Which President Was the First You Remember?

[DemBones DemBones]

Not the one who was president when you were born, but the first you remember knowing about (though they could be the same.) Who was the first whose name you remember from television or radio reports such as "At the White House today, President _______ said that he will be asking Congress to yada yada."

[Padraig18]

1. Bill Clinton.

He's the first LIVING President I remember. Being born in Ireland, however, I knew who JFK was before I started school. :)

[Sean Reynolds]

2. George H W Bush

I was 4 when he won election and remember bits about him.

[Bunny]

3. I remember a babysitter telling me that she would tell

President Kennedy on me if I picked my nose. I was five years old!

[coloradodem2005]

5. Reagan.

I remember being a really little kid seeing him on T.V. I have a brother who is 7 years older than me and at the time he would say Ronald Reagan is bad. George Bush is bad. Hence the seeds of my democratic tendancies.

[moz4prez]

6. LOL

that's adorable.

[goodhue]

4. I mistakenly voted for Carter

but now I'm remembering Chevy Chase falling down live on SNL, so its probably Ford. Its just that he is so darn unmemorable.

[JohnKleeb]

7. Poppy though I remember Clinton better

I remember watching the Gulf War with my grandma, and I guess I remember Poppy, I remember Clinton however way better.

[bermudat]

10. JFK

I was in 5th grade when he died. I still remember my teacher was crying when she told us and school was closed.

[YellowDawgDemocrat]

11. Nixon

How many of us thought those hearings would never end? Messed up the Beverly Hillbillys.

[djeseru]

8. But Spiro Agnew...

...is the political figure I remember learning about first - my mom had a t-shirt with a cartoon of him on it. Only 5 at the time so I didn't quite get the message. I did vote Carter in this poll tho, since I can't truly say Nixon or Ford.

[MrSlayer]

9. Ford, I remember the Carter/Ford election.

My parents were for Ford.

[Granite]

33. Same for me

Except my parents were both for Carter.

My mom's still a strong Democrat but my dad has become a Freeper-like repub in his old-age.

I've always voted Dempcrat, but registered Independent. I registered as a Dem for the first time prior to the 2000 election.

[madrchsod]

12. ike

my dad always going on about ike playing golf while nixon ran the government.

[goobergunch]

13. Bush I

One of my first memories is being happy that Clinton had beat Bush I.

[Kathleen04]

14. George H.W.

I was born in '86. But, my father told me that I used watch the debates on TV with him in '88. And, when I was 2, he took me to a book store..pointed at a book about JFK and said "Who's that?" and I said "I don't know, but it's not Michael Dukakis!" I guess I could recognize who was a politician even if I couldn't tell who they were. :)

[Snow]

15. *snort!* I remember Harry, but we didn't have a television at the time....

[DemBones DemBones]

18. Of course not! We had radio, and we all

sat quietly and listened to our programs, though you could laugh at Jack Benny.

Did you listen to Big John and Little Sparky?

[Snow]

28. Don't remember those....that may

actually be before my time - early 50's? Or maybe my folks just didn't listen, although I do remember Jack benny & Burns & Allen on the radio - maybe Amos 'n' Andy as well (sorry, I was young & ignorant).

[DemBones DemBones]

16. And please feel free to add comments about your early

memories if you'd like to. I meant to say that in the initial post and I can't edit it.

Edit: LOL, about 15 of you added comments before I got this posted!

I remember Harry Truman but the first presidential event I remember in particular is when Eisenhower was elected, defeating Truman for re-election. (Truman, of course, had served the rest of FDR's fourth term after FDR died and was then elected to a term on his own, just as LBJ would do after JFK's death.) By the time Eisenhower ran for re-election in 1956, we had television, and I remember watching the convention, seeing all the "I Like Ike" buttons and hats .

In 1960, I watched the Democratic convention intently, while the Kennedy supporters and the Johnson supporters fought it out for the nomination. Conventions were much different back then, when nominees could actually be selected at the convention, finally being chosen after numerous ballots. Growing up, I watched both GOP and Dem conventions.

