Harding's death, [[poet]] [[E. E. Cummings]] said "The only man, woman or child who wrote a simple declarative sentence with seven grammatical errors is dead."<ref name="Pile"/>
==Harry S. Truman==
[[Harry S. Truman]] had unexpectedly become President owing to the sudden death of longterm President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Few expected him to secure election as the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 1948. In an effort to boost his ratings, during the [[Democratic National Convention]] the party released dozens of doves into the convention hall. The action backfired spectacularly when some of the doves died in the intense heat and others, made dizzy by the heat, desperately tried to escape and [[dive bomber|dive bomb]]ed the delegates.[http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/decision2004/DNC_04/conventionGaffes/gaffes.html (Christian Science Monitor)]
==Lyndon B. Johnson==
[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was well-known for his coarse language and occasionally unrefined behavior. While not a gaffe in office, an embarrassingly personal tape of LBJ ordering pants from Joe Haggar on August 9, 1964, was later released to the public. In it Johnson belches, complains about the pants riding up and cutting him "down where ya nuts hang" when he gains a little weight, like "riding a wire fence," and asks for more material "under my back of my [[bunghole]]" that he can let out if need be. {{listen|title=Listen to President Johnson|filename=LBJ ordering pants.ogg}}
==Gerald Ford==
[[Gerald Ford]], who succeeded Richard Nixon in 1974, made numerous gaffes and faux-pas, many of which, while making people see him as human and less [[Imperial presidency|imperial]] than his predecessor, made others vote against him for election in 1976.
Among his more famous examples are:
On October 6, 1976, during a televised Presidential debate in the [[United States presidential election, 1976|1976 Presidential election]] with rival [[Jimmy Carter]], President Ford became confused and stated that [[Poland]] and [[Eastern Europe]] were not under the domination of the [[Soviet Union]]. When challenged over his comments, he repeated "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration."<ref>{{cite news |title=Debate One-Liners, Gaffes of Yesteryear |date=[[30 September]] [[2004]] |publisher=ABC News |url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/Vote2004/story?id=96665}}</ref> In the words of Professor [[Alan Schroeder]], author of ''Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High Risk TV'': "That was a gaffe that took him some time to recover from—mostly because he did not back away from the statement".<ref name="Handwerk">{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Handwerk |title=U.S. Presidential Debate Trivia: Gaffes, Zingers, More |date=[[October 12]], [[2004]] |publisher=National Geographic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1008_041008_Presidential_debate.html}}</ref>
==Jimmy Carter==
[[Image:Jimmy Carter and Killer Rabbit.jpg|thumb|President Carter in his fight with a "killer rabbit".]]
{{main|Jimmy Carter rabbit incident}}
While campaigning for president in 1976, Jimmy Carter candidly noted during an interview with ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine, "I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do—and I have done it—and God forgives me for it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/history/faculty/TROYWEB/Courseweb/JimmyCarterThePlayboyInterview.htm|title=Jimmy Carter The Playboy Interview - Excerpt|date=2001|accessdate=2009-05-15}}</ref>
While on a visit to [[Poland]] in 1977, President Carter delivered a speech which was notoriously mistranslated. For example, one innocent comment by Carter was translated as indicating that the President of the United States had "left America never to return."<ref>{{cite book | last = Blundell | first = Nigel | title = The World's Greatest Mistakes | publisher = Bounty Books | location = New York | year = 1995 | isbn = 0600572323 |chapter=Washington's diplomatic disasters|pages=23–24t}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1880208_1880218_1880227,00.html?imw=Y|title=That's Not What I Said - Top 10 Embarrassing Diplomatic Moments (9 of 10)|publisher=Time Magazine|accessdate=2009-05-15}}</ref>
During an 20 April 1979 fishing trip to [[Plains, Georgia]], Carter encountered a [[swamp rabbit]] that attempted to board the President's fishing boat, which he shooed away with a paddle. The story found its way to the national press a few months later. It was covered for over a week, and Carter was widely portrayed as having acted in a "cowardly" fashion on his encounter with what the press nicknamed the "[[Jimmy Carter rabbit incident|Killer rabbit]]."<ref>{{cite news |pages=A16 |title=A Tale of Carter and the 'Killer Rabbit'; President Orders Photograph |date=[[30 August]] [[1979]] |publisher=New York Times }}</ref>
==Ronald Reagan==
On December 1, 1982, at a banquet in Brazil, President [[Ronald Reagan]] offered a toast to [[João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo|Brazilian President Figueiredo]] and "to the people of [[Bolivia]]."
In 1984, before his weekly radio address, President Reagan was asked to say something to do a soundcheck. He remained quiet for a few moments, then not realizing that the microphone was now on and recording he joked [[Five minutes speech|"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."]] Information about the recording (though the recording itself was not aired) was later released, causing an alert to be triggered in the USSR.
