Would Trump be least presidential president ever?
WASHINGTON — Lyndon Johnson once pulled up his shirt and jacket to show reporters the scars from his gall-bladder surgery.
Andrew Jackson’s parrot got booted from his funeral for squawking obscenities, or so the legend goes.
The definition of acting “presidential” — for denizens of the White House and even their pets — has, at times, been stretched. But as Donald Trump struggles with admonitions from advisers who want the pugnacious Republican frontrunner to ratchet back his freewheeling bombast, those who study the presidency say he’s got a long way to go.
“Whatever presidential is, it’s not Donald Trump,” said James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. “The president needs to have a certain presence and respect, and not when they don’t like things, say crazy things. You have to have discipline, and I don’t know that he does.” Hope of change
As Trump increasingly appears headed for the Republican presidential nomination, calls for him to tone down his campaign rhetoric — the cursing, the mocking and the insults — have spread. Trump himself acknowledges that his wife, Melania, and his daughter, Ivanka, “beg” him to be more presidential. And campaign advisers last week promised nervous Republican brass that they’d be seeing a change in tone.
But that’s mostly not happened with Trump, who notes with accuracy that his brash style has gotten him this far. His unpresidential demeanor this week: mocking Republican rival John Kasich’s table manners, accusing the Ohio Republican governor of eating like a “slob” and joking that other senators view rival Ted Cruz as a “pain in the ass.” Supporters differ
Presidential scholars say the occasional incident aside, most presidents have presented themselves to the public as, well, presidential.
“In general, most presidents have acted with dignity,” said George Edwards, a political science professor and Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University. “You don’t swear, you don’t insult women and minorities, and you act with a certain degree of balance and reflect on your remarks. That does not seem to be Mr. Trump’s forte.”
Trump has mocked the concept of being “presidential” and says it’s “much easier than being the way I am — it takes much less energy.”
That’s just fine with Trump fans, who don’t much want to see their man change.
Being presidential means “more bull---- comes out of a candidate’s mouth,” said Ben Johnson, a 72-yearold West Goshen, Pa., native. “I’m for Trump being Trump — the bombast, the ‘tell it like it is,’ ” Johnson said. “That’s what got him this far.”
Still, Johnson said he wouldn’t oppose Trump dialing back his behavior “a tad.” But, he added, “he shouldn’t stop calling Ted Cruz a liar.”