In Praise of Presidential Profanity
From “[expletive deleted]” to “stupid son of a bitch”
Norman Mailer was a pioneer in public political obscenity. In 1969, the writer-provocateur ran for mayor of New York with the promise that he would turn the city into the 51st state. The slogan Mailer ran on was “No More Bullshit.” His candidacy was, of course, an unlikely one, perhaps even a stunt. He got only 5% of the vote in the race to become the Democratic party’s nominee. His profane slogan did little to enhance his credibility and was only alluded to euphemistically by respectable papers like the New York Times.
Historians record all sorts of salty language from politicians, like Abraham Lincoln (who went in for scatological humor) or Lyndon Johnson (who liked to boast that “I do know the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad”). But these profanities were not meant for mass consumption and tended to come to light only in the memoirs of hangers on, many years after the leaders were dead.
Mailer’s obscenity, on the other hand, was intentional and confrontational. It came at a time when many in the public still expected some decorum from elected officials. When the Watergate tapes were made public in 1974, newspapers had to frequently resort to the phrase “[expletive deleted]” to shield the public from the many four-letter words used by President Richard Nixon and his cronies. Remarkably, the news that the president had a sailor’s tongue in the Oval Office contributed to his loss of popular support. The Chicago Tribune, one of the most pro-Republican newspapers in America, turned on Nixon with the complaint, “He is devious. He is vacillating. He is profane.”
But the days of such prissy concern over foul language is long past. On Monday, Joe Biden had a hot mic moment when he responded with off color words to a question from Fox News reporter Peter Doocy who asked, “Do you think inflation is a political liability ahead of the midterms?” Biden, who has had frequent verbal sparring matches with Doocy probably thought the microphone was off and muttered, “No, it’s a great asset — more inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch.”
Biden was quick to apologize and Doocy himself dismissed the matter. It’s likely to blow over, which is a sign of significant historical change.
As obscenity has become more commonplace in culture (certainly much more pervasive now in movies, television and fiction), it has also become much more acceptable in politics. Again, Mailer is an emblematic figure. His first novel The Naked and the Dead (1948) had characters saying “fug” as a way to get around the fact that no publisher would allow the word “fuck.” This led to the apocryphal story of Mailer being accosted at a party by some grand dame (sometimes the Hollywood star Tallulah Bankhead, sometimes the wit Dorothy Parker) who demanded to know if he was the young man who didn’t know how to spell “fuck.” Mailer’s subsequent frequent recourse to rude words was surely a way to move beyond that initial embarrassing submission to the forces of prudery.
Today, the forces of vulgarity have won. And not just because of the relaxing of editorial standards. In politics, the rise of populism and the breakdown of elite consensus has created a space for politicians to use coarse words as way of signaling a complex variety of messages: authenticity, anger, and a willingness to fight.
There are numerous examples from both political parties. In 2015, Bernie Sanders implored supporters not to let anyone tell them that “politics is bullshit.” Kirsten Gillibrand, the senator from New York, told New York Magazine in 2017 that “if we’re not helping people, we should go the fuck home.” That same year, Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that “if you don’t have the trust of the community, then you ain’t got shit,” and later, at a rally, opined that “Republican leaders and President Trump don’t give a shit about the people they were trying to hurt” with their Obamacare alternative.
Donald Trump has been at the forefront of this shift on the Republican side. In 2011, he said his message to China would be, “Listen you motherfuckers, we’re going to tax you 25 percent!” In 2015, Trump said he would “bomb the shit” out of ISIS. Last year, he said U.S. businesses returning from Mexico can “go fuck themselves.”
The example of Trump is clarifying. Some object to him as a vulgarian unworthy of high office. But if you examine his comments, what is obscene is not the words but the attitudes the words convey: the bullying, the arrogance, and the threatened violence. The words he chooses are helping make these traits clear.
The rise of political profanity is salutary. It’s a move away from false civility and a pretend consensus towards a more open expression of goals. While Biden should perhaps refrain from insulting individual reporters, there’s no reason for him to refrain from being blunt towards those who earn rebuke. If 2024 shapes up to be a rematch between Biden and Trump, then the current president should not hesitate to call his rival a stupid son of a bitch.
(Edited by Emily M. Keeler)
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Jeet, do you plan to do a podcast about Ukraine situation soon? I generally am anti- war but I'm seeing so much intervention stuff that I'm starting to think I'm wrong. Would love to hear your perspective.