{{listen |
| filename = ReaganBeginsBombingRussia.ogg
| title = "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation<br/>that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes"
}}
In a slip of the tongue, where he meant to say "employment", President Reagan told Americans "We are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we're going to succeed" [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/06/1086460157435.html?from=moreStories (Press Association)]
At a gala dinner in [[Washington, D.C.]] President Reagan called [[Princess Diana]] "Princess David."
"Permit me to add our congratulations to [[Prince Charles]] on his birthday just five days away," he said, "and express also our great happiness that... er... Princess David - Princess Diane (sic) here on her first trip to the United States."<ref>{{cite web | title=21 September | publisher=BBC | work=On This Day | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/9/newsid_4396000/4396846.stm | accessdate=1 January | accessyear=2008
}}</ref>
==George H. W. Bush==
During a town hall debate with rivals [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Ross Perot]], while his opponents were answering, cameras caught a shot of Bush glancing at his watch and looking bored. The action was picked up by the media and reported as a ''gaffe'', in that it showed he wasn't interested in the debate and didn't want to have to spend his time taking part, even though the debate was for the electorate's benefit. ''[[National Geographic]]'' said that "[t]he gesture gave viewers the distinct impression that Bush would rather have been elsewhere".<ref name="Handwerk"/>
As [[Vice-President of the United States]], Bush caused widespread offense when, on being shown the [[gas chamber]]s at [[Auschwitz]], he commented "Boy, they were big on crematoriums, weren't they?"<ref>{{cite journal | author=[[Margaret B. Carlson]] | title=Same Substance, Different Style | journal=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=[[29 February]] [[1988]] | volume=131 | pages=38}}</ref>
==Bill Clinton==
[[Bill Clinton]]'s presidential career was, in the view of many, stymied by his address to the 1988 Democratic Convention. The up-to-that-point 'future candidate to watch', Governor Clinton delivered an infamous 30-minute speech that bored delegates and viewers alike. When he finally said the words "in conclusion" the audience broke out in applause. Clinton however saved his reputation by an appearance on [[The Tonight Show]] where he poked fun at himself for his longwindedness. Though the speech was widely seen as a major faux-pas that could have killed off any future Presidential bid, by 1992 he had overcome it and won the presidency.<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/decision2004/DNC_04/conventionGaffes/gaffes.html Christian Science Monitor]</ref>
On 20 May 1993, Clinton received a haircut aboard [[Air Force One]] by Beverly Hills hairstylist Christophe. It was reported that during the one-hour haircut the airplane's engines were running and two of the four runways at [[Los Angeles International Airport]] were shut down, forcing some scheduled air traffic to circle the airport waiting to land. The expensive haircut was said to have caused long delays, becoming a source of ridicule less than six months into Clinton's presidency. However, an analysis of [[Federal Aviation Authority]] records by Glenn Kessler of [[Newsday]] revealed that, contrary to reports, only one (unscheduled) air taxi reported an actual delay - of two minutes.<ref>[http://archives.cjr.org/year/93/5/d_l.asp CJR - Darts & Laurels, Sept/Oct 1993]</ref><ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/103115916.html?did=103115916&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&dids=103115916:103115916:&date=Jul+18,+1993&author=JONATHAN+SCHELL&desc=Haircut:+a+Tale+With+a+Life+of+Its+Own Haircut: a Tale With a Life of Its Own]</ref>
While under attack and under oath during taped grand jury testimony prior to his impeachment hearing, he declared that whether he had told the truth hinged on the definition of the word "is": "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is"<ref>{{cite web | title=21 September | publisher=BBC | work=On This Day | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/21/newsid_2525000/2525339.stm | accessdate=8 March | accessyear=2006
}}</ref>
Clinton made the statement "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, [[Monica Lewinsky|Ms. Lewinsky]]." Referring to Lewinsky as "that woman" was widely regarded as crass and a faux-pas. Tests performed by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] later showed Clinton's DNA on a semen-stained navy blue cocktail dress owned by Ms. Lewinsky. Clinton was [[impeachment|impeached]] for making the false statement under oath in what would come to be known as the [[Lewinsky scandal]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sex, lies and impeachment |date=[[December 22]], [[1998]] |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/12/98/review_of_98/themes/208715.stm}}</ref>
==George W. Bush==
{{main|Bushism}}
September 4, 2000 — Thinking he was speaking off the record and privately to [[running mate]] [[Dick Cheney]], then-presidential candidate [[George W. Bush]] said, "There's [[Adam Clymer]], major league asshole from the ''[[New York Times]]''" — at a campaign rally in [[Naperville, Illinois]], unaware the microphone in front of him was live.<ref name="bbc3">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/910614.stm|title=Bush: No apology for gaffe|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=September 5, 2000|author=BBC}}</ref> {{listen|filename=George W. Bush 14092000 major league asshole.ogg|title=Listen to George W. Bush}}