Anyone else old enough to remember "floor fights" at conventions? State chairmen using their delegates as bargaining chips with candidates' reps, promising delegates' votes for concessions from the candidate. (This would be after an unsuccessful first ballot, with most delegates being free to vote however they liked once they'd voted for the candidate they were bound to for the first ballot.)

[stevedeshazer]

19. Adlai Stevenson

lost to Ike in 1952. Truman didn't run.

The last "floor fight" I remember was on the streets of Chicago in 1968. I sort of remember the 1964 convention,but I was young and it was all the way with LBJ.

[hedda_foil]

21. Truman for me too.

And yes, I remember floor fights well. I remember watching both the Dem and Repub conventions on tv in 1952 and then listening to them in my bedroom on the radio after I was put to bed. I was 7 at the time. Actually, I even remember a Parade Magazine cover story on the 3 potential Rep. candidates in '52 ... Taft, Eisenhower and ... could it possibly have been McCarthy??? (I must have been a pretty damn good reader going into second grade because I actually remember reading the whole article.)

[caledesi]

17. I was only about 10 or 11 and Ike was playing golf in Newport, Ri

my hometown. I can rememeber we ran down the street to the main stree because Ike was coming thru in a motorcade. It was thrilling. The man had the kindest smile I have ever seen. (These were the days before Repugs and Dems hated each other).

[arewethereyet]

20. Ike was highly thought of in my home

Dad was ex-Army, and a big supporter.

Couldn't miss that even at my age which was young.

[Liberal_Dog]

22. Nixon

I was only 3 when LBJ left office, so I don't really remember him.

[mot78]

23. GHWB*

n/t

[pasadenaboy]

24. I rember the Ford/Carter debate when I was 5.

[ellie]

25. I remember when LBJ died

I was in Catholic grade school, and it seems I remember we were all allowed to stay home to watch the funeral on t.v. I just looked up and he died in January, but I remember it being nice out and running around outside. I think I am compressing all of my memories into one.

[Rowdyboy]

26. 1960 Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge at the Rep convention

Have no idea why I remember it

[Faygo Kid]

27. Ike. But the first election, was Kennedy-Nixon

Hard to believe now, but Kennedy's Catholicism was just a huge issue then. I remember the debates around the kitchen table. Would a Catholic only obey the Pope?

[Lisa]

29. I learned how to read (Grade 2) on Watergate stories

I would try to sound out the headlines in Newsweek and Time. Twisted but true!

[mitchtv]

30. I remember something about Dewey winning

some kind of convention/nomination. Could that be August 1948? We were on vacation at Lake Champlain at the time. I can also remember the fall of Dien bien Phu that was much later, 1954 , I believe.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

31. I was born in 1979, so I'd have to say Reagan..

and I remember being home from school one day when the Iran-Contra hearings were on.

I really didn't start getting interested in politics until i was twelve (Gulf War).

[bikebloke]

32. Kennedy

I remember watching his inauguration on the telly. Though during my early years on the planet, Eisenhower was in the White House.

[NewJerseyDem]

34. Bush

I remember my mother was watching the debates between Clinton, Bush and Perot. I thought that it was funny that Perot was so short that his legs were kind of dangling there because they were just sitting on stools. I thought that he looked very funny.

But, other than that it was just Clinton that I really remembered a lot about.

[starroute]

35. I remember 1952 and "Whistle While You Work, Nixon is a Jerk"

And I'm sure I knew at the time that Truman was president, though I don't remember being aware of anything he actually did.

I do remember that our entire first grade class was taken to the home of one kid whose family had a tv set to watch Eisenhower's inauguration. I felt very offended by the whole business, asked if I could go to the bathroom, and then hung around in the hallway until it was over. So I've been in the "not my president" column when it comes to Republicans for over 50 years now!