Presidential Lies, Misconceptions and Untruths

It is said that “Once the president lies, those around him begin to lie as well, and dishonesty spreads like a cancer”, but the reverse of that comment can equally be true “Once a lie is told by those around the president, the president lies to cover for his people as well, and dishonesty spreads like a cancer.” It’s a vicious, never ending cycle.

Let’s take a look at some “Presidential Lies”:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1940 Democrat

"No American boy is going to fight a war on foreign soil."

F.D. Roosevelt reportedly made this promise during the 1940 campaign, specifically referring to the wars breaking out in Europe. Two years later American boys were in Europe fighting a country that never attacked the US. What has been found for sure is that during the 1940 election campaign, FDR repeatedly promised to keep the country out of war and then did everything in his power to involve the country in war.

President Harry Truman, August 6, 1945 Democrat

"The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, in so far as possible, the killing of civilians."

Though Hiroshima was the headquarters of a number of military units, it was mostly a civilian city. In fact, Hiroshima was rated a low military priority by the U.S. Army; that's why it hadn't been bombed yet. 140,000 people, almost all civilians, died as a result of the bombing.

President John F. Kennedy, April 18, 1961 Democrat

"I have previously stated and I repeat now that the United States intends no military intervention in Cuba."

Not only was the Bay of Pigs invasion organized and funded by the CIA, but Americans flew combat missions as well. One day after Kennedy made the above statement, an American pilot was shot down on a bombing mission over Cuba. Castro recovered the pilot's bodies and kept it -- frozen -- for the next 18 years as proof. (He returned the body when he heard that the pilot's daughter was looking for her father who, she had been told, disappeared on a training flight.) Over 100 Cuban exiles, 14 Americans, and an unreported number of Cubans died in the invasion.

President Lyndon Johnson, August 5, 1964 Democrat

"As President and Commander in Chief it is my duty to the American people to report that renewed hostile actions against United States ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action in reply."

There was no unprovoked Vietnamese attack on a U.S. warship. President Johnson ran with the untrue story to gain support for American involvement in Vietnam. The lie resulted in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized the president to use "all necessary measures" to defend U.S. forces. Johnson later compared the resolution to "grandma's night skirt -- it covered everything." 58,214 Americans died in the Vietnam War.

President Richard M. Nixon, November 17, 1973 Republican

"I have never profited, never profited from public service. I have earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice. And I think, too, that I can say that in my years of public life, that I welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their President's a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got."

President Gerald R. Ford, Unknown Republican

"A bullet had entered the base of the back of his neck slightly to the right of the spine."

In 1964 a Warren Commission staffer wrote that a bullet entered John F. Kennedy's back. In 1998 the National Archives showed that a change had been made in Gerald Ford's handwriting that placed the bullet in Kennedy's neck. This change was released in the official 1964 version of the Warren Report. Ford later admitted to the change. Photographs of Kennedy's shirt show a bullet hole through the middle-upper back.

President Ronald Reagan, November 13, 1986 Republican

"We did not -- repeat -- did not trade weapons or anything else for hostages -- nor will we."

Reagan approved the sale of over 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Iran in return for promises to release the American hostages there. Money from the sale of those weapons went to support the Contras' war in Nicaragua. (The White House needed this backdoor method to fund the Contras because Congress had banned military aid to them.)

President George H.W. Bush, September 5, 1989 Republican

"….seized a few days ago in a park across the street from the White House."

G.H.W. Bush held a bag of cocaine in front of a TV camera and delivered a canned speech. The cocaine had been bought by the DEA as a prop for the speech. Hilariously, the dealer the DEA lured had no idea didn't know what the White House was.

President William J. Clinton, 1991 Democrat

"It was just a pure fluke that I was never called."

Clinton told The Washington Post in 1991 that "The rule was there was no graduate deferment, but you got to finish the term you were in . . . I wound up just going through the lottery, and it was just a pure fluke that I was never called." In real life, Clinton got an induction notice and pretended to join the ROTC to evade it.

