Question: Under what president did you become politically aware?

OK, quit making "under the president" jokes!

But seriously, who was president when you first started paying attention to US politics?

Optional followup: Do you think his presidency affected your personal political outlook?

In my case, it was Reagan who served from the time I was 10 until I was 18. I started paying attention in about 1984. I remember I couldn't believe he was getting re-elected. I'm curious if early experiences in the Reagan years helped to shape my long-term views. Things like that fascinate me, so what the hey, please answer if you feel inclined.

Then, JFK.

I learned up close and personal what a disastrius foreign policy could bring and what a lying Admin could ruin(Viet Nam)

I went off to college in 1974, a few weeks after Nixon resigned. I was so burned out by all the assassignations, the War, and then Watergate that I welcomed the very insular atmosphere of a very small four year college. There were months that went by when I had very little knowledge of what was going on in the world.

I started to surface two years later when my college loans and grants dried up and I moved off campus to become a part time student. I stayed away from the voting booth though, still very disillusioned by the betrayal of the people who we trusted to lead our country.

Ronald Reagan changed all that. I could not sit by and allow that man and his followers (care takers) to be elected without casting a vote against him. I have voted in every election since then and am quite vocal about issues and candidates...

Aware: Reagan, because I was scared to death that he and Kruschev were going to nuke the world.
Active: Clinton, because he was the first prez I was old enough to vote for.

Got involved in the antiwar movement in college in the late '60s. Johnson did some great things for civil rights, but the war was incredibly polarizing. I also did some work for the Gene McCarthy campaign, and later for McGovern, because Nixon totally pissed me off. His presidency influenced my politics more than Johnson's did -- at the time I thought Nixon was the evillest president we could ever have. Boy, was I wrong...

The Great Society and Vietnam, a true study in ideological contrast catalyzed by that complex man.

You said it much better than I.

:toast:

LBJ and his War on Poverty.

Can anybody reading this even IMAGINE a president declaring a war on poverty today?

I was 9.
I remember the Johnson/Goldwater campaign especially the bomb commercial.

and know I'd never vote Repug (though in retrospect he looks pretty good despite his obvious penchant for corruption). Jaded, I then tried to ignore Reagan--for about five minutes. God, if I didn't at least vaguely remember JFK and hadn't spent some time reading up on the true leaders--especially FDR, I really would be jaded for life.

Nixon got me thinking about politics...
??
:(

Reagan got me angry!
:grr:

(but nothing like the Bush Family!!!)
:banghead:

Before that, it was important, it was interesting.

With Reagan, it went to a whole 'nother level.

And now, the current evil idiot almost makes Reagan look good. How low we've fallen!

I was a registered repuke at the time, although I voted for the person I felt would be the better president. During the Iran-Contra mess I really became so angry that I changed my party affliation to Democrat and have not been sorry.

Presidents lie. :grr:

Watched the Watergate hearings at age 9 and 10. Read All the President's Men at age 12.

Result: Lifelong distrust of Republicans.

My younger brother, in contrast, came of political age in the end of the Carter presidency, and watched Reagan bring "morning back to America." We don't talk politics at family gatherings in order to keep the peace.

I was apolitical in 1999. I didn't really question the big spending liberal strawman in 2000 at the time as I was sort of afraid of the notion of an overbearing government running all anyway. I didn't vote in 2000 as I was still rather apolitical, but Nader looked like a breath of fresh air. I woke up sometime after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Then I shifted left and eventually turned into a libertarian socialist, but I wouldn't say I'm a purist libsocialist though.

Jan/Feb of 2000 is when I 1st got interested. The intrest fully developed by Nov of that year.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a chilling introduction to reality. Was 12 for the assassination. Youngsters can't imagine the stunning impact; more than Challenger, even more than 9/11.

ever forget. I was 14 and I remember the TV coverage like it was yesterday. And the Cuban missile crisis -- holy crap; was that a scary time. Can you imagine what would have happened if Bush had been president instead of JFK? Bet we wouldn't be here to talk about it now.

That, Malcolm X, MLK, RFK, the riots, the marches, body counts, Kent State, Cuyahoga River fire,; how could anybody not have been aware in the 60's?

I know that after being president for 12 years, FDR's death just stunned the nation. Don't worry, sallyseven, to us you will always be younger than springtime.

beer garden where my grandfather took me daily! It was LBJ all the way... Later in my preteens watching the Watergate Hearings daily. I became quite the parliamentarian, watching that daily, by the way... Later, I became less aware, but then became an ardent Sandinista supporter during the ReaganZeit.

