OPINION —
As a sophomore at a New England college, I went to a history class in a new semester with two friends. We sat up front because I prefer it. Suddenly, we looked at the blackboard and it read: “Welcome to Psychology 101.” Very embarrassed, we ran out while the teacher and about 50 students were laughing at us.
Most of you have suffered through something like that, feeling foolish. Perhaps you were a little inebriated, or your car in a rainstorm splashed all over your boss. Politicians, too, experience awkward occurrences. This is part one of two columns on President Jimmy Carter’s trials and triumphs (It is based on a variety of sources, including Wikipedia.). First, a trial: Carter, at the mid-point of his presidency, faced a doozy — “The Killer Rabbit Incident.”
A skilled fisherman, Carter was alone in a flat-bottomed boat as he wanted that day. So, a few members of his staff and the Secret Service waited onshore at the Plains, Georgia, fishing hole. He said a rabbit being chased by dogs entered the water and swam toward his boat. Carter splashed water on the rabbit, and it left. Staff members doubted the story, saying rabbits are not known to be aggressive.
Luckily, the media did not learn of this April 20, 1979, incident until months later. But when political opponents of Carter heard they said the fishing incident was indicative of the man’s alleged weakness. Many conservative opponents considered him hapless; this event gave them more ammunition. It created one of the first “media frenzies”. (The only killer rabbit that has been identified is the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, from the first Monty Python movie.)
Another “feeding frenzy” was the hunting accident that Vice President Dick Cheney had while on a quail hunt in Riviera, Texas. Cheney accidentally shot attorney Harry Whittington, age 78. Whittington suffered a non-fatal heart attack and atrial fibrillation. It happened on Feb. 11, and many hours later on Feb. 12, it was reported in a small Texas newspaper. The press felt such an incident with a VP should have been much sooner. I agree.
“Texas Monthly” had a popular headline for its January 2007 cover: “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You In The Face.” Cheney, usually an unflappable man with gravitas, was shaken by this episode. Two weeks after, his approval rating, which was low before, fell five more points, to 18%.
Another interesting incident that was blown out of proportion was a controversy that arose in the summer of 2014 with President Barack Obama. He wore a tan suit to an important meeting on how to deal with the Islamic State (ISIS). Both traditional media and social media jumped on the story about the suit which was likely inappropriate for such a serious meeting.
In 1982, President Ronald Reagan wore a tan suit for a meeting with tennis player Arthur Ashe. And in 1988, Reagan was photographed on the South Lawn wearing a tan suit. But in Obama’s case, U.S. Rep. Peter King of New York, a Republican, said wearing a tan suit while discussing the economy and not terrorism was wrong.
“It is unpresidential,” King said. “I don’t think any of us can excuse what the president did yesterday. You have the world watching.”
In another highly publicized act, on Dec. 14, 2008, an Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at President George W. Bush. No one was seriously hurt. But it did put a pall on Bush’s final trip to Baghdad, Iraq, as president. Since shoes are considered unclean to Muslims, the suspect obviously meant his act as an insult to Bush.
The International Federation of Journalists said shoe thrower Muntadhar al-Zaidi should be released on a humanitarian basis: “We urge the Iraqi security services to guarantee the physical well-being of this journalist, who was clearly injured during his arrest. The journalist might be under threat while in detention given the record of mistreatment of journalists in custody by U.S. forces.”
“The New York Times” noted that the shoe assailant was a hero in the Arab world. The Turkish company that made the shoes headed for Bush had a big uptick in sales. About 300,000 pairs were ordered in just one week. Four days after the shoe incident, Iraqi and American security staff searched the shoes for explosives and then destroyed the shoes.
Jimmy Carter’s rough few weeks after the “Killer Rabbit” episode did not stop him from continuing to fish. In Part 2 of this column series, we will see how Carter’s dedication to destroying guinea worms has been a worldwide success. As of last year, there were just two countries that still had a problem with the worm. See you next week.
Greg Markley first moved to Lee County in 1996. He has masters degrees in education and history. He taught politics as an adjunct in Georgia and Alabama. An award-winning writer in the Army and civilian life, he has contributed to The Observer for 12 years. gm.markley@charter.net