President George W. Bush, Jan. 28, 2003 Republican

"The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

G.W. Bush, Jan. 28, 2003 This statement is a 'lie of omission,' since it is technically true, since British intelligence did make such reports. However, US intelligence had debunked the claims and the CIA only allowed those infamous '16 words' in Bush's State of the Union address when he attributed the intelligence to Britain.

What is a lie?

Sounds silly to ask such a question, right? Well that isn’t necessarily so for different people have different concepts of what constitutes a lie. First I would like to put forth the definition of the word “Lie”, as it pertains to this discussion. According to Answers.com:

Lie (noun):

1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.
2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.

To recap, In order for a statement to be “a lie“, whether it be in oral or written form, then it must contain the element of “being presented as the truth while the speaker (or writer) knows the comment is untrue or intentionally deceptive. It does not include statements which the facts were believed to be true at the time the comment was made, but later were found wrong. .

The Types of Lie

All lies are for the act of Deception, however there are different types of lies to consider. A few of these are lies of: Clarity, Distortion, Falsification, Omission, Quality, Quantity, and Relevance.

A lie of Clarity is when the person does not make the information clear enough.

A lie of Distortion is when a person says something that can mean two or more things.

A lie of Falsification is when a person gives false information.

A lie of Omission is when a person intentionally conceals information.

A lie of Quality is when a person the veracity of the information.

A lie of Quantity is when a person alters the amount of information which should be given.

A lie of Relevance is when the person changes the importance of the information.

Additionally there are Black and White Lies, lies to children, Jocose Lies, etc. Black lies are lies which are harmful . White lies are unimportant lies which are usually told for politeness or tactfulness. Jocose lies are lies told in humor. Lies to children are basically lies made in order to make adult subjects (such as sex) more acceptable to children.

The Perception of the Lie

The perception of the lie is when a person thinks someone had lied, but in actuality no lie was actually told at all. Misinterpretation, misunderstanding and other honest factors could factor into the equation.

Sometimes when what we are told changes too frequently, we perceive what we are being told is a lie. Even if we are being told about a situation where the facts can change daily or hourly, even the truth sounds suspicious.

Another reason for the truth to be perceived as a lie is when the listener doesn’t quite understand what he or she is being told as well as they think they understand, or the speaker doesn’t put across what he or she wants to tell us clearly enough. Sometimes it’s both parties who contribute to the perception of the lie.

All of these are “honest mistakes”, but we can’t neglect the “dishonest mistakes”. There are groups of people out there who are ready, willing and able to distort what any president says to make it appear that the president is lying to the people with the intent of willfully deceiving the public for ulterior motives. They often take what is said out of context or alter what was said to intentionally make it appear the president is saying something that his original words clearly are not saying. There are many other ways to take what is said and make it appear to be some devious lie as well. As honest, fair minded people we have to watch out for this stuff because some of it sounds so reasonable that it’s hard to discern the fact of “Who is lying” by simply listening for “what sounds like a lie”.

Why Would Our Presidents Lie To Us?

The first reason I will give to answer this question involves something called National Security. National Security is an important thing to a nation and it‘s people, even though some think it violates our “constitutional rights”. Information the government has that is listed under the label of “National Security” is, in theory, data which helps to protect our nation and it’s citizenry. Not everyone loves us and some out in the real world wish nothing better than to cause harm our country and it’s people. It’s our government’s job to protect us the best they can. To do this effectively they need to have some things kept secret.

I, like many others out there, do believe that our government has, in the past, abused the National Security label in order to cover over dealings which has been done and would make those involved in these dealings look bad. I will be the first to admit that just because others would agree that the term “National Security” was misused over the past decades doesn’t mean I automatically agree with all their ideas, nor do they agree with all of mine. However, even if our suspicions are valid and true that doesn’t mean National Security is a joke… the fact is that National Security is very important to us all.