I was very young and happened to cut my leg on the same day his election was announced. In college I was at a JFK stump speech and have been hooked on politics ever since.

In 1948, I was 10 years old, and aware of the economic difference between Democrats and Republicans. Even at 10 years, I reveled in Mr Truman's 1948 victory. How sweet it was!

I was twelve, and remember how they smeared Carter with the swimming rabbit thing and the hostage crisis. I always liked Carter.

I was mostly out of politics during Bush I, remember feeling confused by Gulf War 1, and was totally unemployed upon graduating college into the Bush economy. Was completely over the moon when Clinton won. I went to Little ROck on election night in 1992. Wow!

But then I was happily (mostly) oblivious again until 2000. Since then, it's been a freaking obsession, and not a good one.

but i didn't REALLY start paying attention until the gop takeover of congress

I met him as a child during the primaries, him being the one and only Presidential candidate ever to visit my old hometown. My mom started talking about him when I questioned who he was, and that made a lot of things I remembered hearing Mom and Grandma talk about click in my head.

This was also about the same time I realized I lived half a mile away from Wes Watkins, a legend in Oklahoma politics, and actually knew who his kids were without realizing who their father was. Wes also taught me about being a turncoat, and his wife taught me about being a blitering idiot.

was just the epitome of what the leader of the U.S. should be, what his family should be. He was the real deal even with all his flaws.

Riding on a school bus in Jacksonville Beach, Florida and watching white kids spitting out the window at an old Black man while screaming "Nigger!" at him.

First time I realized that there might be something wrong with this country.

I remember having an interest in. Clinton was the first one I campaigned for and Bush made me take politics personally. I am really frightened for our Nation. It seems that too many people think that we are guaranteed the freedoms and lifestyle we enjoy. They refuse to pull their heads out of the sand and realize that we are so close to losing it ALL.

Civil Rights. Vietnam. My family discussed current affairs at dinner. It was a Union household.

It was clear nixon was bad. It was clear ford was a nobody.
It was clear carter was fucked with and lightweight.
It was clear reagan was a ponce and a cover.
It was clear bush1 was an egotistical elite.
It was clear clinton was a vichey fuckup.
It was clear the coup 2000.

But only after 9/11, when it got personal, 'cuz i could have been among the dead.

Since I was 19 and it was the first big election I got to vote in, then came to real political awareness in the following mess.

When the AIDS epidemic started and he called it God's Wrath I was overwhelmed that the President of the United States could be so blinded by his ideology that he condemned through inaction the lives of thousands of American lives.

I was in college at the time.

Woke me up to just how far some guys will go to defeat their "enemies."

The "God's Wrath" bit. I remember Iran/Contra (and always believeing Bush Sr. was the real brains), Ketchup as a vegetable, the constant threat of nuclear holocaust and the consolidation of wealth in the already wealthy (though admittedly it took two Bushes to really master that one). That and the overall senile puppet feel of most of his presidency. Remember when he blew a "win one for the Gipper" line? My God. Why do republicans hold that clown in such high regard?

slow learner here.
I didn't realise what Raygun did to pave the path to the Boosh.

check just one name out:
Negroponte.

.....Kennedy was President. I realized there was something very sinister about my government when Kennedy was killed and as a result of an "investigation" we got a very screwed up report from The Warren Commission.

Then came Nixon and Watergate and my hope for this country began to slide big time.

Then came Carter, during which Reagan was elected Governor of California. To me that was a defining moment because it made a louder statement of the mentality of average Americans than anything else could have for me. In fact I moved out of California just before Reagan was to take office.

So my political awareness came in stages but thanks to the neocons/fundies I'm almost convinced that our democratic representative government is nearly a thing of the past. If it can be saved - I'm not convinced it can be at this late date - but if it can be saved will be a miraculous statement for the ages.

It was either the very end of Bush Sr or the very beginning of Clinton. I'm not sure if it affected my outlook to be honest. I know that under Clinton, there were some problems, both with teh country and with him personally (ok, it's not starting a war over bullsh*t but womanising IS a personality flaw) but by and large, the country was going pretty well, the majority seemed pretty happy.

...you know the rest. :)

In about 11th grade a classmate called me a "radical complainer". I think in today's vernacular I'd call her a "freeptard". :)

:)

:)

I remember in grade school in 1976 having debates with my best friend over the presidential candidates. He was a ford man, i was a Carter man.

We were 9 years old. I don't remember what was said, but I bet it was mind-numbingly idiotic.

