When Representative Joe Wilson shouted out the words: “You Lie” to the President of the United States during a joint session of Congress. He did three things. First, he violated Congressional rules, second he demonstrated a lack of common civility and finally, he lied. What the President had just said was, in fact, not a lie at all. Joe just didn’t like it. As time moves forward, Americans are becoming more and more disillusioned with their new President. The expectations may be too high here. I don’t ask for much, I just ask that I not be lied to. That’s pretty much it. I don’t expect my President to tell me the whole truth, just try to avoid directly and blatantly lying to me. So it got me to thinking... what are some of my favorite all-time Presidential lies of the last 30 years? "In England, if a criminal carried a gun, even though he didn't use it, he was tried for first-degree murder and hung if he was found guilty.” – Ronald Reagan, April 1982. He repeated this lie to The New York Times 4 years later on March 21, 1986.
What makes this lie so wonderful is the fact that he repeated it 4 years after the initial telling. Although, most people would be offended by being told an obviously transparent lie, somehow (maybe because it’s Reagan) the act of repeating it 4 years later and the bald-faced obstinacy he had about it makes the whole thing kind of endearing.
“We did not—repeat, did not—trade weapons or anything else for hostages, nor will we,” - Ronald Reagan, November 1986. Four months later, on March 4, 1987, Reagan admitted in a televised national address, “A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.”
This gem of a lie is notable for the liar’s wondrous ability to tell the lie, admit it was a lie, then deny the lie’s existence. This lie sets the stage for future Presidents who may now claim that the facts and data notwithstanding, the truth is how I choose perceive it. Simply brilliant. As Nietzsche, wrote: "'I have done that,' says my memory. 'I cannot have done that,' says my pride, and remains inexorable. Eventually, memory yields."
“Read my lips: no new taxes!” – George H.W. Bush 1988 Republican National Convention.
So this wasn’t really a lie per se. I mean, at the time it was told, he hadn’t actually approved or signed off on a tax increase. Although, he should have known he would—everyone else did. It’s sort of a retro-active lie. This lie is special because it pretty much sealed the deal for both his election and (four years later) his defeat. In that way this lie is self-correcting.
"Since I was a little boy, I've heard about the Iowa caucuses." – Bill Clinton, who was a graduate student at Oxford when the first Iowa caucus was held in 1972.
This is the kind of little white lie that makes me just want to say “awwww shucks.” I include it here because although it speaks to the man’s instinct to lie, it’s just about the most harmless, adorable little lie I’ve ever heard a sitting President utter.
"I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." – Bill Clinton.
In the grand scheme of things, and in retrospect, this lie seems fairly harmless to everyone but Hillary Clinton. But there’s some context to the lie that the quote doesn’t capture. I remember when he told this lie. He did so on TV—addressing the camera (me) directly. He looked me in the eye, and he pointed his finger at me in an accusing fashion when he lied to me. That kind of pissed me off. It’s one thing to tell a lie, it’s quite another to wag your finger at me when you do it.
Now we come to George W. Bush. I hesitate to comment on or list out all these lies because; for the most part they are still fresh wounds. So here are just two that require no explanation:
"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." --State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim that administration officials knew at the time to be false
“We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories.” May 29, 2003.
G.W. Bush wins the award for my all-time favorite presidential lie. It's an entirely new kind of compound lie, meaning that it requires two separate statements to make the lie the true classic that it is. Both statements are by themselves lies, but together they create a third, magnificent lie. In this respect, G.W. Bush has actually invented a new form of lying and it is for this innovation that I place the lie at the top of my list:
Lie 1: "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." --Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001
Lie 2: "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." --Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002
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