Testaments

Back in 2008, I initiated a series of poems for the presidents I have known, starting with Truman (I was born under Roosevelt, but was too young to remember him). The collection, titled “Testaments,” follows. The poem for Joe Biden is the latest. May I live long enough to write a final one for Donald Trump.

Recent Presidents in Poetry

John Peeler

About a century ago, the poet Edgar Lee Masters published his Spoon River Anthology. It consisted of short poems that purported to be reflections by the inhabitants of the town cemetery in the fictional Midwestern town of Spoon River.

This collection pays homage to Spoon River Anthology by presenting reflections of each of the post-World War II presidents, who constitute the complete set of presidents I personally remember. I have tried to capture the unique voice of each president.

Harry S Truman

I was a loyal party man,

a proud Vice President.

When he was gone,

I knew one thing:

I was President.

I tried to be a good one.

I didn’t know about the bomb,

but had to drop it,

or take worse choices.

I wasn’t popular—

Who would be, who wasn’t FDR?

Dewey thought he had me

when he went to bed.

I had him for breakfast.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

I never seemed political,

as Marshall was, for FDR and Truman.

The Democrats wanted me, though,

since Marshall was dead

and Truman was dead

in the water.

But I was a Kansas Republican,

and it was time for a Republican,

and MacArthur was crazy.

I’d have fired him if Truman hadn’t.

Let him fade away.

Nixon was not my man.

I had to take him,

never gave him power.

I didn’t mind

when Kennedy won.

John F. Kennedy

Nixon was a fool to debate me.

I was no fool to take Lyndon:

Texas made me President.

I little knew, in scarce a thousand days,

Texas made him President.

Bay of Pigs: I wouldn’t bail them out.

They hated me and worked to take me out.

I never thought that much on civil rights,

but still, we had to stop the brutal wrongs.

And Vietnam? Walt said we had to act.

Dean, Bob, Mac, et tu, Arthur, all, all said

We could not let it pass.

with that advice,

I poured the bitter draught

that Lyndon had to drink,

I would have done as he,

regretted full as much.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Sweet irony!

Bobby and the liberal crowd?

I strong-armed through

the liberal laws they couldn’t pass.

They hated me; I showed them up.

A damned great President I’d have been

but for that god-damned war.

Richard M. Nixon

My “secret plan” to end the war

—and Gene McCarthy—

got me the job.

The war was not as planned,

the peace was but mirage.

China was my master stroke

(that bastard Henry took the prize).

I smeared McGovern: pinko wimp,

(nothing I hadn’t done before).

And then that stupid Watergate!

I had to say I was no crook,

but took the hit to save the plan.

Gerald Ford

Spiro’s disgrace was my new place.

I never dreamed that I would hold

that chair made void by Watergate.

Nixon left me the war:

get out and take the blame.

And then the final shame:

to be crushed by that publicly

pious Baptist peanut farmer.

Jimmy Carter

After Watergate,

the people wanted moral strength.

I was a Sunday School teacher,

a governor, a brilliant smile.

Morality is hard abroad

when tyrants are our closest friends,

rebels, neither Jefferson nor Paine.

Ortega and Khomeini:

I cleared the way for them,

got the hostage crisis.

I later got the Nobel Prize:

a great ex-President,

but too late wise.

Ronald Reagan

A lightweight actor was my role:

I voiced what many felt, and with a smile.

When Congress told me not to help

the Freedom Fighters any more,

I did it anyway.

They couldn’t make me stop.

A deal with Iran? I don’t recall.

Was it the one with hostages,

or the one with guns?

George H. W. Bush

Called Reagan on his voodoo economics,

didn’t matter;

people wanted to believe.

So swallowed it and served the voodoo master

eight patient years.

Willie Horton made me President.

Saddam got mixed signals on Kuwait.

Still had to push him back:

couldn’t let it pass.

Take him out? Occupy?

Would have been stupid.

Bill Clinton

They beat me once;

I’d not be too liberal again.

I learned to feel folk’s pain,

raise cash like a Republican,

and, like a populist raise Cain.

I couldn’t keep my pants on when I should have.

I tried to cover up when I shouldn’t have.

What politico’s without some sin?

Except my wife.

George W. Bush

They misunderestimated me.

I’m the decider, and I decide what’s best.

I’m going to try to see if I can remember as much to make it sound like I’m smart on the subject.

And my concern, David, is several.

You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.

I think we are welcomed, but it was not a peaceful welcome.

The illiteracy level of our children are appalling.

You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.

We shouldn’t fear a world that is more interacted.

Those who enter the country illegally violate the law.

We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.

One has a stronger hand when there’s more people playing your same cards.

You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you’re gone.

I’m the master of low expectations.

Barack Obama

I had the audacity to hope

that I, half-white black man

with golden tongue

could heal this nation.

I thought we could find the ground

where all could stand,

but found instead

the mendacity of nope.

I thought.

Donald Trump

I WON!! Nobody thought I could.

My fans ate it up.

I loved that! But

I never let them touch me.

I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!!

I could jerk people around with my tweets.

I loved that!

I could lie and make it real; they would believe.

I was screwed by that virus.

I didn’t want people to panic, but I knew how bad it was.

I DON’T TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AT ALL!!

I couldn’t believe I lost to that nebbish.

I knew

I lost, but

I could screw him by not conceding.

I WON!!

My fans believed me!

I had them seize the Capitol.

I was the final fraud.

Joe Biden

Here’s the deal!

I beat that lying racist bastard

fair and square.

He denied it, tried to hang on, but failed.

With tiny majorities in both houses,

we passed the most progressive legislation

since LBJ.

I said I’d be a bridge, but hedged:

I didn’t want to be a lame duck.

I ran again.

When I couldn’t run anymore,

It was too late for Kamala.

I had to welcome

that lying racist bastard

back to the White House.