lcdrdanr
US Veteran
On a different forum someone posed the question "I wonder what Harry Truman would have done" in reference to the piracy situation off Somalia. It got me to thinking, well, what would other presidents have done given what history tells us about them. So, I came up with my thoughts on how the last several Presidents might act in this scenario.
My take would be like this:
Franklin D. Roosevelt- Send Hillary to negotiate while having a British Special Air Service Ops group plan and execute an attack on the boat. If successful, take the credit. If not successful, point to the British and say "Well, they tried. We lent them help and leased them material, it just didn't work out"
Harry Truman - Give them a deadline to return the hostage unharmed, if it wasn't met, explode a charge under the vessel and see how long they can do the backstroke. Look at the "Buck ends here" sign on desk, regretfully send letter to widow of hostage.
Dwight Eisenhower - See if George Patton is around, if not then go play golf until the crisis is over. Delegate to others to solve problem.
J F Kennedy - Order the USS Bainbridge to ram the lifeboat, it worked for the Japs with PT 109. Then go back to bed with current starlet girlfriend.
L B Johnson - Order the USS Turner Joy (oops, wrong war) USS Bainbridge to fire on the lifeboat without endangering the hostage. Hold Commanding Officer of the USS Bainbridge accountable for not being able to carry out impossible orders. Blame military for poor execution of perfect plan.
Richard M. Nixon - Send White House aides to see if they can steal the hostage back during the cover of night. Tell the world everything is okay.
Gerald Ford - Offer the pirates a pardon if they will only behave themselves in the future
Jimmy Carter - Get together with the Ayatollah, Quadafi, and two unknown Muslim Clerics to have a roundtable meeting with 12 pirates, 9 Warlords, and a partridge in a pear tree. Issue a resolution about human rights and Somalias place in the World. Send 17 merchant ships full of food to the Somalia Coast. Threaten all Naval Personnel with Court Martials for allowing hostage to be taken in the first place while simultaneously rewarding all the inhabitants of Mogadishu with free food and money.
Ronald Reagan - You have until the count of three. One, two, okay guys, FIRE. He, He, He, that'll teach 'em !!
George H W Bush - You have until the count of three (watch my lips). One, two, three Okay, fooled yah !!!! Let's try it again. One, two, three, HA, HA once more. One, two, Thre.......... Oh, I'm not president anymore am I?
Bill Clinton - Uh, well, uh, okay guys, let's see if we can blow them out of the water..... Hmm, that makes me think of something, Uh, Monica, could you come here (ha, ha no pun intended), I'm thinking about blowing them out of the water, could you blow .......... Hey guys, here's the cigars, smoke em if you gottem! Hillary, what should I do now?
George W. Bush - Okay, fellas, I think you ought to just leave right now without the hostage. Not so fast, parrot beak, I didn't say you could take the boat with you! Don't wanna go, huh? Okay, troops, take 'em out. Gee, Dlck, what else could we have done?
Barak H. Obama - Call a meeting of all Third world delegations, promise them billions of bail out money to show up. Then when it gets a bit unruly, say: Please, Please, everybody, this is just not what we expect out of the New World Order. Please, would the delegate from Lower Tanzania please provide this group with the benefit of their experience in World Affairs? Oh, Please, Mr United Nations, could you please do something so I can point to it without having to take the blame if it goes wrong? Why can't those military people prevent this sort of thing from happening and ruining my perfect administration? Oh, oh, oh, my goodness, I think there are lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my, oh my, what to do??????? What does the latest poll think we should do, will this hurt my re-election chances? Oh, this is all that dreadful W's fault, isn't it?
Just some thoughts
Dan R
My take would be like this:
Franklin D. Roosevelt- Send Hillary to negotiate while having a British Special Air Service Ops group plan and execute an attack on the boat. If successful, take the credit. If not successful, point to the British and say "Well, they tried. We lent them help and leased them material, it just didn't work out"
Harry Truman - Give them a deadline to return the hostage unharmed, if it wasn't met, explode a charge under the vessel and see how long they can do the backstroke. Look at the "Buck ends here" sign on desk, regretfully send letter to widow of hostage.
Dwight Eisenhower - See if George Patton is around, if not then go play golf until the crisis is over. Delegate to others to solve problem.
J F Kennedy - Order the USS Bainbridge to ram the lifeboat, it worked for the Japs with PT 109. Then go back to bed with current starlet girlfriend.
L B Johnson - Order the USS Turner Joy (oops, wrong war) USS Bainbridge to fire on the lifeboat without endangering the hostage. Hold Commanding Officer of the USS Bainbridge accountable for not being able to carry out impossible orders. Blame military for poor execution of perfect plan.
Richard M. Nixon - Send White House aides to see if they can steal the hostage back during the cover of night. Tell the world everything is okay.
Gerald Ford - Offer the pirates a pardon if they will only behave themselves in the future
Jimmy Carter - Get together with the Ayatollah, Quadafi, and two unknown Muslim Clerics to have a roundtable meeting with 12 pirates, 9 Warlords, and a partridge in a pear tree. Issue a resolution about human rights and Somalias place in the World. Send 17 merchant ships full of food to the Somalia Coast. Threaten all Naval Personnel with Court Martials for allowing hostage to be taken in the first place while simultaneously rewarding all the inhabitants of Mogadishu with free food and money.
Ronald Reagan - You have until the count of three. One, two, okay guys, FIRE. He, He, He, that'll teach 'em !!
George H W Bush - You have until the count of three (watch my lips). One, two, three Okay, fooled yah !!!! Let's try it again. One, two, three, HA, HA once more. One, two, Thre.......... Oh, I'm not president anymore am I?
Bill Clinton - Uh, well, uh, okay guys, let's see if we can blow them out of the water..... Hmm, that makes me think of something, Uh, Monica, could you come here (ha, ha no pun intended), I'm thinking about blowing them out of the water, could you blow .......... Hey guys, here's the cigars, smoke em if you gottem! Hillary, what should I do now?
George W. Bush - Okay, fellas, I think you ought to just leave right now without the hostage. Not so fast, parrot beak, I didn't say you could take the boat with you! Don't wanna go, huh? Okay, troops, take 'em out. Gee, Dlck, what else could we have done?
Barak H. Obama - Call a meeting of all Third world delegations, promise them billions of bail out money to show up. Then when it gets a bit unruly, say: Please, Please, everybody, this is just not what we expect out of the New World Order. Please, would the delegate from Lower Tanzania please provide this group with the benefit of their experience in World Affairs? Oh, Please, Mr United Nations, could you please do something so I can point to it without having to take the blame if it goes wrong? Why can't those military people prevent this sort of thing from happening and ruining my perfect administration? Oh, oh, oh, my goodness, I think there are lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my, oh my, what to do??????? What does the latest poll think we should do, will this hurt my re-election chances? Oh, this is all that dreadful W's fault, isn't it?
Just some thoughts
Dan R
