Gerald Ford: Hit them where it hurts
President Ford found his target at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association dinner in 1974, saying, “At a time when funds for the defense budget may be cut, it’s comforting to see so many of the big guns from your industry still getting loaded.”
Jimmy Carter: Self-deprecating elder statesman
President Carter was known for saying many jokes during his presidency. After he left office, he didn’t lose his sense of humor.
“My esteem in this country has gone up substantially. It is very nice now when people wave at me, they use all their fingers.”
18 thoughts on “The Funniest Jokes Told by 20 U.S. Presidents”
I love Thedore Rosevellts. It’s still true
Teddy Roosevelt once said “God Bless America, death to her enemies”.
I have always loved Harry Truman’s joke “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog”. I can’t help but feel that there’s some truth in that.
Best joke ever told was during the Reagan-Mondale debate. “I will not make an issue, for political purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience “
My favorite is this:
In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced, Lincoln replied, referencing his homeliness, “Honestly, if I were two-faced, would I be showing you this one?”
LBJ was one of the most down to earth president with a dry wit that could say things that were downright crass in a smoke-filled room of diplomacy.
I like Truman’s “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
Van Buran
Don’t know if this is exactly considered a joke but certainly a truism. Warren Harding said “It’s not my enemies who keep me up at night; I know who my enemies are, but it is my friends.”
Truman had the funniest joke.
Theodore Roosevelt boxed each morning before he went to work. He was very energetic and he took steps 2 at a time.. Citizens would wait for him to run up the steps.. he once said “God Bless America, death to her enemies.”
James Madison. “I always talk better lying down.”
I questioned the P.S. about Martin Van Buren being the first American born president…..so I checked it out and ALL the presidents before him were born in America. I went back and re-read it to see how I’d gotten it confused. I hadn’t….it clearly says that Van Buren was the first American born president. What gives??
The previous presidents were born while the country was still part of Great Britain, making Van Buren the first president to be born after we became a nation
You’re thinking America as in North America. I believe they’re stating he was the first born in the United States of America, which was not yet a country when the first presidents were born.
My favorite joke and President in this group is Ronald Reagan
You’re thinking America as in North America. I believe they’re stating he was the first born in the United States of America, which was not yet a country when the first presidents were born.
President Truman said “If you become WEALTHY while holding elective office, you are a CROOK”!