POWER PLAYERS

A study of how the true characters of U.S. presidents have been revealed by the sports they played, watched, and followed.

The Oval Office can be a lonely place, and all presidents have sought to escape the pressure through sports, whether participating or watching. As CNN politics reporter Cillizza shows, it can also be a way of projecting an image of common-man virility. Eisenhower had played a variety of sports in his younger days, but when he was in the White House, he obsessively focused on golf, even setting up a putting green on the lawn. He also played a mean game of bridge. Kennedy played golf but used the touch-football games with his family as media props. Socially awkward, Nixon tried to compensate by memorizing statistics about football so he could make small talk. A peculiarity of Nixon is that he was a good bowler, and he even had lanes built in the White House basement (although he always bowled alone). Reagan was not a great sportsman while president, although he exercised vigorously and loved riding horses. George H.W. Bush played many sports well but was especially skilled at horseshoes. Clinton was a dedicated runner but later concentrated on golf. George W. Bush likewise pounded the pavement and even had a treadmill put onboard Air Force One. Obama is remembered for pickup games of basketball; like most presidents he showed himself to be hypercompetitive, even aggressive, when playing. He also took up bowling, using Nixon’s lanes. All this is good fun, but Cillizza cannot restrain himself when it comes to the chapter on Trump, which is dripping with snark (“it’s impossible to see where Trump ends and his golfing bullshit begins”). Though many of Trump’s actions deserve scorn, it’s a sour ending to an entertaining, good-natured read.

An enjoyable, colorful look at the intersection of sports and politics.