They insulted their opponents and allies, molested women and weaved three by three. Although they often did not know what to wear or how to keep company, they usually got away with rudeness and mistakes. See for yourself the anti-example of American presidents and chiefs of diplomacy.
Rarely were there foreign leaders who could respond to Americans as accurately as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir did. It was at a time when the US Secretary of State was Henry Kissinger, a German Jew of descent. When President Richard Nixon asked that both countries had Jews as foreign ministers, Golda replied:
But ours speaks English better .
One rabbi will say yes…
On another occasion, Kissinger himself felt the need to remind Gilda that his background had no bearing on his attitude towards Israel. As Łukasz Walewski writes in “Say hello to the queen. Blunders, bloopers, faux pas and other stories ":
So he said, "Ms. Meir, I think I should make one point - first, I'm American. Second, a diplomat. And a Jew only in the third place. " Golda Meir, on the other hand, was to show a brilliant retort:"It's all right, son, we read from right to left."
Henry Kissinger achieved numerous diplomatic successes, although it was definitely not easy for him (source:public domain).
… and the translator will translate differently
The wrong choice of translator has led to perhaps the worst of President Jimmy Carter's mishaps. It happened in 1977 at the Warsaw airport during a welcome speech. The President of the USA was extremely surprised that his serious words caused strange smirks.
He did not know that the translator, Steven Seymour, a Ukrainian by origin, told the audience that the Polish constitution is a joke that he abandoned the United States forever and that desires Poles , especially the wife of Edward Gierek . No wonder that for the rest of the visit, Carter's words were translated by a Polish specialist, Henryk Sokalski.
Ronald Silver Mouth
Ronald Reagan had some tactless jokes about the USSR to his credit. During one microphone test, he said: Compatriots, I am pleased to announce that I have signed a law banning the Soviet Union forever. The bombing starts in five minutes .
The equipment worked as it should, and probably only in the Kremlin no one laughed at the recording. The statement of the President of the USA that there is no word for freedom in the Russian language was certainly not the cause of joy there.
Ronald Reagan has also insulted his own allies. When in 1985 he toast the Princess of Wales Diana, he called her ... Princess David! And he once addressed the well-established chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl, with the words: I was thinking about you watching sumo wrestling on TV yesterday .
Talking hat and middle finger
When President George Bush Sr. hosted Queen Elizabeth II in 1992, one detail was overlooked. The lowly monarch was not prepared for a platform at the rostrum and the British sovereign only protruded from the microphones with her headdress . The case went down in history as the talking hat.
Queen Elizabeth and her husband and George Bush Sr. and his wife in the White House, one year before the "Talking Hat" (Photo:Susan Biddle, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, public domain).
The Queen kept a specific distance to the matter and began her speech in Congress the next day with the words: I hope you see me today …
In the same year, during a visit to Australia, Bush Sr. wanted to show the inhabitants of the antipodes a victory gesture - two fingers arranged in the shape of the letter V - but he turned the palm of his hand towards himself. In this way, he showed something completely different - such an arrangement means exactly the same as the extended middle finger ...
Junior - an expert on insulting women
President George W. Bush caused considerable turmoil at the G8 summit in 2006. After entering the room, he came up with a really schoolboy idea and began to massage the neck of Chancellor Angela Merkel by surprise .
Angela Merkel and George W. Bush in the White House two months before the memorable G8 summit. Was he already planning an attack on the chancellor's neck? (photo:Eric Draper, public domain).
The surprised German leader tried to shrug off his hands with a sharp shrug. This had the effect that the smug Bush went on without apologizing. This rude gesture has sparked a sharp debate about the limits of sexual harassment. The magazine "Bild" even described the situation as Bush's love attack on Merkel .
The president also revealed his lack of tact with women the following year, during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the United States. He inadvertently aged the ruler, saying that she had been in the States in ... 1776. As you can see, he forgot that women are not reminded of their age ... and certainly not two hundred years!
Kinky geese and other buszyisms
Bush Junior also had an unusual tendency to rearrange letters. The classic in his performance was to confuse the word preserve (save) with perverse (which is understandable in Polish) or Slovakia and Slovenia. Worse, the Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznara called "Ansar", or goose in Spanish!
There were many more mishaps of this type, known as Buszism. The 43rd president of the United States, for example, showed off his knowledge of international trade, saying: More and more of our imports come from abroad . His concept of geography was revealed in the words: Africa is a nation, and a statement about great border relations between Canada and… Mexico!
I have nothing to wear, so I'll get something from the hat
US Vice President during Bush Junior's time, Dick Cheney, definitely did not show off at the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp . During this winter celebration, virtually everyone wore elegant black coats.
The US vice president lacked the imagination to dress appropriately for the place and occasion (contemporary photograph of the entry to the camp, photo:Michel Zacharz AKA Grippenn, license CC BY-SA 2.5).
As Łukasz Walewski writes:
Cheney, however, decided to wear clothes (...) more useful for a mountain trip in Alaska. He is wearing tall brown boots and a long green down jacket with white fur around the hood plus a hat.
The Washington Post commented on the situation with the words the vice president looked like a little boy among well-dressed adults . There were also voices that only a fishing rod and a backpack were missing. It is regrettable that in such a way he distracted from the solemn ceremony and showed disrespect for those who died in the camp.
And during a visit to the UK in 2011, Michelle Obama wore a pale pink bolero, which was laughed at as worthy of a prom. In addition, her wide skirt did not work in the wind. The efforts of the Presidential Lady not to show underwear were vividly reminiscent of the famous scene in which Marylin Monroe stands over the ventilation shaft.
What's the tune, Barack?
During the same visit, Barack Obama also made a big blunder. He wanted to toast to Elizabeth II. However, he began with: Ladies and gentlemen, please stand up with me and raise your glasses in a toast to Her Majesty the Queen. As Łukasz Walewski writes:
these words would have seemed perfect at the end of the toast, so at this point the orchestra got the impression that the president had finished and started playing the UK national anthem. Obama continued, however, as if he hadn't picked up the first bars of the melody…
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth scolded him several times, and when he finished and wanted to tap her glass, she did not turn to him. She waited motionlessly with the guests for the end of the anthem. Only after the melody had finished did the Queen take her glass with pity. Well, Obama has shown that he has yet to learn to recognize God save the queen .
I'm just fasting here
Obama also failed to show off at Nelson Mandela's 2013 funeral. With a big smile on his face, he posed for a selfie with the prime ministers of Denmark and Great Britain. No wonder that such behavior at a sad and solemn ceremony was met with widespread condemnation.
Michelle and Barack Obama greet the Queen at Buckingham Palace 2 years before a gaff-filled visit (Official White House Photo, by Pete Souza, public domain).
The president also had a mishap during the visit to the White House of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In honor of the guest, an exquisite feast was organized, during which everyone ate halibut with saffron rice or crême brûlée with mango. All but… Prime Minister Modi, who was just in the middle of a strict religious fast.
When Obama tasted the delicacies with the rest of the crowd, the Indian politician only drank water and persuaded them not to curb their appetites. The Times of India headed an article about this faux pas : Narendra Modi hasn't eaten for four days and makes Americans vigorously perplexed .
Sources
Basic:
- Łukasz Walewski, Say hello to the queen. Blunders, bloopers, faux pas and other stories, Ed. SQN 2015.
Secondary:
- Jerzy M. Nowak, Diplomat. In salons and in the political kitchen, Bellona 2014
- Longin Pastusiak, US presidents in an anecdote. From Truman to Obama, Bellona 2015.
- Sally Bedell Smith, Elizabeth II. Portrait of a monarch, Ed. Dolnośląskie 2012.