We tend to take presidential impersonations for granted. They seem to be everywhere, or at least they are prevalent when we have a leader who seems ideal for mockery. In his book "Playing POTUS - the Power of America's 'Acting Presidents' " Peter Funt shows us that the art of imitating and even ridiculing our nation's leaders is actually a fairly recent phenomenon. Prior to the administration of John F. Kennedy which began just over 60 years ago presidential mimicry was virtually unknown.
Under Kennedy the first mimic of any note was a guy named Vaughn Meader. He had Kennedy down pat, the mannerisms, the Bostonian accent. But those were simpler times. Meader's impression of Kennedy was a kind, loving celebration of an administration that was often idealized as some people referred to it as Camelot. I guess you had to be around then. Camelot was a hit movie of the period and also much admired.
After Kennedy's assassination the clouds rolled in and things got rather dark. Lyndon Baines Johnson was JFK's vice-president and he was deeply unpopular for various reasons. In the south a lot of people felt that LBJ, a Texan, had betrayed them when he signed the Civil Rights Act into law. And the Vietnam War that Kennedy got the US into was quickly becoming a quagmire as LBJ escalated the conflict and the anti-war movement exploded. These were all things that created a fertile landscape for mocking LBJ as comedians ramped up the criticism.
Dick Nixon came next and the tidal wave of presidential impersonators surged over the ramparts of decency and good taste. Nixon was even more unpopular that LBJ although he did get reelected in a landslide.
Peter Funt takes us through the imitations and the imitated. By the time we get to the unstable reign of Donald Trump all Hades had broken loose after a relatively calm period during Barack Obama's two terms. Funt points out that comics didn't feel very comfortable in mocking the first Black president.
This is fascinating stuff-informative, enjoyable, and also rather entertaining.
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