Here are the most ridiculous family members of past presidents!
8 - Billy Carter Jimmy Carter didn’t have quite a greatly
viewed presidency.
High gas prices, the Iranian hostage crisis, and meddling by the Reagan campaign basically
guaranteed the 39th president to one term.
While the general consensus is that Carter’s four years in Washington were a borderline
disaster, he’s maintained a reputation as a kind gentlemen and dedicated public servant
whose devout religious convictions have inspired him to work tirelessly for the greater good.
His brother, Billy, however, was very different.
Billy often caused public spectacles.
Billy, who owned and operated a gas station in Plains, Georgia, ran for mayor in 1976,
but lost.
He would go on to appear in ads for Falls City Brewing’s “Billy Beer” claiming
“I think it’s the best beer I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve tasted a lot.”
Billy Carter famously cracked open a beer when Jimmy tried to introduce him to astronaut
turned politician, Senator John Glenn.
I’m just wondering, was the movie Black Sheep inspired by Billy Carter?!
Perhaps the worst thing he did during Jimmy’s presidency was work for the Libyan government
as a foreign agent.
Doing what exactly remains unclear, but this spawned a congressional inquiry that ultimately
found that his activities never influenced Jimmy’s policies as president.
While testifying before Congress, Billy displayed a bit more intellect than he was given credit
for.
He certainly understood and knew of his reputation by saying quote, “I refused to conform to
an image that a lot of people thought a President's brother should adopt”.
Even though his booze infused public outbursts caused PR problems for his brother, the two
maintained a close bond.
Jimmy Carter’s advisers urged him to distance himself from Billy, but the two remained close
their whole lives.
When asked later if Billy embarrassed him, Jimmy Carter said quietly, ''I love him.''
7 - Alice Roosevelt Teddy Roosevelt prided himself on being a
maverick of sorts….a political renegade who didn’t adhere to the convention.
That seems to be a trait that his oldest daughter, Alice adopted as well.
She was 17 when her father took office in 1901, and immediately proved to be a rule
breaker.
She was known for smoking cigarettes in public, placing bets with bookies, and staying out
late to party.
All these things don’t sound crazy for today, but let’s remember the time period as these
were things that were unthinkable for a woman of her time.
Like her father, she had an eccentric personality, as she liked to keep a pet snake, and even
once spontaneously jumping into a public pool fully clothed!
She also had a habit of bursting into the Oval Office while President Roosevelt was
working.
The president once commented that "I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice,
but I cannot possibly do both.”
After Roosevelt left office, she for some reason buried a voodoo doll of incoming First
Lady, Nellie Taft in the front yard.
Mrs. Taft banned her from the white house during her time there.
She was banned again during the Woodrow years when she campaigned against the U.S entry
into the League of Nations.
To be honest with you, this lady sounds like she’d be great to drink a beer with!
However, she remained a powerful figure in American politics and was known as a skilled
writer.
Her autobiography Crowded Hours was both a critical and commercial success.
Her quick wit was either her most endearing or most annoying quality, depending on who
you asked.
6 - Sam Houston Johnson If you’re at all familiar with Lyndon B.
Johnson, then it’s hard to imagine that a member of his own family could out crazy
him.
After all, this was a guy who once said that Gerald Ford was so dumb that he couldn’t
fart and chew gum at the same time.
Ahhhh how awesome would it have been if social media existed while LBJ was around!
Anyways, his younger brother, Sam Houston Johnson, was a pretty wild dude himself.
Sam initially worked with his older brother’s administration.
However, his penchant for drinking turned into a serious problem for the administration,
as Sam would get drunk, and then get a bit too chatty with the press.
By some accounts, LBJ had to place Sam under Secret Service surveillance to keep him from
talking too much.
After LBJ’s presidency, Sam wrote a book called My Brother Lyndon.
While the book did offer some praise for the former President, he was often critical of
LBJ, hinting that he was a giant bully and very difficult to deal with.
Sam kicked his drinking habit and became a devout christian.
He also defected to the GOP during the ‘76 election, endorsing Gerald Ford over Jimmy
carter...you know, the guy who couldn’t fart and chew gum at the same time?
5 - Ronald Reagan Jr
Former President Ronald Reagan has had a big impact on American politics.
For the success he had in the 80’s, it’s easy to understand why he’s become such
an icon for conservatives.
So you can imagine how weird it is that his son, Ron, has become such an outspoken liberal.
Unlike his father who was a devout Christian, or at least he catered to the Evangelical
right anyway, Ronald Reagan Jr, or Ron as he goes by, became an atheist at age 12.
