George H. W. Bush broccoli comments

During his tenure as the 41st president of the United States, George H. W. Bush frequently mentioned his distaste for broccoli. When asked that if he had lost the "broccoli vote" due to his views, he said: "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid. And my mother made me eat it. And I'm president of the United States. And I'm not gonna eat any more broccoli!"[1] Bush's views on broccoli were seen as out of touch with Americans, as broccoli was becoming more popular and was referred to as the "vegetable of the 80s".[2]

George H. W. Bush in 1989

During the 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore, wives of the Democratic nominee Bill Clinton and Al Gore were seen holding a sign which stated: "Let's put broccoli in the White House again".[3] After Bush left office, he occasionally mentioned his dislike of broccoli. George W. Bush, the son of George H. W. Bush mentioned his father's dislike of broccoli in a eulogy at his father's funeral.

Comments and analysis

George H. W. Bush was elected as the 41st president of the United States in 1988.[4] During his presidency, he frequently mentioned his distaste for broccoli. The first mention was made in March 1990, when Bush joked that the workers in the Office of Personnel Management would get merit pay "in broccoli".[5] Shortly after, a journalist from U.S. News & World Report broke a story stating that Bush had banned broccoli from Air Force One.[6] In response, the broccoli-growers of America pledged to send several trucks of the vegetable to the White House. When asked if he had lost the "broccoli vote" due to his comments,[5] Bush said:

I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid. And my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States. And I'm not gonna eat any more broccoli! ... For the broccoli vote out there, Barbara loves broccoli. She's tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So, she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that's coming in from Washington.[7][8]

George S. Dunlop, the president of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, gave First Lady Barbara Bush a bouquet of broccoli and an additional ten tons of the vegetable in trucks.[9] A few days afterward, Bush hosted a state dinner to honor Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the prime minister of Poland; journalists noted there was no broccoli on the menu, as the tons of broccoli given to the first family by the farmers had been donated to the Capital Area Food Bank.[10]

Eric Ostermeier, researcher at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs wrote that Bush had mentioned his hatred of the vegetable approximately 70 times during his presidency.[5] His speech on broccoli was seen as out of touch with most Americans; Broccoli was becoming popular in the United States and had been referred to as the "vegetable of the 80s".[2][11] Bush's anti-broccoli comments did not go down well with the farming community of the United States[12] and opened up a nationwide debate on Bush's eating habits, in particular his fondness for unhealthy foods such as beef jerky.[13][14] Many parents, who were trying to get their children to eat vegetables were dissatisfied by Bush's comments.[2] Bush's thyroid condition, later announced to be Graves' disease[15] led many Americans to write letters to Bush, insisting he eat more broccoli due to its health benefits.[16] Bush's comments on broccoli, along with his later vomiting incident (during which he vomited on the Prime Minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa, after a bout of the 24-hour flu) were seen as examples of Bush's tendency for political gaffes.[17]

Aftermath

During the 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton and Tipper Gore, wives of the Democratic nominee Bill Clinton and Al Gore were seen holding a sign which stated: "Let's put broccoli in the White House again".[3][18] In 2001, Bush's son and the 43rd president George W. Bush received substantial media attention after he gave a thumbs-down to broccoli on a state visit to Mexico; Mexico's president Vicente Fox was a keen broccoli-grower and owned a substantial broccoli farm in the country.[19][20]

At an anti-obesity event for children in 2013, Barack Obama, the 44th president, announced that his favorite food was broccoli. These remarks were immediately compared to those of Bush.[21] ABC News's Liz Neporent said that broccoli "has long been a political vegetable".[22] However, many questioned the veracity of his comments; Comedy Central tweeted "Obama tells kid journalist his favorite food is broccoli. And his favorite activity is lying to children".[3] He had also been seen eating junk food, burgers, and hot dogs throughout the campaign trail.[20][23] After leaving the office, Bush occasionally mentioned his dislike of broccoli.[24][25][26] George W. Bush mentioned his father's dislike of broccoli in a eulogy at his 2018 funeral.[27]

See also

References
  1. "George Bush's broccoli rebellion". Chicago Tribune. March 25, 1990. ProQuest 282774823.
  2. Duston, Diane (March 24, 1990). "Bush out Of Step On Broccoli". The Gettysburg Times. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Google News.
  3. Bhat, Devika (July 11, 2013). "Obama Puts Broccoli Before Burgers In New Greens Policy". The Times. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  4. Dionne Jr., E. J. (November 9, 1988). "The 1988 Elections". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  5. Ostermeier, Eric (July 9, 2013). "George H.W. Bush: Hater of Broccoli". Smart Politics. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  6. Dowd, Maureen (March 23, 1990). "'I'm President,' So No More Broccoli!". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  7. "Bush's Broccoli Hatred Flowers Into Presidential Proclamation". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1990. ProQuest 281028692. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  8. McGrath, Jim (2002). Heartbeat: George Bush in His Own Words. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 77–82. ISBN 978-0-7432-2479-6. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Open Library.
  9. Lauter, David (March 27, 1990). "Broccoli Stalks Bush on White House Lawn : Veggies: First Lady accepts California gift, but most of it goes to charity. Flap gives pundits food for thought". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  10. Carman, Tim (December 5, 2018). "As President, George H. W. Bush Never Wavered From His Hard Line On Broccoli". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  11. "The U.S. President Who Hated 'The Vegetable Of The '80s'". CBS News. March 26, 2020. Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  12. "Broccoli". The Guardian. January 22, 2002. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  13. Smith, Curt (2014). George H. W. Bush: Character At The Core. University of Nebraska Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-61234-685-4. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Open Library.
  14. Rubenstein, Diane (2008). This is Not a President: Sense, Nonsense, and The American Political Imaginary. New York University Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-8147-7602-5. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Google Books.
  15. Okie, Susan (May 10, 1991). "Bush's Thyroid Condition Diagnosed As Graves' Sisease". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  16. Levy, Peter B. (1996). Encyclopedia of the Reagan–Bush Years. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-313-29018-3. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Google Books.
  17. Kaid, Lynda L.; Holtz-Bacha, Christina (2008). Encyclopedia of Political Communication. SAGE Publications. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-4129-1799-5. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Google Books.
  18. Reinsberg, Hillary (July 9, 2013). "Hillary Clinton Wanted Broccoli In The White House Back In 1992". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  19. "Haunted By Broccoli". Wired (magazine). February 20, 2001. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  20. Walker, Tim (July 10, 2013). "How Broccoli became a Political Hot Potato: Provocative Remarks By President Obama About His Favourite Vegetable Have Reignited a Bitter Ideological Debate". The Independent. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  21. Kliff, Sarah (July 9, 2013). "Barack Obama Loves Broccoli. So Does America!". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  22. Neporent, Liz (July 10, 2013). "Obama's Favorite Food Quip Rekindles Broccoli Debate". ABC News. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  23. "Obama Claims Broccoli Is His Favorite Food". Reuters. Reuters. July 9, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  24. Diaz, Daniella (June 25, 2016). "George H. W. Bush Still Hates Broccoli". CNN. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  25. Walsh, Kenneth T. (June 27, 2016). "Bush 41 Still Battling Broccoli". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  26. Stump, Scott (June 27, 2016). "George H. W. Bush Politely Shoots Down 5-Year-Old's Case For Him To Eat Broccoli". Today. NBC News. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  27. Smith, David (December 6, 2018). "Washington mourns George H. W. Bush As Trump Gives Cold Shoulder To Clintons". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 12, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
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