Why has there never been an Italian-American President?

[Keystone Phil]

My first non-troll post of the thread: I think Iran's culture, food and environment compares very favorably to Italy's. No reason to be jealous.

Ok, maybe not trolling. Just stupid.

[Associate Justice PiT]

My first non-troll post of the thread: I think Iran's culture, food and environment compares very favorably to Italy's. No reason to be jealous.

Ok, maybe not trolling. Just stupid.

     Chicken parmagian is the best dish ever. I have no Italian heritage, but I still taught myself how to make it from the experience of eating it dozens of times.

[patrick1]

Thanks.

You'd think there would have been a French or French-Canadian president by now.

(I was wrong about Van Buren, he wasn't French)

FDR was of partial French Huguenot ancestry.  It'd be likely that at least a few of the 17 or so Presidents with Ulster lineage would have some Huguenot stock too.

Several Presidents were rumoured to be Frenchified but that is another story altogether.

[angus]

For God's sake, Van Buren... Van Buren!!! how in the flying hell can someone think he was French?!?

     Disturbingly many Americans don't know much about other countries. Van Buren is an absurdly obvious Dutch name, but most people won't realize it.

Actually, it could be from Flanders as well, so it's more flemish than Dutch.  (Flemish also being spoken in the part of Belgium that isn't French.)  And while we're at it, there is much confusion between Belgian and French.  I saw a poll in which most of those polled thought that the actor Jean Claude Van Damme was French.  He is actually Belgian.  To be fair, it usually the Walloons of Belgium that we confuse for French, and not those from the Northern part of Belgium, so Van Buren probably wouldn't be thought of as French by any American other than exactly one poster here.  Although, he does spell his first name in an anglicized way, and not Maarten as would be the case in the early 1800s for a truly Flemish speaker.  Also, let it be noted that van Buren was the only US president who had a foreign accent throughout his presidency, and I seriously doubt that any of his contemporaries confused his Dutch-Flemish accent for a French one.  Still, after all we do call french fries French Fries, even though they were invented in Belgium.  Just food for thought.

[pbrower2a]

Has there ever been a French-Canadian president? Or even a French president?

Or Portuguese?

Or Dutch?

Or Scandinavian?

Or Eastern-European (like from Russia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Greece, etc.)?

Grant, both Roosevelts, and both Bushes at the least have Huguenot ancestors.

The surprise -- in view of their outstanding achievements in politics -- is Jews.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Has there ever been a French-Canadian president? Or even a French president?

Or Portuguese?

Or Dutch?

Or Scandinavian?

Or Eastern-European (like from Russia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Greece, etc.)?

Grant, both Roosevelts, and both Bushes at the least have Huguenot ancestors.

The surprise -- in view of their outstanding achievements in politics -- is Jews.

Oh God, so that pathetic narcissistic hypocritical asshole Louis XIV is also responsible for the trainwreck of the Bush Presidency?

[minionofmidas]

His Huguenot policy is responsible for the demographic rise of England and Prussia, so yeah. All the evils of the 19th and 20th century, really.

[old timey villain]

Given the motley lineage of most Americans whose families have been here at least a couple of generations, I don't think pigeonholing people by their last names is helpful. You can be a Smith or a McDonald and still be entitled to call yourself Italian-American because of maternal descent.

There are plenty of Americans who can claim Italian ancestry who wouldn't be considered "Italian American" by the public because they don't fit the stereotype of what that requires (being from a Northeastern state, having a last name that ends in a vowel, having olive skin and dark hair).

My last name is one of those boring waspy names but I'm also Italian, German, Swiss and Irish on my mom's side. You can't trust a last name. Al Smith was half Italian and his last name was Smith. Same story with Christie.

[Indy Texas]

The surprise -- in view of their outstanding achievements in politics -- is Jews.

Not when you consider that they tend to be too liberal to be palatable in a general election. Paul Wellstone, Barbara Boxer, Jacob Javits, all would be DOA in a general election.

And the ones who aren't lefties are usually neocon HPs who'd be better running for Prime Minister of Israel.