That’s a stance he still holds today.
As a kid, he was expelled from school.
Ron claimed, the administration was just looking for a reason to throw him out of school because
he was a “bad influence” on the other students.
Ron later dropped out of Yale after only one semester to pursue a career as a ballet dancer.
He joined the Joffrey Ballet in pursuit of his lifelong dream.
His father once wrote in a diary that Ron’s performance was reminiscent of Fred Astaire's.
Despite their political differences, Ron and his father seemed to be on good terms.
In fact, Ron refrained from speaking out during his father’s presidency just to avoid the
perception that they didn’t get along.
Since his father’s passing in 2004, he has often spoken highly of his father.
4 - Patti Davis
Ronald Reagan also had a daughter named Patti with his second wife, Nancy.
Much like her brother, Ron, she was a drastically different person than her parents.
While she also had a proclivity for the performing arts like her actor parents, her politics
were much different.
Patti was more of a free spirited liberal, whose sympathies were more in line with hippies
than Republicans.
Even during her father’s Presidency, Patti was often outspoken against Reagan’s policies.
She even dropped last name to symbolize her disgust with his policies.
Her most controversial moment has to have been back in 1994, when she posed for Playboy.
This particular issue is considered to be one of the magazine's most controversial covers,
probably because you know, it’s the first President’s kid to do that ever.
3 - The Bush Twins You know, if President George W. Bush didn’t
get in as president, he for sure would have made this countdown.
We’ll instead have to settle for his twin daughters Jenna and Barbara.
As is tradition, the two kept a relatively low profile while in the White House and the
media more or less left them alone when they were younger.
But, like most young adults in college, they did their fair share of partying.
The twins would reportedly try anything and everything to lose their Secret Service security
detail behind, which I have to assume is a tough thing to pull off.
According to Ronald Kessler, a former secret service agent, Jenna would purposely try to
lose her protection by going through red lights or by jumping in her car without telling agents
where she was going.
In 2001, they were students at the University of Texas when they were both arrested twice
within five weeks for underage drinking, and Jenna ultimately pled no contest to a misdemeanor
charge for using a fake ID.
By no means were they the only college kids to get busted for drinking, but when your
father happens to be president, people obviously find it more interesting.
Of course these two have since grown out of their partying habits and have become pretty
productive members of society.
They even penned a heartfelt open letter to the Obama daughters offering advice and encouragement
before their father took office.
2 - Malia Obama
For the most part, the Obamas appeared to be a model first family during their White
House years.
However, Malia, the oldest daughter of former President Barack Obama, has had a few moments
that have raised a few eyebrows given her status.
While visiting the Parlor, an exclusive 21 and over New York City club, Malia Obama approached
conservative gossip pundit Lucian Wintrich.
She appeared to have been drinking.
She was only 18, so it would have been illegal for her to be drinking at the club, but hey,
I’m not going to hate on that.
Lucian Wintrich said that he was at Parlor in New York City with some friends and one
of his friends said Malia Obama just pointed at him and said, ‘I wanna punch that dude
in the face,'.
He apparently started laughing and turned around to find Malia Obama staring him down.
He then tried to snap a picture of her and she came up to him and started yelling.
He said that Malia said to him quote, “Do you want to have a conversation?
Let’s sit down and have a real conversation”.
Wintrich said quote “OK, let’s sit down and have a real conversation, why not?’.
But unfortunately, her security wouldn’t let her do that and told her to back off.
In August of 2016 she was seen at Lollapalooza dancing and smoking whatever it could be that
she’s smoking.
Hey, it’s lollapalooza after all...
1 - Joe Kennedy
Ahhh, the patriarch of the great Kennedy family.
You know all about JFK, RFK.
You probably know about Jackie O and maybe even Ted, the youngest brother.
But Joe Kennedy, well his story is far less flattering than that of his sons.
Joe Kennedy wanted to be President one day.
However, given his less than reputable image, he instead used his money and influence to
pave the way for his son, to be President.
Joe Sr. was born to a family of liquor merchants.
He would go on to become an investment banker, later making a ton of money from investing
in Hollywood studios.
He was also known for his bootlegging during Prohibition, having a huge stock of his family’s
liquor.
He made virtually no secret of his extramarital affairs.
Perhaps worst of all though, he allowed a lobotomy to be performed on his daughter Rosemary.
She had what many considered to be a learning disability.
It failed and she ended up worse off.
The botched procedure left her with the mental capacity of a two year old, and she spent
the rest of her life in an institution.
Here’s what’s next!