I remember doing a pro-reagan presentation in 8th grade in 1980. I think I was assigned him more or less randomly. I still have the "Keep America working, vote reagan" bumpersticker. It took a few years for me to fully appreciate the insanity behind that slogan.

I remember debating with my college roommate in 1988. He was a bush man, I was a Dukakis man. Slightly more advanced, and highly civil, debates than the ones from 1976.

I remember going to the same friend's house in 1992 and toasting in President Elect Bill Clinton. We were both Clinton men (and still are).

I was raised a Reagan Republican, but when I got to college all of my friends didn't understand why I was Republican. Nor could I admit to them why I was a Republican. But the moment that changed my life was when the Big Dawg was running for President.

For whatever reason to this day I don't know, but my small acting class at a big University (Rutgers)had a random trip to the campus art museum. Unknown to me, there was a gathering rally for Hillary outside, who was about to speak, and after the tour, we left the building. As we started to gather on the steps of the museum, out of no where, all of these dark tinted window cars pulled up and security officers with sunglasses jumped out and organized the handful of us into straight lines on opposite sides of the steps. And who gets and and proceeds to shake each and every one of our hands? Hillary Rodham Clinton. The second that she looked me in the eyes and shook my hand was the moment I became a Democrat. It was as if I finally got it.

Do I agree with the direction she is going currently? No. But she deserves the credit for changing my views way back when.

when they invited in ordinary citizens into the White House? The line of people seemed miles long & the Clintons greeted each person as though they were dignitaries. I had tears running down my face watching that.

I was so proud to cast my first presidential vote for Jimmy Carter.

That was it for me.

I was against the war as a very young person, and remember listening to Gene McCarthy speak in Salem during the Oregon primary campaign of '68. In '72 I was the only person in 6th grade at my school who supported McGovern against Nixon.

I had an older brother and sister at the University of Oregon, who took me down there on weekends sometimes and exposed me to activists and protesters of various stripes during the '68 through '73 or '74 period.

Iraq I was the catalyst. I was entirely non-political up until then, for 18 years.

91-92 was the first campaign I worked on. First for Jerry Brown, then Clinton. Hillary came to our campus right after Bill got the nomination and I had a sign that read, "Clinton in 92...Brown in 96!" Hillary gave me the evil-eye several times from the podium. :P

It was the first time I was able to vote and I voted for him.

My father was a die hard Republican and my mother was a swing voter. She liked Kennedy, my father didn't.

I was eight years old when Kennedy was elected, eleven when he was killed. My mother wept for days over Kennedy's death. So did I. My father was respectful and quiet.

My father's family disliked my mother because she was a big admirer of Roosevelt. In fact, they tried to talk my father out of marrying my mother on those grounds, that she had voted for Roosevelt.

My father told his mother and his aunts that he intended to vote for Truman, and he intended to marry my mother and didn't give a rat's ass what they thought about it.

He did vote for Truman, the only Democrat he ever voted for. He married my mother and left my great-aunts and my grandmother clucking for years.

My parents had mild political disagreements, but a warm and loving marriage. Sometimes she used to needle him, when they were driving back from voting. She'd tell him, "I canceled your vote," and he would argue that his vote was his vote and no one could cancel it.

They worked hard, long hours, but they never missed an election. Neither do I. Just as they did, I like to bring my children with me for voting. Just like my parents, I tell them about history, and world affairs, and democracy and the constitution when we go.

Later, when I grew up more, I had horrific arguments with my father over politics, but we always made up. I never really got to know him more beyond that crude surface of political differences until he and I took care of my mother together when my mother was dying. He gave his whole soul, his health, everything he had, to her care. He never complained. Ever since then, I have been in awe of him. I miss him, now that he, too is gone. I miss him very much but the awe remains as strong as when he last breathed beside me.

He never finished the eighth grade, but he had a command of history and of world affairs that was truly astonishing. I was a just smart mouth kid. He made me a man. He taught me how to support an argument and he taught me to believe what I say. Although we were political opposites, he taught me that politics matter, and it started at an early age.

And I agree with your dad on the vote cancellation. Nobody cancels my vote either!

Also, I'd never thought of taking my kids with me voting, even though I used to go in the old mechanical wall-of-switches booth with my mom. Damn it, they're all coming with me this november. Thanks for bringing that up.

Vote cancellation never came up in my family with my wife. We are Democrats both.

I became aware and involved in following politics during his two terms. But it was Clinton, who made me feel that I could be proud to be a citizen of the United States. I became a citizen of the US in 1998.