[patrick1]

His Huguenot policy is responsible for the demographic rise of England and Prussia, so yeah. All the evils of the 19th and 20th century, really.

Whole lotta Boers too.

[Associate Justice PiT]

For God's sake, Van Buren... Van Buren!!! how in the flying hell can someone think he was French?!?

     Disturbingly many Americans don't know much about other countries. Van Buren is an absurdly obvious Dutch name, but most people won't realize it.

Actually, it could be from Flanders as well, so it's more flemish than Dutch.  (Flemish also being spoken in the part of Belgium that isn't French.)  And while we're at it, there is much confusion between Belgian and French.  I saw a poll in which most of those polled thought that the actor Jean Claude Van Damme was French.  He is actually Belgian.  To be fair, it usually the Walloons of Belgium that we confuse for French, and not those from the Northern part of Belgium, so Van Buren probably wouldn't be thought of as French by any American other than exactly one poster here.  Although, he does spell his first name in an anglicized way, and not Maarten as would be the case in the early 1800s for a truly Flemish speaker.  Also, let it be noted that van Buren was the only US president who had a foreign accent throughout his presidency, and I seriously doubt that any of his contemporaries confused his Dutch-Flemish accent for a French one.  Still, after all we do call french fries French Fries, even though they were invented in Belgium.  Just food for thought.

     I have a deep interest in the variations that exist among European languages, and I still wasn't aware that Van Buren can be Flemish as well as Dutch. With that in mind, it's probably not that strange that someone on the forum would go so far as to mistake it for being French.

[Beezer]

Cuomo will bomb Iran for disrespecting the Bing.

[pbrower2a]

The surprise -- in view of their outstanding achievements in politics -- is Jews.

Not when you consider that they tend to be too liberal to be palatable in a general election. Paul Wellstone, Barbara Boxer, Jacob Javits, all would be DOA in a general election.

And the ones who aren't lefties are usually neocon HPs who'd be better running for Prime Minister of Israel.

...

2008. America would have elected a Jewish President had the Democratic nominee been Jewish. There were lots of rumors about FDR, but I am not sure that those weren't in circulation in 1932.

[Antonio the Sixth]

For God's sake, Van Buren... Van Buren!!! how in the flying hell can someone think he was French?!?

     Disturbingly many Americans don't know much about other countries. Van Buren is an absurdly obvious Dutch name, but most people won't realize it.

Actually, it could be from Flanders as well, so it's more flemish than Dutch.  (Flemish also being spoken in the part of Belgium that isn't French.)  And while we're at it, there is much confusion between Belgian and French.  I saw a poll in which most of those polled thought that the actor Jean Claude Van Damme was French.  He is actually Belgian.  To be fair, it usually the Walloons of Belgium that we confuse for French, and not those from the Northern part of Belgium, so Van Buren probably wouldn't be thought of as French by any American other than exactly one poster here.  Although, he does spell his first name in an anglicized way, and not Maarten as would be the case in the early 1800s for a truly Flemish speaker.  Also, let it be noted that van Buren was the only US president who had a foreign accent throughout his presidency, and I seriously doubt that any of his contemporaries confused his Dutch-Flemish accent for a French one.  Still, after all we do call french fries French Fries, even though they were invented in Belgium.  Just food for thought.

     I have a deep interest in the variations that exist among European languages, and I still wasn't aware that Van Buren can be Flemish as well as Dutch. With that in mind, it's probably not that strange that someone on the forum would go so far as to mistake it for being French.

Oh come on, Flemish French probably don't make up 1% of the population. It's as if you've got some guy called Lautenberg, Pawlenty, Cuomo or Blagojevich and immediately think he's American rather than German/Polish/Italian/Serbian. It is technically possible, but it's a pretty ridiculous assumption to make.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The surprise -- in view of their outstanding achievements in politics -- is Jews.

Not when you consider that they tend to be too liberal to be palatable in a general election. Paul Wellstone, Barbara Boxer, Jacob Javits, all would be DOA in a general election.

And the ones who aren't lefties are usually neocon HPs who'd be better running for Prime Minister of Israel.

...

