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Riding the Tiger > Category: Not Riding a Tiger

Riding The Tiger

“I discovered that being a President is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep on riding or be swallowed.” Harry S. Truman

Friday Feature: President Obama to Ride the Tiger for Four More Years

Michelle Obama, President Obama, Joe Biden, and Jill Biden celebrate Tuesday’s victory in Chicago. “Hana Hou” means “repeat,” “one more time,” or “encore” in Hawaiian. The Star-Advertiser is based out of Honolulu.

After a long campaign, President Barack Obama has emerged victorious for four more years of tiger-riding as the American president.

Click through for an array of newspaper front pages from the day after the election. All photos courtesy Newseum, all image rights reserved by original owners.

Friday Feature: Bronco Bama and Mitt Romany

We couldn't resist. This video has been making the rounds this week and we here at the Miller Center couldn't agree more. Don't worry, Abby. Lots of us are crying. It'll be over soon. 

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history (or, in this case, presidential [very, very,] present).

 

Friday Feature: President Taft Not Riding a Tiger

President Taft lobs a baseball on to the field from the sidelines.

It's the most important time of the year: playoff season! (Though I have heard rumors that there's also an election of some sort coming up.)

Here's a fun fact to keep your fellow fans fascinated: President Taft was the very first President to cast the first pitch on opening day. It's a tradition still followed to this day.

On April 15, 1910, Taft pitched the ball to Washington Senators' pitcher Walter Johnson from his seat along the sidelines. They went on to beat the Philadelphia Athletics in a 3-0 shutout.

 

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: Riding the Vice Tiger

Biden photos courtesy Talk Radio News Service, Ryan photos courtesy Talk Radio News Service and Gage Skidmore

Today's Friday Feature is a dedication to the Veep—who rides a tiger all his own.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: Pete the Squirrel, Riding the Tiger

Edwin Denby feeds Pete the squirrel.

Edwin Denby and Pete, c. 1921-1923

Pets edition!

This is Navy Secretary Denby with Pete, Warren Harding's pet squirrel, on the White House Lawn. American Presidents have had a wide range of "First Pets"--including Calvin Coolidge and his Raccoon, Rebecca. Coolidge also had a bobcat, two lion cubs, a wallaby, and a miniature hippopotamus.

Here's a collection of "Wonderful and Wacky First Pets" from Reader's Digest. Thanks to @BuzzFeedAndrew for circulating the photo of Pete the Squirrel this week and drawing our attention to an important and oft-overlooked facet of Presidential life through history.

 

 

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history.

 

Friday Feature: Dwight Eisenhower Not Riding a Tiger

Prime Minister Laurent waves from a golf cart, seated next to President Eisenhower. A small crowd looks on.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower rides a golf cart with Louis St. Laurent, Prime Minister of Canada, c. 1956. President Eisenhower hosted PM St. Laurent at the Greenbrier Resort, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: Ronald Reagan Not Riding a Tiger

A young Ronald Reagan in a plaid shirt makes a turn in a bicycle.

As weather cools all over the country, it's a great time for a bike ride with a young Ronald Reagan.

In the 1940s Reagan even appeared in a few advertisements for Schwinn bicycle company. He stipulated, though, that he would use his own bicycle in the ad—not the free bike offered by the company.

There's more cycling Reagan after the jump.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: President Obama Not Riding a Tiger

Surely, most days, our "Riding the Tiger" quotation rings true:

“I discovered that being a President is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep on riding or be swallowed.” Harry S. Truman

But maybe, just maybe, it's occasionally like riding a skateboard.

This animated gif image was cleverly edited to make it appear that President Obama skirted across the Nuclear Security Summit stage on a skateboard. The animation first appeared on Jay Leno's nighttime talk show. Here's a collection of other humorous gif images for your Friday entertainment.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight a whimsical item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: President Clinton Not Riding a Tiger

Bill Clinton sits atop a white horse in a wide green field.

Clinton on horseback, near Billings, MT, 1996

Former President Bill Clinton made quite a showing this week at the DNC. Here's a shot from a rare quiet moment during his presidency.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: Candidate Romney Not Riding a Tiger

Mitt and Ann Romney on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. July, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Is Romney ready for the tribulations of "riding the tiger" in the role of U.S. President? He seems to have a good grip on this wild ride.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history (or future!).

Friday Feature: Candidate Johnson Not Riding a Tiger

LBJ stands on top of an old car, making a speech to an attentive crowd.

Frank Muto / Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum

The details in this photo may be outdated but the setting is all too familiar in these days of non-stop presidential campaigning. Future Vice President (and future President) Lyndon B. Johnson is seen here campaigning atop a car in Pennsylvania, c. 1960.

The Kennedy/Johnson ticket would, of course, win the ticket in 1960. Johnson was VP for nearly three years until Kennedy's assassination in November 1963. In 1964, Johnson ran for re-election against GOP candidate Barry Goldwater. Goldwater's party was,

"… torn by the intense divisions between its old-guard, eastern, moderate base and the upstart, conservative insurgents from the South and West."

LBJ went on to win the election by the largest margin of popular votes in American history. Read more about the 1964 election from American President.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight an interesting item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: President Lincoln Not Riding a Tiger

Image copyright Jason Heuser. All rights reserved.

We continue our exploration of presidential fact and fiction today with this artist's rendering of President Lincoln riding a grizzly bear. He wields the Declaration of Independence and an M16.

Click here to see a full selection from artist Jason Heuser or purchase prints from Etsy.com.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight a whimsical item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: President Harding Not Riding a Tiger

President Harding riding his horse, Harbel, in Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., with a secret service man riding alongside. c. 19

President Harding riding his horse, Harbel, in Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., with a secret service man riding alongside. c. 1921

President Warren Harding was among the first presidents to record their speeches, and he did so by shouting into a large horn affixed with a recording device. The speeches were limited to five minutes because of the equipment.

Check out the Harding exhibit here, then view the Miller Center's full multimedia archive of presidential speeches.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight a whimsical item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Not Riding a Tiger

Jacqueline Kennedy sits atop a large camel.

Jacqueline Kennedy (right) and her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill of Poland (left) ride a camel in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. 1962

In March 1962, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy visited Pakistan and India. She is seen here riding a camel through the grounds of President Mohammad Ayub Kahn's residence with her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill of Poland.

While the First Lady was overseas, President Kennedy paid a visit to the University of California, Berkeley, and gave an address that noted, "As we press forward on every front to realize a flexible world order, the role of the university becomes ever more important, both as a reservoir of ideas and as a repository of the long view of the shore dimly seen." He does not mention camels in the speech, however, he does mention elephants, which the First Lady test drove just days before during her visit to India. Listen to the full speech.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has posted several albums of photos from Jackie O's trip, view the full set here

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight a whimsical item from presidential history.

Friday Feature: George Washington Not Riding a Tiger

George Washington rides a dinosaur and appears to have defeated (and be supported by) an army of fictional characters.

Copyright Joseph Griffith, 2006. All rights reserved.

This week's Friday Feature delves into the realm of the unexpected: behold, an artist's rendering of George Washington in battle. The work was created upon the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown.

Our congratulations to Joseph Griffith on a truly creative interpretation.

Stay tuned! Every Friday we'll highlight a whimsical item from presidential history.