Flipping the Byrd
(Gravitas Envy)
During the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Normandy landing in 1994, President Clinton used the aircraft carrier George Washington to ferry himself, various high-ranking officials, 40 White House aides and 23 members of the Press Corps across the English Channel. On June 5th he made a few remarks aboard the ship and then, on the next day, he and is entourage went ashore for the ceremonies in France. Numerous photographs and videos were made that would subsequently be used in campaign ads.
It was later discovered that the Clinton party had taken a “few souvenirs” from the USS George Washington including dozens of towels and bathrobes. Following an investigation by the Navy, the White House was presented with a bill for $562 to cover the cost of the missing items. On June 16, 1994, the White House Office of Scheduling and Advance issued a memo to the staff asking that those who took the items please remit payment. No checks were forthcoming, so a member of the office paid the entire bill just to kill the issue. “Towel-hook” as it came to be known was just one more example of the Clinton administration’s contempt for the military and their willingness to use any occasion for a campaign photo-op.
US Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia was outraged. "I am loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan, and yet that is what I saw," Byrd said on the Senate floor. "I do not begrudge his salute to America's warriors aboard the [carrier], for they have performed bravely, but I do question the motives of a desk-bound president who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech.”
Hold it! Stop the Presses…
An apology is due to my dear readers as it seems I have erroneously attributed a proper response to the wrong event. Why don’t we try this again?
During the Lewinsky scandal President Clinton initiated military actions in several countries while Miss Lewinsky was testifying against the President. This raised quite a few eyebrows. It looked as if President Clinton was trying to distract the American public away from his personal problems.
Senator Byrd saw right through this obvious “wag the dog” scheme.
"I believe that our military forces deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and not used as stage props to embellish a [president's standing,] said Byrd.
Whoops! I did it again – it was the right response to the wrong event.
OK, let me try this one more time after I recheck my sources. And just to make sure we will quote from a story written by Newsday’s William Douglas on May 2.
“In a city where image is everything, several political consultants and operatives from both parties say the White House has created an indelible, and formidable, image by having Bush land aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln to deliver a speech signaling the end of the military phase of the war with Iraq.
In a snug-fitting olive-green flight suit and with a helmet tucked under his arm, Bush bounded out of a Navy S-3B Viking and strutted along the flight deck, posing for pictures and shaking hands with the crew.
The president's every move - from his takeoff from San Diego to the landing on the carrier's runway - was captured in the wall-to-wall coverage by the cable news networks.”
Not everyone was quite as thrilled. Senator Byrd expressed his outrage on the Senate floor. "I am loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan, and yet that is what I saw,” said Byrd. "I do not begrudge his salute to America's warriors aboard the carrier Lincoln, for they have performed bravely, but I do question the motives of a desk-bound president who assumes the garb of a warrior for the purposes of a speech," he said.
Some may wonder why the good Senator from West Virginia was so quick to besmirch the first honorable president we have seen in eight years while totally ignoring the indiscretions of a past administration. Could it be a case of gravitas envy? After all, we have all witnessed in the past the disaster of photo opportunities missed.
Who can forget the vivid “Dukakis happens moment” when a certain presidential candidate looked absolutely foolish as he “drove” a tank while wearing a combat helmet? Or the time when former President Clinton was seen peering through a pair of binoculars – only he forgot to remove the lens caps. He just kept pretending to look anyway so as not to destroy the image - “yeah, right.”
Perhaps, as some have suggested, there is a historical reason for Senator Byrd’s remarks. It is well known that in the past, he did belong to a very exclusive organization that had a tendency to exclude certain minorities from its membership drives. Senator Byrd might be upset because President Bush nominated “one of them” for a high ranking judicial position.
Whatever the reason, history will also show that presidential visits to military ships are nothing new.
In 1844, President Tyler visited the Steam sloop Princeton. In 1856, President Franklin Pierce was seen onboard the Steam frigate Wabash. President Theodore Roosevelt boarded the Battleship Illinois in 1902, the Submarine Plunger in 1905, the Battleship Louisiana in 1906, the Battleship Connecticut in 1907; 1909 and the Battleship Mississippi in 1907.
William Taft was onboard the Battleship Arkansas in 1912. Woodrow Wilson spent time on the Transport George Washington in 1919. Calvin Coolidge visited the Battleship Utah in 1928 and the Battleship Texas that same year. Herbert Hoover had multiple visits aboard the Battleship Maryland in 1928; 29, the Battleship Utah in 1928; 29 and also a visit aboard the Battleship Arizona in 1931.
F.D. Roosevelt appears to hold the record for presidential visits aboard military ships. In 1934; 35; 38 and 39 he spent time on the Cruiser Houston. He could be found aboard the Cruiser Indianapolis in 1933; 36, the Destroyer Phelps in 1937 and the Cruiser Philadelphia in 1938.
In 1939 and 1940, FDR visited the Cruiser Tuscaloosa. He was aboard the Cruiser Augusta in 1941 and even saw time on the British Battleship Prince of Whales later that year. He was seen onboard the Battleship Iowa in 1943 on his way to Yalta and even had a special bathtub installed onboard for the trip. He was on the deck of the Cruiser Memphis in 1943 and in the following year was aboard the Destroyer Cunnings, the Cruiser Baltimore and the Cruiser Quincy.
Harry Truman had visits aboard the Cruiser Augusta in 1945, the Battleship Missouri in 1945; 47, the Destroyer Lansdowne in 1945 and the Submarine U-2513 in 1946.
In 1957, Dwight Eisenhower was aboard the Carrier Saratoga and the Submarine Seawolf. He visited the Cruiser Des Moines in 1959 and the Cruiser Saint Paul in 1960.
President Kennedy liked boats too. In 1962, JFK visited the Destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Later in that same year he was onboard the Coast Guard training ship Eagle and the Submarine Chopper following that. He boarded the Submarine Thomas A. Edison, the missile test ship Observation Island, the Carrier Kitty Hawk and the Carrier Oriskany in 1963.
Lyndon Johnson went aboard Carrier Enterprise in 1967. Richard Nixon visited the Carrier Hornet 1969. Jimmy Carter was on two vessels, the Submarine Los Angeles in 1977 and the Carrier Dwight D Eisenhower in 1978.
1981 saw Ronald Reagan on the Carrier Constellation. He was also on the Battleships New Jersey in 1982 and Iowa in 1986.
George H. W. Bush visited the Carrier Forrestal in 1989 and the Guided Missile Cruiser Belknap in 1991.
Former President, Bill Clinton had his share of photo opportunities aboard the Carrier Carl Vinson in 1993; 95, the Carrier George Washington in 1994, the Carrier Independence in 1996 and the Carrier Harry S. Truman in 1998.
And that brings us to our current President, George W. Bush, who just recently thanked and welcomed home members of our military aboard the Carrier Abraham Lincoln after they completed a successful tour of duty in the Iraqi war.
I guess it could be argued, and perhaps reasonably, that President Bush could have just as well addressed the troops from the Oval Office. You could also argue that the surrender by the Japanese could have been signed in a Tokyo government office instead of on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. But sometimes history demands more.
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