Nicknames Boost Political Careers

By Major W. Cox

General Colin Luther Powell has attained a status usually reserved for the most acclaimed members in our society. He is recognized by his last name; Powell. Pondering the presidency on the Tonight show with Jay Leno, Powell let it be known that he had always wanted to be called "Skip." General Dwight David Eisenhower, our 34th president, became known by his last name; Eisenhower and his nickname, "Ike".

Nicknames are important to public figures, especially to an individual running for president of the United States. In this age of media sound-bites and attack journalism, a candidate for president would be wise to establish a nickname early, before the media assigns one.

Eisenhower, the last U.S. Army General to be elected president, was the first president to use television as a campaign medium. His campaign used his nickname and coined the successful "I like Ike" slogan. The 34th president of the United States rode this slogan to victory for two terms.

The 35th person to sit in the Oval Office never had a nickname. JKF was not in the office long enough for the media to assign him one either. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was known by his initials when Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated him in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1962. As a way of honoring the fallen president, the media continued the tradition. Thus when the vice president ascended to the 36th presidency he became known as President LBJ. Did Lyndon Baines Johnson, became LBJ because there was a JFK before him?

Some presidents or wannabe be presidents wait too long before taking on a nickname. President Richard Milhouse Nixon, our 37th president, fits this category. Nixon entered national politics as a Representative from California in 1947. He was elected to the Senate in 1951. By 1953, he was literally a heartbeat away from the presidency as Eisenhower’s Vice President. President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack during his first term in 1955. He recovered and Nixon remained his vice president during his second term.

Campaigning without a nickname, Nixon lost not only his bid for the presidency in 1960, he also lost the 1962 California Governor’s race. After nearly 20 years of running for public office without a nickname or the prestige of being recognized by initials, Nixon was elected 37th President of The United States. This man who had spent over two decades to in public office without a nickname had one assigned to him. The United States President, who in shame and disgrace resign his office in 1973, was known around the world as "Tricky Dick," not RMN, ending the tradition established for his predecessors JFK and LBJ.

No one is quite sure how the 38th president came to hold the office. He sort of stumbled into it. Gerald Rudolph Ford, known as Gerry, was a nickname of sorts. It was his step-father’s name. President Ford changed his birth-name from Leslie Lynch King, Jr. Neither, GRF or LYK would have caught on even if the JFK-LBJ tradition remained.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, who Miss. [Carter’s Mother] named James Earl Carter Jr. at birth, made his nickname known early in his political career. He wanted to be called "Jimmy" instead of "James Earl." In 1976, when Jimmy Carter went to the White House, James Earl" the good name of his father had already been laid aside. Was it that Jimmy Carter, didn’t want to risk being associated with James Earl Ray, the man who assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

Ronald Wilson Reagan, our 40th President, let be known early in his political career that he didn’t mind being called "Dutch," his rather auspicious nickname from college football days at {name of school]. Americans loved Dutch Reagan as president. He was our ‘man on a white horse.’ George Herbert Walker Bush, Reagan’s vice president, coat-tailed him into office as the 40th president.

George Bush, a genuine war hero, ran for reelection in 1992 without a nickname and lost to a Vietnam draft-dodger. William Jefferson Clinton did every thing politically correct. He campaigned on the ‘Bubba Bus’ with running mate, Al Gore, and became our 41st president. But he couldn’t get his preference for a nickname, Bubba, to fly. The media assigned a more colorful one. Like Tricky Dick, the world will remember an American president nicknamed "Slick Willie."

The last army general to occupy the White House was nicknamed "Ike." To many Americans "Skip" sounds as good with each passing day. If you haven’t tried it, say it: "Skip Powell" sounds pretty good.

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Originally Published: 5 October 1995, Montgomery Advertiser

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