“If the people wish to determine the best candidate [for President], put all the contenders on a golf course. The one who can take five or six bad holes in a row without blowing his stack is capable of handling the affairs of the nation.”
-Jimmy Demaret
There are not many things that all our presidents have had in common over the last century, but one thing they have all shared with few exceptions is a love of golf. In “Presidential Lies”, Campbell and Landau explore how golf has impacted the men who guided our nation through the 20th century. The book was published in 1996 so the last president whose golf game it describes is Clinton.
In 1877 President Grant saw the game being played from his carriage on a ride outside London. Campbell and Landau believe this was the first time that an American president encountered the game in person. It wasn’t until the inauguration of President Taft in 1909 that America had its first golfing president. It was a trait that would stick. All who have followed – with the exceptions of Hoover, Truman, and Carter – have been golfers to one extent or another, and most of them avid golfers some time in their life if not during their presidency.
In discussing Taft, Campbell and Landau credit him with “stimulating the nation’s first golf boom” and part of the way he did so was to occasionally play with his friend, the famous golfer Walter J. Travis. Travis said of Taft, “I know personally scores and scores of golfers who would almost be tempted to sell their immortal souls could they but put up such a game as he does. The President does play a good game – a very good one considering, if I may be allowed to say so, the handicap of avoirdupois.”
Those of us who follow the equipment debates currently taking place may appreciate Taft’s controversy in that area. He was known to use a center-shafted Schenectady putter, which the R&A had outlawed after Travis used it to win the 1904 British Amateur Championship. Travis pointed this out to Taft in a letter and Taft responded by saying, “I think the restriction imposed by St. Andrews is too narrow. I think putting with a Schenectady putter is sportsmanlike, and gives no undue advantage.” Campbell and Landau explain, “The issue created such a stir in the burgeoning world of U.S. golf that the New York Times was moved to take an editorial position on it. The paper noted that ‘President Taft, who is a fairly competent golfer,’ had come out ‘in favor of the mallet-like Schenectady putter in defiance of the edict of Scottish golfers.’ And backing the U.S. position, the Times concluded, ‘The skill is not in the club. The art of putting is harder to master than Greek or calculus. But once mastered, the old-fashioned gun metal club, the gooseneck and the Schenectady serve equally well.’”
Taft’s political benefactor – the man who chose him as the Secretary of War and supported his nomination for the Presidency – Theodore Roosevelt criticized Taft for the amount of golf that he played and argued that the publicity of his golf would doom Taft politically. Taft ignored him, continued his public pursuit of his passion for golf, and won the presidency in 1908.
Many in the press at that time started the tradition that we see today of criticizing presidents for playing too much golf. Taft was criticized for letting his counterparts in Congress do the work of governing while his “celebrated style and a large bag of golf sticks were conveyed each afternoon to the Chevy Chase Golf Links.” Campbell and Landau mention that Taft’s successor – Woodrow Wilson – who was also an avid golfer didn’t face the same type of criticism for his golfing habit that Taft did. They give some reasons why that may be, but it seems likely that it was nothing more than another tradition we see today – judging presidents for the amount of golf they play along partisan lines.
FDR was an avid golfer prior to entering the White House, but his illness didn’t allow him to play during his presidency. He is, however, credited with playing a key role in the construction of 250 municipal golf courses through the public works programs that his administration created in the wake of the Great Depression. Bob Considine wrote, “Roosevelt has done much to change the complexion of U.S. golf. The untold hundreds of thousands of dollars appropriated to enable American cities to build courses has resulted in the tapping of . . . a different type of Average Player. He is John Doe, successor to John Dough. . . . Roosevelt for the Vardon Trophy.”
Another president who is credited with helping along the golf boom in America is Eisenhower. He is probably the president most known for his love of golf. Augusta co-founder Clifford Roberts claimed that his friend Eisenhower “was the most enthusiastic golfer I ever knew.” And of Eisenhower and Palmer, Campbell and Landau explain, “They made an improbable pair, the soldier-statesman and the greenskeeper’s son, but together Eisenhower and Palmer were widely considered the catalysts of the golf boom of the 1950s and early 1960s – Palmer, with his charismatic, charge-from-behind style of play, seen on the young medium of television, and Eisenhower, with the high visibility he lent the game as an immensely popular President. Ike, according to Sam Snead, was ‘the greatest thing that ever happened to the game.’”
Campbell and Landau credit Eisenhower’s successor with being the most skilled golfer among the presidents. That, of course, is John F. Kennedy. However, they claim that Dan Quayle was the most skilled golfer to hold nationwide office as he was George H.W. Bush’s vice president. Campbell and Landau recall a story where JFK was invited to play at Cypress Point Club during the 1960 presidential election that he won. On the par-3 15th hole, he hit a 7 iron that hit the pin and stopped about 6 inches away from the hole. A bystander said, “Jack was standing there with a look of horror on his face.” You might assume this was because of the anguish of the near miss, but JFK was actually relieved that he didn’t get his ace because as he immediately said to a playing partner, “You’re standing yelling for that damn ball to go in the hole and I’m watching a promising political career coming to an end. If that ball had gone in the hole, in less than an hour the word would be out to the nation that another golfer was trying to get in the White House.” It just goes to show how silly politics and politicians can be sometimes.
While JKF may be credited with being the best golfer to hold the office, Gene Sarazen called Gerald Ford the best ball-striking president he’d seen. Campbell and Landau share the story that Ford, after completing his transition-of-power duties on inauguration day in 1977, “didn’t stick around any longer than he had to. Almost immediately, he departed by helicopter, then flew to Pebble Beach and teed off in the Bing Crosby pro-am tournament.” His devotion to the game paid off as he is of one of not many golfers that have been selected as an honorary lifetime member of the PGA of America.
There is no question which presidential family has the deepest roots in golf. The Bush family has a storied association with the game in America. George H.W. Bush’s grandfather – George Herbert Walker – was the president of the USGA in 1920 and established the Walker Cup. His father – Prescott Bush – was the president of the USGA in 1935. Campbell and Landau share a quote from Dan Jenkins about what it was like to play golf with the former president who had such a history with the game, “If it’s a fact that a man reveals his true character on a golf course, I can only attest that the President was easier to be around than any captain of industry I’ve ever been paired with in a pro-am . . . He was the friendliest and most relaxed person . . . on every fairway.”
“Presidential Lies” is an interesting book that tells the tale of America’s golfing presidents. What you’ve read in this review is just a small sample of the presidential golf stories told in the book. In reading the book it’s interesting to see how things have changed in the world of golf over the years but also to see how much has stayed the same. It’s sometimes hard to identify with national leaders who are always in the spotlight, but reading a book about how they viewed golf reveals how the game treats us all the same and serves the same functions in our lives. As we know, more golfing presidents have come after Clinton and this particular aspect of the golf story continues to unfold.