Every chapter of American history holds surprising turns, and today we explore how presidential impersonations became an indelible part of our national story. This unique form of political comedy truly began in 1962, during the hopeful era of President John F. Kennedy, often called “Camelot.” An unknown comedian, Vaughan Meeterer, captured JFK’s legendary charm on The First Family album, instantly endearing a nation and launching a whole new world of satire. Yet, following a national tragedy, the laughter around our presidents went silent, leaving everyone to wonder what would come next for American humor.
Yet, American comedy always finds its voice. During a challenging era of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, President Lyndon B. Johnson became a new focus for impressionists, who fearlessly used humor to navigate complex national conversations. The biggest turning point arrived in 1975 with Saturday Night Live, which forever changed political satire. Chevy Chase’s groundbreaking, physical portrayal of President Gerald Ford didn’t just create iconic comedy; it showed the incredible power of presidential impersonations to shape public opinion and even touch the outcome of an election. Tune in to Our American Stories as we explore how these acting presidents became an unforgettable part of our national narrative.
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
So, although there were some presidential impersonations in the 1930s and 1940s, the genre really began in 1962 when JFK was president, and an album came out, a record album that was called The First Family. The voice was provided by an unknown, at that time, comedian by the name of Vaughan Meeterer.
The question was, ‘You much has done to be president?’
Definitely not.
I think he should finish school first. And he managed to capture pretty much the charm, the charisma that Kennedy captivated much of America with. You know, they called the period Camelot for a good reason, because the nation was in love with this young, charming president. Kennedy’s assassination kind of shut down the whole enterprise for a while. The nation was in shock, and frankly, comedians didn’t really know what to do next. Lyndon Johnson became president. This was a guy who was far more mockable in terms of his comedic traits than Kennedy was, but for a year or more, impressionists didn’t want to touch it.
It was just.
Too insensitive, considering what had happened with Kennedy. But eventually, the comedians started. There was a guy named David Frye.
How, fellow Americans, Jack. Come here tonight with a heavy heart. We would do something, and the problem in his great land of ours, I have to shot it to take the following stick, and he.
Did a pretty pointed LBJ. And in fact, along with the Smothers Brothers, who were comedians and entertainers, they were also very politically focused against the president they didn’t care for, which was LBJ. Don’t forget.
This was a.
Period where the Vietnam War was just ripping our country apart, and the Civil Rights Movement was also a big deal. It was a very tough time for Lyndon Johnson to be president and a very easy time to make comedy about Johnson. ‘Why, from New York, it’s Saturday Night!’ I’d say good comedians never shy away from controversy, and they’re always looking to push the envelope, and as the presidents came and went, it just seemed like a logical avenue for comedy. But really, the big turning point came in 1975, right at that time Saturday Night Live had its television debut, and right on the very first episode of Saturday Night Live, although they did not do a presidential impersonation on that first show, Chevy Chase anchored Weekend Update and set the stage immediately for criticizing the president. He said one line that was so damning to Gerald Ford. Ford’s new campaign slogan.
Ford was on the campaign trail, announcing in Detroit that he has written his own campaign slogan, the slogan: ‘If he’s so dumb, how come he’s president?’
Three weeks later, they decided on SNL to do a sketch that would involve Gerald Ford, and they decided that Chevy Chase would play the part. Now, Chevy Chase really isn’t an impressionist. He is a comedian. He’s not an impressionist. And the beauty part of his Gerald Ford was he made no effort to sound like the guy, no effort to look like the guy. In fact, nothing he did about Gerald Ford actually rang true, except that it was so funny. Chevy Chase, an up-and-coming comic, had made his mark falling down. He loved to do pratfalls. While Gerald Ford had had some unfortunate mishaps, the most infamous of which was slipping and falling on the steps of Air Force One.
For President Ford, the year seemed full of snacks. In June, he fell down the plane steps on arriving in Austria.
And he quickly got an impression among the public as kind of a klutz. Now, parenthetically, he was not a klutz, and he did not fall down a lot, even though he did on one or two occasions. Chevy Chase and the writers at SNL ran with this. Chase would play Ford, and he’d bumble, drop things, and really act like a clown, and the payoff was invariably that he’d fall down. And that’s what Chevy Chase was so good at. And it just became funnier and funnier each week, so much so that the public began to think that maybe this guy who’s president is a klutz. And then if you project that further, ‘well, if he’s so clumsy, maybe ain’t very smart either,’ and it began to work against Gerald Ford, arguably, actually, contributed to Ford’s defeat. So there we have the first example of presidential impersonations affecting the presidential election, and it sort of gone on a rollercoaster ever since.
And by the way, what Chevy Chase didn’t include, and what America didn’t know, was that Gerald Ford may have been the greatest athlete to ever become and be president. He was on the championship football team at the University of Michigan when he was an undergrad, and it was also a tremendous golfer. But the facts never get in the way of good comedy. The story of Playing Potus here on Our American Stories.
This is Lee Habib, host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we tell stories of history, faith, business, love, loss, and your stories. Send us your story, small or large, to our email OAS at OurAmericanStories.com. That’s OAS at OurAmericanStories.com. We’d love to hear them and put them on the air. Our audience loves them too.
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