The American Spectator

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(Page 4 of 11)

I'm one American conservative who's a little irked with the criticism aimed at our venerable First Lady, Laura Bush. This is precisely the prissy-lipped, hand-wringing tut-tutting that gives conservatives their party-pooper image. How are we ever going to capture the cultural fancy of greater America when we can't even laugh at a good, earthy joke? To hear the criticisms of Laura Bush, you'd think she was the first First Lady to tell a traveling salesman joke.

But of course she isn't.

The tradition of First Ladies regaling audiences with salty humor dates back to, well, the first First Lady Herself, Martha Washington. Consider this zinger she issued at the banquet celebrating her husband's second inaugural.

"There's a reason everyone is calling George the Father of his country. He can uphold your Constitution. And there's a reason we don't have any children. He can't hold up his own constitution!"

Edith Roosevelt wowed the crowd at the Bull Moose Party Convention with this insight on Teddy. "The only thing that surprised me when Teddy mounted San Juan Hill was that it took him almost fifteen minutes. In my experience, he's usually finished mounting in about two minutes."

Helen Taft, wife of President Taft and friend of Edith Roosevelt, shared this belly-buster with the press in 1909. "When James ordered a bathtub big enough for two, I thought, oh boy! We filled it with hot water and he squeezed in, and suddenly there wasn't room for anyone else, not even me. I went to my room and spent the next hour reading Anais Nin."

As you can see, the elegant, gracefully and publicly told bit of blue humor has a long tradition with First Ladies.

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