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Comment by baddox | Hacker News Reader

Is it just me, or is the stammering I remember from his presidency entirely gone now? He was perfectly eloquent before becoming President as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvknGT8W5jA&t=0m18s

edit: he did say "colonializer" in this video

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Being President is a damn tough job. I would stammer and say idiotic things all the time if I had to deal with that stress. Presidents always seem to age twice as fast as normal people.

That surprised me too. Bush (who I'm typically not a huge fan of) was articulate, funny, and honest. I quite liked the interview.

He's a lot more relaxed--he doesn't have to watch what he says anymore, since pundits aren't analyzing his every word.

Though I didn't like him as a president, Bush always seemed to me like a guy you'd want to hang out with and have a couple of beers.

I never got that analogy considering Bush said he doesn't drink alcohol.

In my head he does. Regardless, the point stands: he seems like a fun guy to hang out with and I think he showed it in this interview.

He is a recovering alcoholic so I'd think it's reasonable to see him as someone you could have a beer with.

A pollster once said you vote for the guy you would want to have a drink at a bar with. Was it Gallup? That's always something GWB had, he was likeable on a personal level.

One thing a lot of people don't realize is that when you're holding an office, everything you say has legal import and consequences. Even Obama stutters and backtracks midsentence these days -- that's because they're filtering on about 12 different levels. It's a lot easier if you didn't spend all day doing things that you're not allowed to speak frankly about.

What of the presidents who were excellent orators?

Not really a useful counterpoint. No one would argue that Obama's a poor speaker, just that more exposed dialogue these days can make even the most eloquent of speakers seem clumsy. Fortunately TR and Honest Abe didn't have to worry about Politico & co.

And they didn't have a live TV press briefing every morning. Or even a non-live press briefing every morning.

On the other hand, they did have to worry about pamphlets asserting various things about the moral standards and marital status of their mothers.

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