June 11, 2001 — Bush appeared on Spanish television and said "It is a great honor to travel to Spain and visit the King and also Prime Minister Anzar. But I have to practice the very pretty language, and unless I practice I am going to destroy this language". He had in fact mispronounced the name of the [[Prime Minister of Spain|Prime Minister]], [[José María Aznar]]. He called him ''ansar'', a Spanish word for "goose".<ref name="bbc4">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1383385.stm|title=Bush on tricky foreign mission|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=June 12, 2001|author=BBC}}</ref>
August 6, 2004 — Bush told a televised meeting that "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful — and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people — and neither do we."<ref name="bbc1">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3541706.stm|title=President gaffes in terror speech|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=August 6, 2004|author=BBC}}</ref>
November 20, 2005 — Bush attempted to exit a room in China, but it was locked and so he was unable to leave the room, much to the amusement of the world's press.<ref name="bbc2">{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4454738.stm|title=Door thwarts quick exit for Bush |accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=BBC News|year=November 20, 2005|author=BBC}}</ref>
June 2006 - At a G8 summit, Bush rubbed Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel's shoulders, causing a surprised Merkel to cringe.<ref name="G8">{{Cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2214892|title=Bush's 'Hands-On' Diplomacy With German Chancellor Raises Eyebrows |accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=ABC News|year=July 20, 2006|author=ABC}}</ref>
September 7, 2007 — While addressing business leaders at the APEC ([[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]]) summit of world leaders in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], Bush opened his address by thanking the host, Australian [[Prime Minister]] [[John Howard]] for hosting the "[[OPEC]] summit", referring of course to the [[acronym]] commonly used for the [[Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries]]. After laughs from the audience, President Bush corrected his ''faux pas'' by saying, "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year", and laughed. This correction provides a further gaffe, as [[Australia]] is not a member of OPEC.<ref name="apec">{{Cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSPAR75418520070907|title=Bush shows gift of gaffe at APEC summit|accessdate=January 20 2009|dateformat=mdy|publisher=Reuters|year=September 7, 2007|author=Reuters}}</ref>
{{wikiquotepar|George W. Bush}}
==Barack Obama==
January 20, 2009 - During his inaguration speech, Obama said "Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20text-obama.html</ref>. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted as both the 22nd and the 24th President. So in fact only 43 individuals, including Obama, have served as President of the United States and have taken the oath. <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States</ref>
January 27, 2009 — While attempting to enter the [[Oval Office]], [[Barack Obama]] mistook a window for the door several feet away.<ref name="Oval office door gaffe">{{cite news | last = Oneill | first = Lisa | title = Hey Bam, that's not the door! | publisher = New York Daily News | date = January 28, 2009 | url = http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/01/28/2009-01-28_hey_bam_thats_not_the_door.html }}</ref>
February 24, 2009 — During a speech before a joint session of Congress, Obama claimed the automobile was invented in the United States. German [[Karl Benz]] is generally credited with inventing the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine.<ref name="Obama auto gaffe">{{Cite web | url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/obamagaffeamericadidntinventautomobile | title = Obama Gaffe: America Didn't Invent Automobile | accessdate=February 25, 2009 | dateformat=mdy | publisher=CNN | year=January 14, 2002 | author=LiveScience.com}}</ref>
March 2009 — During an exchange of gifts with British Prime Minister [[Gordon Brown]], Obama returned a bust of [[Winston Churchill]] and gave Brown a collection of 25 American movies.<ref name="Obama gift gaffe1">{{Cite news | first = David | last = Saltonstall |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/03/06/2009-03-06_london_aghast_at_president_obama_over_gi.html | title =
London aghast at President Obama over gifts given to Prime Minister Brown | publisher= New York Daily News | year=March 7, 2009 }}</ref> The [[DVD-Video|DVDs]] had a North American [[DVD region code|region code]].<ref name="Obama gift gaffe1">{{Cite news | first = Tim | last = Walker |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/5011941/Gordon-Brown-is-frustrated-by-Psycho-in-No-10.html | title =
Gordon Brown is frustrated by 'Psycho' in No 10 | publisher= The Daily Telegraph | year=March 18, 2009 }}</ref> The British press saw the move as a snub of Brown.
<ref name="Obama gift gaffe2">{{Cite web | url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101561670 | title = Obama's Gifts To Brown Irk British Media | accessdate=March 14, 2009 | dateformat=mdy | publisher=NPR | date=March 6, 2009 }}</ref>
July 2009 Obama caught criticism when he said that the police acted stupidly when asked about the arrest of Harvard professor [[Henry Louis Gates Jr.]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*[http://www.ciaonet.org/book/sca02/ Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High-Risk TV], Alan Schroeder
*Mark Crispin Miller, ''The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder'' (W.W. Norton)
[[Category:Presidency of the United States|Faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents]]
[[Category:Lists relating to the United States presidency|Faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidents]]
