Most presidents have one memorable statement that — rightly or wrongly — seems to encapsulate their tenure.
FDR had “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” while Truman had “the buck stops here” and Eisenhower had “the military-industrial complex.”
Kennedy, on Day One, had “ask not what your country can do for you,” and Johnson had “I shall not seek, nor I will not accept, the nomination . . . ”
Nixon had “I am not a crook,” Ford had “our long national nightmare is over,” and Reagan had “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Bush I had “this will not stand” after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and Clinton had “the meaning of is, is” and “I did not have sex with that woman” and “the era of big government is over.”
Bush II had “the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon,” in the bullhorn speech at the rubble of the World Trade Center, and also “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”
As our pal David Gergen, a Harvard professor and CNN’s senior political analyst, put it: “The reason these phrases are important is that an essential job of presidential leadership is to give meaning to a central thrust of the presidency.”
Slogans such as “New Deal” and “New Frontier” gave meaning to what presidents wanted to do and what they wanted the country to do, Gergen said. One of the “great surprises” of the Obama presidency, Gergen added, is that “despite his reputation as a splendid orator, there doesn’t seem to be much that he said in his first three years in office that comes close to ‘ask not’ or ‘fear itself’ or ‘tear down this wall.’ ”
Loop Fans can help! It’s time for the first “What did Obama say? What should he say?” contest.
We need your suggestion — one per entrant, please — of some phrase or sentence that Obama uttered that might long be remembered either for its own elegance or as a symbol of his presidency.
You can also suggest — again, one per entrant — what Obama should say that would be emblematic of his tenure. The top 10 entries in each category (you can enter both), as determined by an independent panel of judges, will get the coveted Loop T-shirts and mentions in this column.
To enter, please go to wapo.st/loopcontest and enter under the “comments” section at the bottom.
But hurry! Entries must be submitted by midnight Nov. 14. In case of duplicates, first in will win. (You may want to double-check that there’s an active e-mail address associated with your washingtonpost.com log-in. If we’re unable to successfully contact the winner within three days, the prize will go to a runner-up.)
Good luck.
A pricey perk
Just like many American families, federal agencies are feeling a budget squeeze. But like many of us, they’ve chosen not to cut corners on the things that matter — like soy macchiatos.
The Interior Department recently debuted a fancy coffee-and-smoothie kiosk in its basement cafeteria area, where hard-working feds can pep up with an afternoon dose of caffeine. But this is no average joe: The state-of-the-art cafe dishes up killer cappuccinos and other specialties (mocha fraps!). The deluxe setup, we hear, set the agency back about $300,000.
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