2008. America would have elected a Jewish President had the Democratic nominee been Jewish. There were lots of rumors about FDR, but I am not sure that those weren't in circulation in 1932.

Speaking of FDR it's interesting anti-Jewish bigotry helped him to narrowly win his hist term as New York Governor (which ultimately led to his Presidency) over Jewish Republican Albert Ottinger. Ironically, FDR's own running-mate and eventual successor in Albany was Herbert Lehman'

Heck, 1928 was a truly traumatic choice for the bigots from New York state. Either Jew Ottinger (who faced symethric problem, this time from inside Jewish community, as many perceived him as not orthodox enough) or FDR, a protege of that Papist and a puppet of the Roman Pope Al Smith. In fact NY KKK circulated rumors in rural upstate that Roosevelt is a Catholic himself and, if elected, he'll annule all protestant marriages

[Associate Justice PiT]

For God's sake, Van Buren... Van Buren!!! how in the flying hell can someone think he was French?!?

     Disturbingly many Americans don't know much about other countries. Van Buren is an absurdly obvious Dutch name, but most people won't realize it.

Actually, it could be from Flanders as well, so it's more flemish than Dutch.  (Flemish also being spoken in the part of Belgium that isn't French.)  And while we're at it, there is much confusion between Belgian and French.  I saw a poll in which most of those polled thought that the actor Jean Claude Van Damme was French.  He is actually Belgian.  To be fair, it usually the Walloons of Belgium that we confuse for French, and not those from the Northern part of Belgium, so Van Buren probably wouldn't be thought of as French by any American other than exactly one poster here.  Although, he does spell his first name in an anglicized way, and not Maarten as would be the case in the early 1800s for a truly Flemish speaker.  Also, let it be noted that van Buren was the only US president who had a foreign accent throughout his presidency, and I seriously doubt that any of his contemporaries confused his Dutch-Flemish accent for a French one.  Still, after all we do call french fries French Fries, even though they were invented in Belgium.  Just food for thought.

     I have a deep interest in the variations that exist among European languages, and I still wasn't aware that Van Buren can be Flemish as well as Dutch. With that in mind, it's probably not that strange that someone on the forum would go so far as to mistake it for being French.

Oh come on, Flemish French probably don't make up 1% of the population. It's as if you've got some guy called Lautenberg, Pawlenty, Cuomo or Blagojevich and immediately think he's American rather than German/Polish/Italian/Serbian. It is technically possible, but it's a pretty ridiculous assumption to make.

     My point is, someone who is nonattentive might be able to make a mistake of that magnitude. It's a pretty egregious error, but it doesn't surprise me considering how ignorant many Americans are of the cultural backgrounds of the different European nations.

[MrCleveland]

I wish there'd be an Italian-American President soon...as well as a Lutheran-American President (He/She can be German-American, Scandinavian-American, or Baltic-American).

Why hinder the Italians and Lutherans in the United States?!

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I wish there'd be an Italian-American President soon...as well as a Lutheran-American President (He/She can be German-American, Scandinavian-American, or Baltic-American).

Why hinder the Italians and Lutherans in the United States?!

Michele Bachmann's a Lutheran.

And welcome to the forum!

[pbrower2a]

It took 100+ years after Irish immigration began in force to elect an Irish-American President. Italian immigration peaked about 100 years ago and we've already had a few people who got into the outer circle: Geraldine Ferraro as VP nominee, Mario Cuomo as a likely frontrunner for the Dem nom who wouldn't commit, Rudy Giuliani as a flawed candidate. Michael Dukakis was not Italian but fits the same demographic box, which means that was one less opportunity for an Italian-American candidate. Given the limited opportunities, Italian-Americans have done well.

Mike Dukakis looked more like a Chicago gangster than like a stereotypical WASP politician. If I were in central casting and I saw a photo of Mike Dukakis as a possible cast member for a gangster film I would salivate at his image. Sure, he's not an Italian-American, but neither is Andy Garcia.

The real surprise when it comes to political talent is among Jewish Americans. Just look at the demographics.

We have yet to have a Polish-American or Scandinavian-American President. We barely got an Irish-American Catholic as President.