Why Not?!

[Jester]

Ooooohhhhh.....okay.

Seems like a bit of a stretch, though. Pun fully intended.

[wolfie]

May not be accurate, since the place I read about it was a work of fiction set in the Vietnam war, but Spiro Agnew is the only veep whose name (when uttered as a comment) was a dismissive remark aimed at a particular group (in this case, feminists).

First I've ever heard if it. And while I have an excellent command of the English language, I have no idea how his name is dismissive remark to any group, let alone that particular group.

It's an anagram. The numbers give the letters' positions in the re-ordering.

Spiro Agnew
10000 00000
06923 51874

[Ironclad Alibi]

The text below is from a 1975 editorial cartoon by Mike Peters.

Man: Pardon me… I’ve just returned from Africa after 3 years in the Peace Corps and I’d like to work here in the Justice Department for Attorney General Mitchell…

Woman: Oh, I’m sorry but Mr. Mitchell resigned and was replace by Richard Kleindienst.

Man: Kleindienst!! Attorney General? No kidding… OK. Well can he give me an interview?

Woman: Oh no. You see Mr. Kleindienst quit and was replaced by Attorney General Elliot Richardson.

Man: Elliot Richardson! Swell! We went to the same college. Can you tell him I’m here?

Woman: Oh, I’m sorry no… You see Mr. Richardson was fired and was replaced by acting Attorney General Bork.

Man: Attorney General Bork?

Woman: Yes, but then he resigned and Bill Saxbe took over, but then he left for India and was replaced by Edward Levi…

Man: Levi? Bork?... Has this place gone mad?... Why doesn’t President Nixon do something?

Woman: But sir, President Nixon resigned also…

Man: GOOD GOD, YOU MEAN AGNEW’S PRESIDENT?

Woman: No, you see…

[Jester]

A man who became the legitimate President, despite never running for the office or collecting a single citizen's vote....

For clarification for people not familiar with US history, Ford did run for Congress, and did receive votes, as he was elected to Congress, multiple times. He did not, however, run for nor receive votes for federal office.

Yes, yes, Congress is federal office. But it is an office for which one only can receive votes from those in the seat's particular district, as opposed to President or Vice President, which can receive votes from the entire nation. So I guess I mean to say "national office" rather than "federal office."

It's 5:00 am. Sue me.

May not be accurate, since the place I read about it was a work of fiction set in the Vietnam war, but Spiro Agnew is the only veep whose name (when uttered as a comment) was a dismissive remark aimed at a particular group (in this case, feminists).

First I've ever heard if it. And while I have an excellent command of the English language, I have no idea how his name is dismissive remark to any group, let alone that particular group.

[wolfie]

having been appointed by Nixon to be his VP after Spiro Agnew resigned from a scandal.

May not be accurate, since the place I read about it was a work of fiction set in the Vietnam war, but Spiro Agnew is the only veep whose name (when uttered as a comment) was a dismissive remark aimed at a particular group (in this case, feminists).

[Argabarga]

I should have added the caveat that he was appointed to VP, and not elected on the original ticket.

It's funny, how conspiracy kooks utterly ignore him, despite the fact that he's really their worst nightmare about Da Guvment (tm) run amok.... A man who became the legitimate President, despite never running for the office or collecting a single citizen's vote.... yet nobody seems to even remember his tenure, much less think it odd outside of a worth-20-on-trivia-night way.

[Jester]

A short list of non-bad-ass Presidents would probably include:

Seriously, how would this list NOT include Benjamin Harrison. The grandson of William H., by all accounts he was completely ineffectual in everything he did. Some speculate that William H. actually died from utter embarrassment of his grandson.

Gerald Ford: Fun Trivia: The only President to hold the office who was neither elected by popular vote nor assumed the office from the VP position.

You've got it partly right. He was neither elected to the office of President nor Vice President by popular vote, but he did assume the office of President from the office of the VP, having been appointed by Nixon to be his VP after Spiro Agnew resigned from a scandal.

[otakuneko]

"I'm a Ford, not a Lincoln!"

[Argabarga]

I already knew who it was, I'm good at Presidential trivia.

A short list of non-bad-ass Presidents would probably include:

Martin Van Buren: Was criticized during his time as being a foppish "dandy" and for serving "unmanly" fare like fruit and celery to guests at the White House in lieu of hard liquor. Served one term before he got bounced out due to a weak economy, with his detractors calling him "Martin Van Ruin"

William Harrison: As mentioned, he was already elderly when elected, and croaked within the month. Even today, only one President was older than him when taking office. (Ronald Reagan). When your most remembered act as President, is dying of sickness, quickly, well, it don't get much unmanlier than that.

