Trump and Obama’s Cheesecake Factory Fight Heralds the End of Former Presidents as Elder Statesmen

Presidents Clinton and Obama are trading barbs with President Trump as if all three men are on Tuesday’s ballot. The spectacle is sacrificing yet another source of American unity on the altar of partisanship, burying the tradition that former presidents retire from the arena and transition into being elder statesmen.At a rally on Saturday, Mr. Obama said that Mr. Trump has “the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” Mr. Trump fired back on Tuesday that the residence is “a symbol of America,” and said that he found it in disrepair when he succeeded Mr. Obama in 2017.Mr. Clinton deadpanned on Mr. Trump’s feng shui at an event the same day as Mr. Obama. “I think Congress made a mistake,” he said, “not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom,” referring to the flamboyant entertainer.Members of the so-called Presidents Club seem unable to resist cracking wise these days, sacrificing gravitas for laughs despite warning of existential threats. “Everything is changing,” as the humorist, Will Rogers wrote in 1932. “People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.”Mr. Obama, speaking to the New Yorker in May, seemed to recognize the danger of the path he’s now walking. He told Democrats demanding that he attack Mr. Trump more that he would not “function like Jon Stewart,” the “Daily Show” comedian, or he’d be “a commentator” and “not a political leader.”When President Arthur hired a designer, Louis Tiffany, in 1882 to renovate what was then called the Executive Mansion, Presidents Grant, Hayes, and Cleveland were alive. But they left critiquing throw pillows and Tiffany lamps in that midterm election year to voters who — facing a recession — mocked the extravagance of “Prince Arthur.”The norm was for presidents to cede the spotlight along with their office, and follow President George H. W. Bush’s post-White House plan to “stay the hell out of Dodge.” Instead, Mr. Obama just moved to a new Washington D.C. address. Mr. Clinton stayed active as his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, twice ran for the presidency.Mr. Trump traded barbs with President Biden after losing to him in 2020, hoping to wrest the office back. President Theodore Roosevelt did the same running against his chosen replacement, President Taft, as did President Cleveland when seeking a rematch against President Benjamin Harrison.President Hoover criticized the New Deal policies of the man who defeated him, President Franklin Roosevelt. It was President Eisenhower, who hadn’t belonged to either party before running as a Republican, that chose the role of oracle after completing his eight years — the first chief executive term limited by the 22nd Amendment.Eisenhower’s choice meant that the World War II Supreme Allied Commander was available to his successors as a resource. President Kennedy called upon him during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Ike headed to Washington upon his young successor’s assassination to help console the nation, and President Lyndon Johnson consulted him during the Vietnam War.President John Quincy Adams may have confided to his diary that “there is nothing more pathetic in life than a former president,” but in moments of crisis, they’re a great resource. During the Civil War, the five living were sought for guidance. After 9/11, President George W. Bush assembled the same number to stand by his side.It’s not that Americans expected former presidents to take oaths of silence or be “the Great Stone Face,” as the silent film star, Buster Keaton, was known. The nation just hewed to the example of President Washington who returned to his farm upon leaving office, giving President John Adams room to do the job without a predecessor seeking to regain past glory.With mudslinging becoming routine in the Presidents Club, it’s harder for its members to serve the role of unifiers, and the ties that bind the nation are weaker for that loss. Americans could aspire for a return to better days, when those who swear “to protect and defend the Constitution” focus on big things, and leave jokes about paint swatches to the comedians.

Trump and Obama’s Cheesecake Factory Fight Heralds the End of Former Presidents as Elder Statesmen

Trump and Obama’s Cheesecake Factory Fight Heralds the End of Former Presidents as Elder Statesmen

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