Maligned Vegetable

March 22, 1990, was a dark day for legions of broccoli lovers. That's when George H.W. Bush, a well known broccoli hater, defended his dislike of the green floret-topped vegetable. "I do not like broccoli and I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it," said Bush. "And I'm the President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli! Now look, this is the last statement I’m going to have on broccoli. There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that’s coming in." The caravan Bush referred to was 10 tons of broccoli shipped to the White House in protest by broccoli growers.

Worst VP Picks

I stumbled upon a fascinating online article by Elana Schor from Guardian.co.uk that appeared on August 23, 2008, which focused on the best and worst vice president picks of all time. It's difficult to argue with her picks. Here's her worst five:
1. Aaron Burr: Pictured right, Burr was chosen by Thomas Jefferson but dropped from the ticket in 1804. He killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
2. Spiro Agnew: Nixon's first vice president, tax evasion forced from office.
3. Dan Quayle: Chosen by George H.W. Bush to appease conservatives...but he couldn't spell well.
4. John Tyler: He ascended to the presidency when William Henry Harrison died. Often referred to as "His Accidency."
5. Hannibal Hamlin: Lincoln chose him as his first-term running mate, but saw him as a mistake and dropped him for another loser: Andrew Johnson.
Read Schor's excellent analysis, and her top five picks, here.

The Presidential Puke

In the category of "I wish I hadn't done that," we'll nominate George H. W. Bush for best performance of a president vomiting on a another country's head of state. On January 8, 1992, Bush was in Tokyo at a state dinner being held in his honor at the home of Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. A video of the incident shows Bush's chin dipping to his chest, as if he's falling asleep. But the next moment he loses consciousness and topples to his left, vomiting on Miyazawa's lap. While Secret Service agents rush to help him (one leaps over the head table) Barbara Bush speeds to her husband's side with a napkin. Commotion ensues. After a while, Bush adequately recovers to stand up, smile and pump his arm in victory.