Presidential History

I will try not to impose my political view on this blog. I tend to keep my political beliefs and my politics to myself or only discuss them with people I am really close to. So don't worry, this is not going to be some rant about Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Herbert Walker Bush, or Ronald Reagan. Oh wait a minute...yes it is! But it is not going to be a rant about their politics, how they ran the country or even who I voted for. This is going to be about how every single President since Reagan has inconvenienced or delayed me in some way. I will even throw a little Dick Cheney in there so the VP's are covered as well.

Lets's start with my history of knowing who the President was. I was born in 1970 when Nixon was President. I didn't know, or care anything about politics at that time. As I got older and went to school and began learning about presidents, I was very excited to learn that Gerald Ford, a.k.a. "Jerry" was our Commander-in-Chief. Why was a 6 year old so excited? Because up in Wisconsin her grandparents were neighbors with the Fords. No, not really the same ones, but I didn't know and since the Jerry in Wisconsin was never at home when I went up there for a visit, why then he must be in Washington D.C. running the country, right? First disappointment was when I met the Wisconsin Jerry Ford and discovered he looked nothing like our President. He was a very nice guy and ended up giving me a red, white and blue bowling ball one year (he worked for AMF). Patriotic? Yes. President? No.

The next President was Jimmy Carter. I remember him because he liked peanuts and my brother had a beer can collection which included cans of "Billy Beer." I actually wrote to Jimmy Carter when I was 8. I told him that people made fun of him for liking peanuts and for his accent, and I received a picture of the White House in the mail about 2 months later. I believe I had asked for a picture of his dog, but hey, I'll take what I can get. So only small disappointment there.

Ronald Reagan was President while I was in junior high and high school. Now, during the beginning of my Jr. High years, I lived in New Mexico and when you were in 9th grade you were still in jr. high instead of being a Freshman in high school. So, while all of my friends back in Chicago took 8th grade trips to Washington D.C., I took mine in 9th Grade. This had to be 1984. A group of us and some teachers went for an entire week where we did the touristy things like the National Zoo and the Smithsonian, the historic things like Mt. Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, and the monuments. We also worked in the morning, going to Capital Hill and meeting with our Congressman, Pete Domenici, sitting in the House Chamber, taking a fake vote in the Senate Chamber, watching a committee hearing, etc. Well, we had the chance to tour the White House. I was very excited to see where the President lived because from the outside, I didn't think the White House was all that special, and wanted to see how spectacular it was inside. Well, after going through security (which is much tougher now after 9/11) and getting our little visitor name tags we were informed that due to a State Dinner with the President of Spain, we would only be seeing 2 of the 8 rooms you usually get to see on the tour! Did they really just say we would only see 2 rooms? What was the point? I could have bought the souvenir book outside and spent the morning at the Smithsonian where they let me see EVERYTHING! Major disappointment.

I must now let one President off the hook. I was never disappointed or delayed by George Herbert Walker Bush. (Remember, I said I wouldn't get political).

Next we have William Jefferson Clinton. By the time Clinton was elected, I had graduated from college and had been out working for a living for a couple of years. I had seen Clinton on TV and never knew what the appeal of him was...especially to women. Well, in 1995 I started working for the American Bar Association. Their offices used to be right on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. It was close enough to walk to Michigan Avenue for lunch, or to Navy Pier for the same reason. My co-worker Jackie and I would have lunch together almost every day, usually walking somewhere nearby. One day, I believe it was in the summer, we walked out of the building preparing to go to our favorite little deli which was hidden in an alley of one of the luxury high rises on the Gold Coast. We tried to walk across the street when we were stopped by several Chicago policemen and some more plain clothes guys. "Why?" we asked. We were told that Clinton was coming to give a speech at Northwestern, (the medical school was right next to where we worked) and that they had to secure the streets before he got there. OK...Jackie and I thought, this won't be bad. He'll be right here and we'll go on to lunch. (This was when Meigs Field was still on the lakefront and the President would be landing there to get in his limo). ONE HOUR LATER, the black Suburbans and the limo showed up. President Clinton got out about 10 feet in front of me and started to shake hands of the people who were now lining up 4 and 5 deep to catch a glimpse of him. I could have shaken his hand. I chose not to. I was a little upset that he had stopped me from enjoying my lunch. (And yes, all roads were blocked so Jackie and I couldn't have turned around and had lunch elsewhere). But I did notice one thing. Bill Clinton is a lot more attractive in person than he ever looked or looks on TV. But he still cost me my lunch hour.

Next it's time for George W. Bush. He was President while I lived down in Florida and worked for a Harley-Davidson dealership. As those of you who ride will know, Harley has a group called Harley Owners Group or (HOG). This group is made up of local chapters each sponsored by a dealership. Since I was the marketing coordinator at the dealership, it was my responsibility to be what they call the "Dealer Liaison" to our local chapter. As part of my duties, I was allowed to attend the "Primary Officers Training" program that HOG had in different places throughout the year. Our group chose to go to Hershey, PA for the meeting. This would be great. I would be surrounded by bikers and chocolate! Sounded like a good weekend to me. Unfortunately, you cannot fly non-stop from Tampa to Hershey. You have to make a layover in Charlotte, NC. Well, on a good day I don't like to fly. I know it's the fastest and safest way to travel but after being in Chicago when that American Airlines plane slammed into the ground in 1979 and having a classmate as one of the passengers, I became a little "aviaphobic." So, when we landed in Charlotte it was normal until the captain absolutely SLAMMED on the brakes. I mean, he stopped that 727 on a dime! And then we sat there. He came on about 5 minutes later and told us that Air Force One was landing and therefore we couldn't go to the gate until the President was off the plane. Great. Not only was I stuck in the plane, in Charlotte, but now I was going to miss my connecting flight to Pennsylvania. (Of course, all air traffic was stopped so that wasn't going to happen.) So we finally got off the plane, had a quick bite to eat, got on our other...even smaller plane, and taxied out to take-off. The captain said we were 5th in line and would be taking off in about 10 minutes. Yes, you know where this one is going. Just as our turn came up, the captain came back on and informed us that Bush was done speaking, was getting back on Air Force One and that we would have to wait until Air Force One was at least 500 nautical miles away from our airspace until we could leave. Delayed and disappointed by another President. The only good thing about that is that I got a picture of Air Force One while it was sitting on the ground.

Finally, that brings us to our current President, Barack Obama. As everyone knows Barack is from Chicago. When I was working at the Museum of Science and Industry for a brief time, I drove past his house a couple of times and saw the concrete barricades, and the Chicago Police who are paid to sit in their cars in front of his house. No biggie, no traffic jam. Well, I recently started a job that is 30 miles from where I live in the city. I leave the house at 6:15 am, in order to be at work at 7:30 am and also so I can leave at 4:30 pm to try and avoid the traffic. Mondays and Tuesdays are usually pretty good. I can make it home by 5:40. Fridays are the worst with everyone going downtown for weekend celebrations and then I usually don't get home until after 6. The other day, however, I was listening to talk radio to find out what the travel times were, so I could inform my boyfriend when I would be home. I take a road called the Edens. Travel times when I leave are usually 40 minutes. When I listened to the radio this time, the cheery traffic girl announced that the "Inbound Edens" was 1 hour and 50 minutes! WHAT????? Then I found out that Barack Obama was in Lincoln Park giving a speech. Lincoln Park is 10 miles in the opposite direction of where I live and absolutely nowhere NEAR the Edens, but they had to shut it down because one of us crazy commuters might try to take out Obama in his very expensive, very heavily guarded motorcade. I believe I walked into the apartment that day at 7:30 pm. A good 3 hours AFTER I had left work. That day I spent 4 hours in the car and only 8 hours at work.

Now I understand the need for safety and protection and that the President is probably the VIP of all VIP's. But do they have to delay normal citizens, like myself in order to make a speech? I would think if they drove Obama from the airport to wherever he was going in the city in a Mustang, no one would even notice! Don't tell us he's coming...and for pete's sake, definitely don't shut down an expressway he's not even going to be traveling on because he's flying in a helicopter! And why couldn't we cross the street when Clinton was there? I mean, there were armed officers who could have walked us across the street and made sure we walked on our merry way in the opposite direction.

And one time in Florida, Dick Cheney was speaking in Fort Myers just as I was trying to drive back to St. Petersburg from Sanibel. They closed the entrance ramp to the highway at that point. I sat in traffic for 45 minutes waiting for them to reopen. I get delayed by everyone!

So that is my Presidential History or rather my History with the Presidents. Not as good as Forrest Gump's I'm afraid, and nothing really to write home about. But certainly something to blog about. Good Night and God Bless America!