Franklin Pierce: "Handsome Frank" was said to have won election on his looks and charm and had little political skill or credentials. Was also apparently something of a lush, a confederate sympathizer, and after the assassination of Lincoln, an angry mob showed up on his lawn because he wasn't flying a flag in mourning.

James Buchanan: The only President from my home state. Sheesh, way to make us proud there, buddy. The Civil War was imminent at this point and he basically kept the seat warm until Lincoln took over so he could vacate and heap the blame on someone else. Historians were not fooled, he's consistently rated at the bottom. Guess we Keystone Staters should stay outta' politics and stick to what were good at, dodging potholes.

Chester Arthur: Like Pierce, another dapper/charmer President with little going for him. Was installed as Vice President under James Garfield due to notoriously corrupt New York City "machine" politics, and then gained the presidency when Garfield was assassinated by a whackjob who THOUGHT he was a member of said machine and that he was owed a government job. He shot Garfield for stalling to appoint him.......... A tragic case of tinfoil not being invented soon enough.

Gerald Ford: Fun Trivia: The only President to hold the office who was neither elected by popular vote nor assumed the office from the VP position. Basically, the only non-corrupt guy left standing after Nixon's impeachment/implosion who's most famous act as President was falling down the steps of Air Force One, thereby assuring Chevy Chase would have a comedy career. Basically kept the seat warm until the next election, where campaign buttons implored voters to "TRADE IN YOUR FORD"

[wolfie]

I'd also be very interested to see who the least badass presidents were, i.e., the five biggest pansies that were elected to the top office. At least as far as Cracked's staff believes were the biggest pansies. Pretty sure Benjamin Harrison would make the list. After that, not overly sure.

Cracked also had a list of presidents who were badasses in their youth. One name on that list might surprise a lot of people - he led a team that isolated and cleaned up a radiation leak, with a 90 second allowable time at the front (for each trip in). I'll let you guys read the list for yourselves, but the nature of his badassery pretty much trims the list down to post-WW2 presidents.

[Jester]

George Washington doesn't surprise me. He was a badass. JQA, however, is a bit surprising. I'd be interested to see why they gave him one of the top five slots.

I'd also be very interested to see who the least badass presidents were, i.e., the five biggest pansies that were elected to the top office. At least as far as Cracked's staff believes were the biggest pansies. Pretty sure Benjamin Harrison would make the list. After that, not overly sure.

[Jay 2K Winger]

More stuff I didn't know. Very cool. And more proof that TR was a righteous badass. I dare say he may have been the biggest badass to ever be President, the story of Andrew Jackson notwithstanding.

Cracked certainly agrees. In their list of the 5 Most Badass Presidents of All-Time that I linked earlier, Andrew Jackson is only number five. Behind JFK, John Quincy Adams, and in the second-place slot? George Washington.

Teddy got #1, of course. One of the displays of badassery they listed was, in response to letters from cavalrymen complaining about riding 25 miles per day for training, our Bull Moose rode 100 miles in a day, sunrise to sunset, at 51 years old. (That's like an eighty-year-old man doing the same thing today.)

In fact, when giving that speech when he'd been shot? His first words, before going into the speech were "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."

Bad. Ass.

[Jester]

Indeed. But, at the time of his shooting, he was not President, having finished his term.

He was running for Pres. again, as a 3rd party candidate (because he was thoroughly disappointed with how his successor, Taft, was running things) when he was shot en route to a campaign rally. He gave his speech, showed off the wound to the crowd, and only then sought medical treatment, wherin the doctors advised him to just leave it alone since the bullet didn't hit anything vital. He went on to finish second in the election, he didn't win the office, but he did successfully knock Taft out of the race.

More stuff I didn't know. Very cool. And more proof that TR was a righteous badass. I dare say he may have been the biggest badass to ever be President, the story of Andrew Jackson notwithstanding.

[Jay 2K Winger]

It gets better, an additional four SURVIVED legitimate and serious assassination attempts, with one surviving being actually shot (Reagan) and three having people get uncomfortably close to them with guns before being stopped (Jackson, Truman, Ford)

Jackson's notable for the fact that there was no secret service in his day, and when his assassin attacked him with a pistol, Jackson pulled out his cane and nearly beat the guy to death before his aides restrained him. They didn't call him "Old Hickory" for nothing.

Andrew Jackson was badass. This was a man who dueled people on the White House lawn, and at one point volunteered the first shot to the man he was dueling with. He was shot by Charles Dickinson, spat and declared "Not enough gun," and then it was boom, headshot.*

* Events embellished slightly. Dickinson bled out from a chest shot.

[otakuneko]

"I'm as fit as a Bull Moose!"