Presidents Day and Poker Go Hand in Hand

At least one former opponent says President Obama is a TAGfish.

Today is Presidents Day in the United States, a day which originally celebrated George Washington’s birthday but has since grown in scope to include every man who’s ever held the office. While not every U.S. president has been a big poker player, more than a few have enjoyed the most American of games.

There is an apocryphal story that says Warren Harding, the 29th President, once lost the White House china in a poker game. It’s unclear how reliable that tale is, but Harding was known to play poker at least twice a week. Ulysses Grant went broke playing poker after his prediency and had to write his memoirs to have an income. Dwight Eisenhower often wanted to skip cadet dances poker at West Point so he could play poker and he used his winnings to be able to afford dates with his future wife, Mamie.

Harry Truman began playing poker as a county judge in Missouri in the 1920s and continued to play for relaxation all his life, even while he was living in the White House in the 1940s. True to the light-hearted nature of the games he played with his friends, President Truman was known for staying in pots even when he shouldn’t have. His motto “the buck stops here” referred to the buckorn-handled hunting knives often used in place of a dealer button in the 19th century.

Richard Nixon’s nickname “Tricky Dick” didn’t come from his days playing poker in the Navy, but it very well could have. Nixon’s prowess at the table is well-documented, and he financed his first Congressional campaign with money he won while in the service. Frank Gannon interviewed the former president in 1983, when he told Gannon that “many of the things you do in poker are very useful” – like being unpredictable – “in politics and very useful in foreign affairs.”

And of course there’s our current president, Barack Obama, who was known for playing poker during his days in the Illinois state legislature. The mainstream press loves to characterize him as a “careful, thoughtful player,” but at least one Illinois state senator says the president is weak-tight.

See the Gannon interview where President Nixon talks poker below.