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Disparaging Presidential Quotes

No one ever said being President of the United States was easy. In this puzzle, try to discern what’s political and what’s personal as you match the stinging criticism with the twentieth-century President who was its target.

Match The President With What Was Said About Him


Presidents


Engraved oval portrait of Harry S. Truman, bespectacled, in a suit and tie, facing slightly to the side.
A. Harry S. Truman
Oval-framed black-and-white portrait of a balding man in a suit and striped tie, resembling Dwight D. Eisenhower.
B. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Black-and-white oval-framed portrait of John F. Kennedy in a suit and tie, head turned slightly to the side.
C. John F. Kennedy
A gray-haired man in a dark suit and tie, shown in an oval-framed black-and-white portrait, facing slightly to the side with a serious expression.
D. Lyndon B. Johnson

Engraved oval portrait of Richard Nixon, head and shoulders, wearing a suit and tie.
E. Richard M. Nixon
Black-and-white oval engraved portrait of President Jimmy Carter in a suit and tie, facing forward with a slight smile.
F. Jimmy Carter
Engraved oval portrait of Ronald Reagan, smiling in a suit and striped tie.
G. Ronald Reagan
A formal oval portrait of an older man with gray hair, wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and striped tie, set against a light gray background.
H. George Bush




Quotes
Hand-drawn caricature of a balding man's face, sketched with heavy cross-hatching, wearing thick-framed glasses and a bow tie.

1. His "administration has managed the extraordinary feat of having, at one and the same time, the worst relations with our allies, the worst relations with our adversaries, and the most serious upheavals in the developing world since the end of the Second World War." -Henry Kissinger

A hand-drawn illustration of a man's head and shoulders, rendered in loose red and black ink strokes with a tousled hairstyle.

2. "He tells so many lies that he convinces himself after a while that he’s telling the truth. He just doesn’t recognize truth or falsehood." -Robert F. Kennedy

A simple line illustration of a man's profile in grayscale, blowing cigar smoke that curls upward against a pink background.

3. "He is the biggest liar of all the American presidents. . . the worst terrorist in the history of mankind . . . a madman, an imbecile and a bum. . . His ideas are from the era of Buffalo Bill, not the nuclear age." -Fidel Castro

A loose pencil-and-watercolor sketch of a bald man's profile wearing dark-rimmed glasses, with pink shading across his head and cheek.

4. "The fellow has absolutely no principles. Money and gall" is all he has. -Barry Goldwater

A watercolor-style illustration of a man's head and shoulders, close-cropped, with loose reddish-brown brushstrokes forming his hair and skin tones.

5. "If ignorance ever goes to $40 a barrel, I want the drilling rights on [his] head." -Jim Hightower

A caricature drawing of a bald, bespectacled man's head and shoulders, his face flushed bright red with anger or embarrassment.

6. "It defies all common sense to send that roughneck ward politician back to the White House" -Robert Taft

Line drawing of an older man's face with glasses, his forehead and cheek shaded bright red to suggest a flush of anger or embarrassment.

7. He "is a no-good lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he’d lie just to keep his hand in." -Harry Truman

Line drawing of an older man's head with glasses, a stern expression, and a bright red flush covering his forehead and scalp.

8. He "wasn’t used to being criticized, and he never did get it through his head that’s what politics is all about. He was used to getting his ass kissed." -Harry Truman

Solution to this Puzzle

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