Cabinet Magazine

A fun, quick little book. The reproductions of presidential doodles are neat, and the trivia-laden commentary is informative.

One thing, and, I guess I am over-sensitive to these things, the book skews a tad to the left - and just sillily so. For instance, the FDR part is as rosy as all get out, while Reagan's doodles, somehow, prove him to be the consummate Hollywood faker. Then there is the pointless comment on the George W. Bush "doodle," which was in fact the infamous "bathroom break" note at the UN (p. 211). (In fact, he did have UN permission....)

But here is where the real bias shows, compare the doodles on pages 125 and 149. They are doodle-drawn American flags, the first by Ike, the second by JFK. Eisenhower's is, on the edges, tattered and torn, while JFK's is scratched and "x"-ed out. The flags are similar, and could both be interpreted in the same way, but they aren't. Here's the comment for Republican Eisenhower's: "Did he harbor deep-seated worries that in an age of Cold War militarism the American Dream was in distress?" Oh my gosh! Then the comment for Democrat Kennedy's: "Some of Kennedy's doodles reveal his wit and whimsy. Here, after compulsively drawing rectangular boxes striped with horizontal lines, he playfully turns those rectangles into... a modified American flag." A crossed out American flag, mind you. But the authors basically say: well, all sweetness and light! The evil, dunce-headed right-winger secretly knows he's destroying America, while the second-smartest president of all time, beautiful Prince Charming left-winger is so smart and whimsical and playful. Really? I could say that JFK was all torn up inside for screwing it up at Vienna or selling out a boatload of Cuban patriots at the Bay of Pigs.

Such snide asides are directed primarily at Republicans, which is why conservatives are over-sensitive to lefty bias, because it exists.

Oh, and there is no such president as (p. 209): "George Bush, Sr."!… (meer)