Simply because the man was a blithering idiot.

I voted was for Clinton. Bush one is the one who motivated me. The second time I voted Clinton I was motivated by Clinton.

Until his impeachment life was nice and normal. Things have gone severely downhill since his impeachment, when Republicans became partisan lunatics. Since Bush's election it naturally got worse. Stolent election. Terrorist attacks on American soil. An absurd invasion of a nation that didn't provoke us. Scandals and bribery of all sorts. A god damn city was wiped out by a hurricane. Etc..

but even more under Johnson.

night on the evening news.

hard to avoid awareness in those days, though some managed.

i remember watching another horrific news report about the war and being struck with the "they're lying!" enlightenment. it was a revalation and i haven't trusted the government since. i have come to believe that the coup had already occurred under lbj and that it was bipartisan (and still is).

Johnson

in grad school studying social policy I realized how much Ray-gun had done to dismantle the welfare system and it was a disgrace.

I din't get involved until after 9/11. As a kid and a teen during Carter, Reagan, and Bush Sr. I didn't care. I was just hoping no one nuked anybody. After high school I was in the military and college so I pretty much thought it was just another rich white guy telling me what to do. I know that seems overly simplistic, and there are so many other levels of government to learn about and work with, but it sums up my attitude at the time. After the Gore victory I blinked, but then I thought, probably like too many other people, "Oh, how bad could Bush fuck it up." Now I know.

I was still in the military during 9/11 , and stationed in Korea. I was leaving there to go to Ft. Hood, TX on the day the shit hit the fan. I watched the Towers fall and saw the crumbled smoking side of the Pentagon and thought "FUCK, I'm going to war." I kept watching the news, called my parents, whom I was planning on surprising by just showing up. Guess who got surprised. Then I started wondering what the Prez is gonna say. I never found out because I never got to watch the news report. I can't say he never showed up, but it didn't happen for a couple of days. The start of a nasty trend. So life continues, and I don't go to Afghanistan, lucky me, but shit brain starts talking Iraq. My opinion at the time runs along the line of "Ahh, we ain't going until this dipshit gets re-elected, and I'll be out of the Army by then." WRONG! Stoploss hits and troops start deploying. I was in 1st CAV at the time but 4th ID got the nod to go. Most Army guys can tell you that that's a bit of a slap in the face when 4th ID gets the call before 1st CAV. Don't get me wrong, my asshole unpuckered when I found out I got lucky a third time (The first was Persian Gulf I.) Three major conflicts during my ten years, and I never got deployed into combat. That's pretty lucky when you operate a tank. Anyway, I started really paying attention.

I got out of the Army, not out of fear, but laziness. I got sick of packing up, going places, and not being allowed to have fun anymore. I stayed in Texas, and I live about 40 miles south of W's Funland Ranch and Hideyhole. I've been keeping watch on most political happenings and I get more disgusted everyday. Sometimes I wonder if I have what it takes to run for office. Well, I could run, but winning is a different story. People say they want honest and honorable politicians, but they seldom vote for them. In both parties it happens over and over again. People vote for the guys they know have been fucking things up. Forget Diebold and all that shit, because this has been going on for much longer. People vote for politicians they KNOW are douchebags. I can't understand it. I mean, voters could at least take the chance that getting a new guy in will mean a better ass fucking, at least something new. That could be my campaign slogan:
Vote Padgham in '08! It's a new kind of ass fucking!
Vote Padgham in '08! At least he'll give you a reach around!
Maybe one day I'll man up and see if I can do it. Then again, maybe not. My dad always told me that no one likes a smartass.

And to think Bush Sr. promised us a kinder, gentler ass fucking.

And you are one lucky tank driver. Lucky to get out when you did, too.

svpadgham..and I'm glad you didn't get caught up in the massacre!

I turned 18 that year and was allowed to vote. The first person I ever voted for was Al Gore.

So I guess to answer your question, the President was Clinton.

He gave me a really bad feeling. His son is worse.

It was Kennedy that I learned the awful side of politics too. When ugly things happen to good people.

:)

and that Nixon was so ugly. Then he was killed. BIG impact. I was 10 I think. I didn't know what Vietnam was, but by the time I was 18 I had taken a firm stand on the war (against) and was pretty cynical about the state of politics in the US - what with the murders of JFK, RFK and MLK.................

:) because Gore and bush were campaigning and I thought I better get busy and make up for some lost involvement..it was about the future of Social Security at first..never knowing just how far it would go.

William Greider's articles. But I never contributed or volunteered for a campaign or really even talked much about politics until after 2000. Thanks, George.

