Obama's Swearing Nothing New for Presidents

WASHINGTON (June 8) -- President Barack Obama joined a long line of chief executives who have used profanity and tough words when he told Matt Lauer this morning on the "Today" show that he was talking to experts on the BP oil spill "so I know whose ass to kick."

It was not so much the language but the venue that stood out.

"That was a unique moment in presidential history -- to go on a morning show and use that kind of language," historian Douglas Brinkley, who has written about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the beginnings of the conservation movement, told AOL News.

Still, Obama's words were relatively mild compared with Vice President Joseph Biden gleefully dropping the F-word at the signing of health care reform, or his predecessor, Dick Cheney, who unrepentantly told a Democratic lawmaker to "go f--- yourself" on the Senate floor.

"Kicking ass" has become "part of American parlance," Brinkley said. "It's not like using the F-word where mothers cringe. Football coaches and military people use it all day long."

This wasn't the first time Obama has let loose -- just ask Kanye West. However, it was a departure from Obama's reputation for coolness and control. And that may raise questions about his sincerity, said Bill Harlow, a former CIA spokesman who now works as a media coach.

"The strong language works if it's clearly heartfelt and unscripted," he said. "The problem with this is it seems to come after days and days of people complaining that he wasn't passionate about whatever he's dealing with down there. ... Spike Lee says he should 'go off' about the oil spill, and then, almost on cue, he does so. That sort of undercuts the purpose of your remarks."

Brinkley, who is following the BP disaster closely for his next book, rejected any hint of political calculation on Obama's part. As he has learned more about BP 's safety record before the oil rig blowout and been "upping his game" against the energy giant in recent days, the president has been "like a volcano that's been about to blow publicly," Brinkley said. "His anger is not ginned up. It's very real."

If that's true, then Obama's televised words are unusual in the annals of presidential profanity. Most chief executives who use salty words reserve them for private moments with staff or colleagues, far from TV cameras and reporters.

Lyndon Johnson was known for his rough rhetorical edges, which he usually used to twist arms on Capitol Hill. Richard Nixon was famously profane, although the Watergate tapes that led to his resignation weren't meant for prime time. Jimmy Carter chose a more public venue, a White House dinner, to belie his evangelical Christian upbringing when he spoke of Sen. Edward Kennedy's challenge in the Democratic presidential primary, saying he would "whip his ass."

Carter's assertion in 1979 set off a media kerfuffle over whether to report what may or may not have been an obscenity.

By the time President George W. Bush privately swore during what he thought was an un-miked moment with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2006, his frustration over United Nations efforts to help end the conflict in Lebanon were not only heard around the world but reported in full.

Ronald Reagan was also reported to have cussed behind the scenes but usually refrained from doing so in public. His tough demand in Berlin -- "Mr. Gorbachev: Tear down this wall" -- may or may not have ended the Cold War, but it needed no expletives to be memorable. Even when the Great Communicator did resort to colorful language, it tended toward the tame, as when he once said he'd "had it up to my keister" with White House leaks.

"That was a genuine comment," Harlow said. "It didn't sound like any speechwriter would have written [it] for him."

Harry S. Truman also needed no speechwriters when it came to speaking his mind. When a newspaper music critic panned his daughter Margaret's singing at a recital, the president wrote him to say he hoped they would someday meet. "When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes and perhaps a supporter below!" he said.

"Truman "got a lot of mileage out of plain speaking," presidential historian Robert Dallek said.

As for Obama, it remains to be seen whether his new rhetoric will help or hurt his efforts to deal with the oil spill crisis.

"The public finds it appealing that he's being strong-willed and speaking his mind," Dallek said. "But presidents need to be restrained and operate in rational, thoughtful ways as well. They can't go half-cocked, explosive, emotional. That's not very appealing to the public."