When Presidents Attack

President Clinton’s speech last week about the bombing raids he had ordered on Serbia followed in a long tradition of such pronouncements from the Oval Office. Apart from the cut of their suits, not all that much has changed over the decades: the desks are clearer, the future just as cloudy.

PRESIDENT Roosevelt 1941

CALLED US righteous

CALLED THEM dastardly (Japanese)

RESONANT PHRASE a date which will live in infamy

DESK ACCESSORIES donkey ornaments

[PRESIDENT] Kennedy 1962

[CALLED US] peaceful and powerful

[CALLED THEM] reckless and provocative (Cubans)

[RESONANT PHRASE] The cost of freedom is always high–but Americans have always paid it.

[DESK ACCESSORIES] scrimshaw

[PRESIDENT] Reagan 1983

[CALLED US] blessed land

[CALLED THEM] thugs (Soviets in Grenada)

[RESONANT PHRASE] semper fidelis

[DESK ACCESSORIES] none

[PRESIDENT] Bush 1991

[CALLED US] reasonable

[CALLED THEM] cruel and intransigent (Iraqis)

[RESONANT PHRASE] While the world prayed for peace, Saddam prepared for war.

[DESK ACCESSORIES] numerous photos of the family

[PRESIDENT] Clinton 1999

[CALLED US] we care about saving innocent lives

[CALLED THEM] self-destructive (Serbs)

[RESONANT PHRASE] Ending this tragedy is a moral imperative.

[DESK ACCESSORIES] presidential busts, photo of Chelsea, campaign buttons