Everyone should be able to comprehend with, and agree to, the idea of keeping of vital information secret. In this interest of this discussion we should not allow ourselves to get bogged down on this issue and just accept the general view that real matters of National Security are a valid enough reason for a president, or politician, to utilize one of the types of lying..
Most probably, the second reason is due to agendas, both political and personal. I would include the president’s personal life into this set of reasons. Let’s face it, our presidents not only have things they would like to do, but also they have people that contributed to their campaign which would like certain things done. In addition the people voting for the president would like to see certain things done. The president has to try to give the appearance that he is trying to give something back to those who supported him, but he very well can’t come out and say this, can he? No he can’t, not without causing problems down the road he can’t.

There are many reasons why a president would “lie” to us, some are valid reasons and others are not. Not all lies are harmful and some really are moot points. What did it really matter to most Americans whether Bill Clinton had sex with Monica Lewinski, for example. Our right to know isn’t all encompassing, in fact we don’t even have the right to know about more important things (such as military movements).

Other Considerations

Sometimes we find that the claims of lying comes from someone in the media, some politician or someone who is a part of some special interest group asking a question where the questioner knows that the person being asked cannot reply to the question truthfully with out revealing some answer that could cause adverse outcomes and reactions to something which is going on. At other times these people will press for an answer which they know there is no answer to the question at that moment in time. In cases like this it’s a no win situation for the person who was being asked the question. If he answers the question truthfully then someone will claim later that the answer was a lie and the person knew it, if he doesn’t answer then claims of hiding something (usually detrimental to our country or citizenry) arise.
Whether it’s a member of the media, special interest group or just the average Joe on the street we can find that the perception of whether a president has lied depends heavily upon whether that president is liked or not. A liked president will be excused in some way for lying or his comments will be overlooked and downplayed. In almost every case the comment will be defended in some way if the President making the lie is liked. However if the president is not liked by the media (including bloggers and so-called documentary film makers) then the shouts of “Lie” get louder and louder until presidential lying becomes a major issue. A “liked” president, like JFK, could get away with more lies than a disliked president, like Clinton or Bush.

In Conclusion

If we are to truly consider ourselves a fair and righteous person then we must guard ourselves against the pitfalls which would make us appear differently. We can’t allow our own beliefs, or the beliefs of others, to change the true facts. Friends, Hollywood Celebrities, Radio and TV Talk show hosts, the people calling into programs, people writing blogs, et al. may not know any more about a situation than we do. Just because someone has an editorial column in a newspaper doesn’t make him any smarter than the guy working as a janitor when it comes to knowing what is really going on.

The most important thing of all, at lest to my way of thinking, is that just because a president says something we don’t agree with doesn’t make him a liar. What makes him a liar is if he is telling us things which he knows is wrong at the moment he tells us.

Another item of importance is that not all lies made are harmful to us, in fact some lies are intended to protect us or ease the burden of our misery. People say things like “How are you?“ with out really wanting to hear how you actually are doing. They say things in order to be polite or because it’s just something to say.

In some cases if the truth is told then someone could be harmed. People need to get away from the mindset that we, the people, have to know everything because we want to know. We do not have the right to know everything at the precise moment we want to know. For example, the general public does not need to know specific military plans of an operation that is about to start or is underway. To make such plans known could endanger the lives thousands of our men and women in uniform.

Another situation where the people don’t have the right to know everything is in the case where someone is arrested for a crime. Juries are supposed to be open-minded and by the police and news people giving out too much information we will find that the jury pool is tainted and sometimes this causes a person accused to not be able to get a fair trial. In my opinion that is fine if the person is guilty, but what if he or she is innocent? To know too much could convict an honest, law-abiding citizen.

To place one’s faith in the Political Party in which they belong is all fine and good, but it also can be anti productive. The mindset that a member of our political affiliation is always more honest than someone of the opposing party sets the stage for prejudicial thought and takes away from the real work to be done.