Any self-respecting southpaw knows that all the greatest Presidents of my lifetime have been left-handed. There have only been 2 right-handed Presidents since 1974... Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. To add fuel to the fire, John McCain is also left-handed, so us southpaws were guaranteed a man in the White House.There is some debate on the left-handedness of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan said in an interview that he was a natural lefty, who was forced to write with his other hand. I have no way of confirming this, as most photos show Reagan signing things with his right hand. If we do assume this is true, then here is the history of recent American Presidents and their handedness:
Gerald Ford (Lefty)1974-1977
Jimmy Carter (Righty)1977-1981
Ronald Reagan (Lefty-turned-Righty?)1981 -1989
George H.W. Bush (Lefty)1989-1993
Bill Clinton (Lefty)1993-2001
George W. Bush (Righty)2001-2009
Barack H. Obama (Lefty)2009-???
I hope these observations would put to rest the stigma of left-handedness as some kind of impairment in life. I am still disappointed to see parents scold left-handed children into right-handedness. Perhaps it is a trial by fire. Only the lefties with enough tenacity and determination remain lefties in adulthood... and only the greatest of them go on to become Presidents.
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3 comments:
FYI, Gerald Ford was notorious for being a klutz, embarrassing his country repeatedly by falling over for no particular reason. People often attributed this to his left-handedness.
That's rightist propaganda. Read here: Clumsy image aside, Ford was accomplished athlete
That stereotype was enhance by Chevy Chase impressions of him on SNL falling all the time.
Because people read from left to right, writing naturally happens the same way. But for lefties, writing from left to right tends to smudge the words they had previously written, so lefties are forced to oddly bend their wrists while they write. So, there will never be true equality unless people start reading right to left as well. Good luck with that.
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