August 11: Presidential Gaffe Day

On this date in 1984, President Ronald Reagan, known as the "great communicator," made one of the rare gaffes of his political career. While warming up for a radio address, Reagan said:

My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

At the time Reagan was running for re-election against Democratic nominee Walter Mondale, and the President's faux pas resulted in a temporary dip in his poll numbers. However, Reagan won the November election and went on to continue his get-tough policy towards Russia. Ironically one of Reagan defining moments came in later comments about Russia; in 1987 he visited the Berlin Wall where he famously said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (1).

Some might argue that the most glaring faux pas in presidential history was committed by President Warren Harding. Ignoring advisers who told him to wrap up against the cold, he proceeded to give the longest ever inaugural address and died from the resulting chill one month later of pneumonia.

Here at Word Daze, however, we will focus on the verbal faux pas of the presidents. Based on this criteria, Harding's gaffe doesn't quite qualify; his speech was long (10,000 words), but today no one quotes any of his slips of the tongue. Faux pas, by the way, is translated from the French as "false step."

Today's Challenge: Presidential Tongue Lashings

See if you can identify the president who uttered each the following gaffes:

1. 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.

2. Depends on what your definition of "is" is.

3. I love sports. Whenever I can, I always watch the Detroit Tigers on the radio.

4. When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results.

5. Comment made on September 7th: Today is Pearl Harbor Day - 47 years ago from this very day we were hit and hit hard at Pearl Harbor.'

6. Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning? (2)

Quote of the Day: Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the president's spouse. I wish him well. --Barbara Bush

Answers: 1. George W. Bush 2. Bill Clinton 3. Gerald Ford 4. Calvin Coolidge 5. George H. W. Bush 6. George W. Bush

1 - This Day In History - Presidential - August 11. The History Channelhttp://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?month=10272960&day=10272976&cat=presidential

2 - List of U.S. presidential faux-pas, gaffes, and unfortunate incidentshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._presidential_faux-pas,_gaffes,_and_unfortunate_incidents