What President would you want as babysitter?

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Which President Would Make The Best Babysitter?
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October 17, 2012

A recent ABC News poll quizzed registered voters on this question: Of the two presidential candidates, who'd you prefer as a babysitter? President Obama currently leads Governor Romney as a choice 49 percent to 36 percent. But the question itself got us wondering — among past presidents, who'd be a better babysitter? We polled several historians to find out.

Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

It's too early to tell if President Obama's performance last night will stop his slide in the polls, but we're going to focus now on one poll and one question in which the president, in his worst stretch of this campaign, actually gained ground. The question was, who would you rather have babysit your children?

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

That's right. When the ABC News/Washington Post poll put that question to registered voters last week, 49 percent chose President Obama, 36 percent Governor Romney. Two weeks before, they were tied.

SIEGEL: What can we infer from this little tidbit? Well, first, if this White House gig doesn't work out, both men could consider back-up careers as mannies.

BLOCK: A manny is a male nanny. Second, the president would probably get more job offers.

SIEGEL: But all of this got us wondering, among past commanders-in-chief, who'd be the best choice to watch the kids? So we asked five historians.

JOHN MEACHAM: Dwight Eisenhower.

BLOCK: That's John Meacham, author of "Thomas Jefferson, the Art of Power" and father of three school-age kids. But he didn't choose our third president. Why does he like Ike?

MEACHAM: He liberated Europe, so surely he can take care of three kids.

BARBARA PERRY: George Washington.

SIEGEL: That's Barbara Perry, a political scientist at University of Virginia. A former babysitter herself, Perry says our first president was well-qualified for the job - responsible, reliable, disciplined, and he liked kids. Not only that...

PERRY: I had the criterion, no womanizing because they might invite their girlfriends over while they're babysitting and we know that's a no-no. So I'd put George Washington right at the top of the list.

NANCY KASSOP: Actually, my choice for a babysitter among the past presidents would probably be Bill Clinton.

BLOCK: Now, there's an October surprise. Nancy Kassop is a professor of political science at the State University of New York at New Paltz. She's also the mother of two daughters. And while others may disagree, she stands by her choice of President Clinton.

KASSOP: He's known for focusing his total attention on the person who is directly in front of him. He would be completely attentive to the child in his charge. Secondly, I think he's a joyful, cheerful character.

TED WIDMER: I got to give it to Abe Lincoln.

SIEGEL: That's Ted Widmer of Brown University. He has a son and his babysitting vote goes to Lincoln.

WIDMER: He had young children. He doted over them. He had trouble sleeping, so he was available late at night.

SIEGEL: Ah-ha, an important qualification and one that we didn't think of.

DORIS KERNS GOODWIN: I think when Lincoln was a younger man he would not have been a great babysitter.

BLOCK: A Lincoln naysayer, Doris Kerns Goodwin, author of a number of presidential biographies and mother of three boys.

SIEGEL: She did a background check on the young Abe Lincoln and she found a man too involved in his own thoughts, too apt to get wrapped up in deep conversations while walking on the street.

GOODWIN: When he would be carrying a kid or rolling them along in a stroller, he would forget about the child and simply walk on, leaving the kid on the pathway.

BLOCK: This is very concerning, yes. But Doris Kerns Goodwin says experience and age make all the difference. A much older Lincoln tops her list of presidential babysitters.

GOODWIN: The kids in the White House were allowed to run around the corridors of the hallways, to put on plays in the attic. They would set off the servants' bells at the same time. They were lively and fun. He would read to them and he allowed them to be children.

SIEGEL: So there you have it, with two votes out of five, Abe Lincoln wins. He is the top babysitter pick among past presidents in our informal and completely silly poll.

BLOCK: But who's on backup for date night if Honest Abe isn't available?

MEACHAM: Teddy Roosevelt seemed to be a lot of fun.

GOODWIN: He was just a stunningly active father.

KASSOP: Teddy Roosevelt had this thirst for adventure.

SIEGEL: Bully, Teddy Roosevelt. And Doris Kerns Goodwin says from the kids' point of view, he'd be great.

GOODWIN: He would have been willing to play cowboys and Indians with them, get on the floor, spar with them, wrestle with them. Now, for a parent, it might not have been as great, for they might have come home with a cut face or even a broken limb.

BLOCK: In other words, too much Rough Rider, not enough Teddy Bear.

SIEGEL: I wonder what Millard Fillmore is doing this weekend. And there's always "Home Alone."

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I'd still go for Teddy Roosevelt.

[Dalton]

Obama is the baby-whisperer.

[Dr. Trainwreck]

Teddy. Fucking. Roosevelt. For some reason I can't explain, I thought of him first of all.

[Flagg]

I thought of TR first as well. I'd have to go with GW Bush, though. To truly understand a child, one must have the mind of a child.

[Stark]

People actually meeting Theodore Roosevelt would probably immediately remove the mystique he possesses for many people.

And obviously the best president to look after kids is that guy from I-war.

[Irbis]

Teddy. Fucking. Roosevelt. For some reason I can't explain, I thought of him first of all.

Perhaps you were thinking of plush toys?

[Col. Crackpot]

Teddy. Fucking. Roosevelt. For some reason I can't explain, I thought of him first of all.

As the father of active six year old twin boys i'll go with TR. If for no other reason that my kids would be exhausted afterwards and would sleep past zero dark hundred for a change. Also it's Teddy Fucking Roosevelt.

[The Yosemite Bear]

keep JFK away from my teenaged niece....

[White Haven]

People actually meeting Theodore Roosevelt would probably immediately remove the mystique he possesses for many people.

And obviously the best president to look after kids is that guy from I-war.

For a child with boundless energy, I wonder how little Johnny finds it so difficult to his homework done on time. </deepvoice>

[Borgholio]

I'd want someone like FDR. As president, he demonstrated patience (a must for babysitting), but he could make hard decisions when needed (punishment for bad behavior).

Or probably Regan...he always came off as the uncle who was always smiling, but was also in control of the situation.

[Darth Lucifer]

I choose Dwight Eisenhower because he resembles my RL grandfather. Grampa Ike also has a nice ring to it.

[Flagg]

I'd want someone like FDR. As president, he demonstrated patience (a must for babysitting), but he could make hard decisions when needed (punishment for bad behavior).

Or probably Regan...he always came off as the uncle who was always smiling, but was also in control of the situation.

FDR interns Japanese babies and Reagan sells them to Iran to fund death squads. You lose 3 points.

[Masami von Weizegger]

Martin Van Buren. The kids can just swing off his sideburns and be entertained the whole night. He could even just stick googly eyes to them and pretend they're pets.

Or William Henry Harrison, so we can get some "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" type shenanigans.

[Mr Bean]

Obviously I'd pick Abraham Lincoln, he had kids and looked after them well (When they were not dieing of diseases or failing of railings). Theodore Roosevelt is a nice backup but the problem with Roosevelt is that he keeps dangerous animals as pets and I'm libel to come back to find my son or daughter demand we get a pet mountain lion of our very own.

And seriously Lincoln was not only good with his kids but with everyone's kids. If they young he'd let them pull on his beard. If they were older he'd have stories and games, and if older still he'd "suggest" to his soldiers that the kids would love some war souvenirs. The man was just good with kids, we don't remember this because the sons died of tuberculosis, typiod, a heart defect and cancer.

[Ziggy Stardust]

James Buchanan. Poor bastard never had kids of his own. And James Polk once described him as an "old maid," so he is basically a nanny already. Of course, he can't be a tutor, because he always thought that there were too many educated people anyway, and it would be better to siphon money for education to the railroads instead.