To have gotten my attention at such a young age proves the charisma of that man & the charm of his family. I'll never forget how sad I was the rainy Friday that he was assassinated. As I watched the tv coverage during the next few days, I was hoping that he would "wake up" & everything would be alright.

I resented LBJ for taking his place.

The president who provoked me to start paying close attention to politics, though, was Nixon. I had always thought the president of the U.S. was supposed to be special, that he would be the most conscientious & respectful, above anyone else, of the law. Watergate was an awakening for me; I learned for the first time that it's possible for a president to be undeserving of respect. Little did I know then that that was an understatement...

---I am amazed to see---FIRST to recommend. C'mon, y'all, this is a neat post!
:kick:

oh yes, the answer in my case is: President Carter, I was 14.

Yes, I was a Bork-reading, libertarian-leaning RWer until about age 14. :puke:

I became absolutely fucking obsessed with the Lewinsky scandal. And underline the term obsessed and point some fingers at it.

I was only 8 when he was assassinated. I had been very aware of him, of course, as it seemed he and Jackie were on TV quite a bit. But when he was killed, and LBJ was sworn in, it gave me a real-life civics/government lesson in how things work, especially when something goes so horribly wrong. I remember asking my mom questions, not only about the assassination, but about the transition to LBJ.

And from there, I learned more about Kennedy's administration, his decisions, etc., and went on to become aware of the Vietnam War (not that we could avoid that -- it was on TV all the time on the news), but my awareness encompassed more than just what was on the news.

Essentially, I have been politically aware most of my life, and I just get more aware the older I get.

but listened to the MSM - so I had no real interest. 2000 was a wake-up call, 2001 even more so.

'92 was the first election I was old enough to vote in, but I was aware of Reagan and Bush I and really hated both. I really believed in Clinton, met him and campaigned for him. I even got my dad to vote that year, and he hadn't voted in many years.

Then in 2000 I was still living in TX where Bush was governor, and I knew what kind of job he had done as governor and that he would be bad news if he became President. So that year, I made many calls home and told my mom about how bad he was, which was enough to get her to vote for the first time ever. Yeah!! And my sister voted as well for the first time. By '04 I didn't have to convince them to vote again - they already hated him.

So there you go - not only was Clinton the first time I was old enough to vote, but that's also when I really got involved in politics and campaigns and convincing others to vote too.

I was concerned about Reagan being the US President...and just started to
discover that I was not politically conservative.

I was 10 when he ran against Nixon for the first time and I wore a campaign button to school every day. I also watched the debates with my parents on T.V. I loved that guy.

I was a political junkie.

I was in high school when JFK was assassinated, but not really politically aware. I admired him and was devastated by his loss, but that's not the same.

It was in college that I woke up to the direct affect politics has on all our lives. A friend of mine (wonder whatever became of him) who was majoring in Poli Sci at Long Beach State College used to come home on weekends and started telling us about Senator McCarthy's nascent campaign for the presidency and against the war. Our little group of friends ended up running the local campaign HQ.

I tell you it's been hard to be a Democrat, what with Nixon, Reagan, Bush the Elder, Newt Gingrich fouling up Clinton's presidency, and Bush the Lesser... I used to get outraged, but I never lost hope in the system until the reign of Bush the Lesser.

Local politics is much easier to sustain than national politics.

Hekate

We had a TV for the first time. I was very small, but I watched the convention. It helps that I listened to my Democratic parents, too. They had not wanted Ike to win, but they were not totally unhappy with his Presidency.

We had a book at home called The First Book of the Presidents. It was a current book, for the time. I read it and my brother read it.

We only had a few books in my house. So, I read the newspaper too, starting when I was about eight. My dad had a union newspaper as well. I remember being interested in the political cartoons especially. I would ask my dad questions about politics.

We moved when I was eleven. My father was disgusted that the area we moved to was so repuke. So, he and my mom became more active in politics. They worked to elect local Democratic candidates.

I grew up in the sixties and was active in the anti-war movement. It seemed like everyone was in those days. I was still in my twenties when I became a precinct committeeman. That was right after the Watergate years. McGovern had been my first vote.

I am always pleased to have new and young voters in my precinct. I make a point of getting to know them. I talk to them about local issues, and call them to make sure they get out to vote.

what a huge piece of shit that man was and he basically started the "Screwing of America"...

The impeachment farce is the bell I finally heard ringing.

paying attention to politics when I was 10. Wow. What a geek LOL

in the neighborhoods in my town.