The Naming Of An Accidential Governor
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- July
- 18
Gov. David Paterson raised eyebrows yesterday when he knocked the media for labeling him the “accidental governor,” suggesting it had to do with him being the state’s first African-American governor.
But as the New York Sun and we pointed out, he’s far from the first elected leader who succeeded a resigning leader to be given that title.
Former Vice President Gerald Ford was named the “accidental president” when he succeeded President Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974.
The Sun’s editorial says that Robert Sherrill’s 1967 book about Lyndon Johnson is called “The Accidental President,” putting the lie to Mr. Paterson’s claim that “nobody called LBJ an accidental anything.”
There is a 2001 book about President Bush titled “The Accidental President: How 413 Lawyers, 9 Supreme Court Justices, and 5,963,110 Floridians (Give or Take a Few) Landed George W. Bush in the White House.”
There is a 2006 biography of the10th president titled “John Tyler, The Accidental President.”
And New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey and Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell were also called “accidental governor” after they took over amid scandals.
“Malcolm Wilson was an “accidental” governor,” one reader wrote this morning. “He waited 15 years to be an overnight success once Nelson (Rockefeller) resigned. I don’t think you’ll find records of Gov. Wilson complaining that citizens thought he was second-rate by having inherited the office.”
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 11:30 am by Joseph Spector.
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We can’t blame Black Americans (African-Americans, since 1989) for their suspicions of caucasian Americans (European-Americans, since I began putting that description on my census form, in 1989).
The historic distrust began just after our great Civil War (1861-1865).
Southern Democrats exacerbated the race wars by refusing to deny recently-freed slaves, after 1863, any civil rights—and, most particularly, following the surrender at Apamattox. I’m sorry: I have many friends from the south, but please—burn those Confederate flags, okay? What did the Confederacy stand for: free internet? Wrong, Mor-TON!
We wouldn’t be dealing with all this garbage today if it weren’t for the forefathers of us caucasian Americans having treated Black, African-Americans with contempt, even since the days of Port Chicago, in WW II.
Gov. Paterson is deluded, but he harbors an anger reminiscent of Alex Haley’s second book, which eventually became titled “Roots.” Haley pitched that book to his editor at Doubleday, Lisa Drew, in 1964, and the title was “Before This Anger.”
Correction:
“by refusing to ALLOW recently-freed slaves, after 1863, any civil rights”
Tim
Tim you are so right on with your analysis..we created
a monster when we accepted the notion that a human
being could be someone elses property..the problem
is that many peoples attitudes are that all of that
happened back then..they don’t understand the absolutely
devasting psychological, and socialogical effect that
slavery and the jim crow laws had on the black
family unit and our communities..ask daniel patrick M
Right on to you, my consultant friend.
The historical maltreatment of Black Americans has caused this rift, brought to the fore as our hero John McCain faces the first post-racial era Black American candidate in a presidential election.
I refuse to use the term “African-American” except with Senator Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, as was a UCLA classmate of mine.
Otherwise, we are either “Caucasian-European-Americans” (boring) or “African-Americans.” Or, possibly, the best Americans: Asian-Americans. The “model minority,” as they have been known since 1945. (To African-Americans—As a student of sub-Saharan African politics at UCLA, let me ask you: were you Kenyan, Tanzanian, or Ugandan? What?)
Ellis Cose wrote the best book about the subject: “Rage of the Privileged Class,” back in 1994.
This racialism has divided our United States since you, consultant, and I, some years after, were growing up.
Perhaps in our lifetime we will see some change.
I think we’ve all seen change. To vote for Obama because he is “African-American,” as our noble governor seems to slyly suggest is, to me, a distasteful request. This issue is perhaps two hundred years old in this country. In others, it is thousands of years old, survives still, and covers myriad nationalistic and ethnic rivalry and accusation. Everyone is blaming someone else from here to eternity. The answer, if there is one, is to try to get over it, try to live a live of good- will, establish simple justice as is available, and move on. Just my two cents.
there will of course be african americans who vote for
Obama because of his race…thats why he is getting 95%
of the black vote…It may also be because he is a democrat
democrats get 85% normally even without having an african
american on the ticket…what is undeniable however
is that white americans are attracted to barack as
are younger americans..the older baby boomers..not so
much…take a look at the state by state breakdown…
at this point obama is getting over 300 electoral
votes..and is winning Ohio and Pa…go to realpolitics.com
and you will see the phenomenon in action