President Obama is getting some flack for his not-very-funny appearance on a Cuban comedy show. (“Let’s just say humor doesn’t always translate,” writes Greg Evans at Deadline.) And it’s true: Obama barely gets a chuckle. (To be fair, his bit is reportedly the payoff to a running joke on the show where Luis Silva’s character Pánfilo tries to call Obama and fails.) But as unfunny presidential appearances on comedy shows go, this one barely rates. Presidents aren’t elected for their senses of humor, a fact they’ve been handily demonstrating for decades. It’s a tradition that seems likely to continue, however the election turns out. In fact, Obama probably has the best delivery of any television-era president, as his Between Two Ferns appearance shows. But who had the worst?
The least funny presidential bit of all time, of course, is George W. Bush’s “looking for weapons of mass destruction” routine, but that wasn’t on a comedy show. And with Bush disqualified, there’s really only one choice: Dwight D. Eisenhower for the sparkling opening monologue he delivered on The Colgate Comedy Hour on May 15, 1955. This guest spot comes up most often when Democrats point to the historical precedents for Obama’s comedy appearances. But it seems like very few people have actually seen Ike’s routine, given how often descriptions of the show make it sound like he was laughing it up with Abbott and Costello. So ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the comedy stylings of President Eisenhower, just one day after the creation of the Warsaw Pact:
My friends, here at home and across the seas: We in America have constantly pledged that we will never commit aggression, but we must always be prepared to defeat it. On May 21, the Armed Forces of the United States will hold open house to give our own and other peace-loving peoples the best possible opportunity to see how ready we are, in military terms, for any threat to our security or to the peace of the free world. As commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, I earnestly hope that all who can will accept this invitation to become better acquainted with the armed components of our national power for peace.
Yuk and cover, everybody! You can watch the entire episode, which includes Ike, the tap-dancing Clark Brothers, Gordon MacRae, Rhonda Fleming, and of course, the Singing Sergeants of the United States Air Force Band, right here:
