Fraters Libertas

Par For the Course

The New York Times Book Review from April 20 included a review of a new book from Don Van Natta Jr., entitled "First Off the Tee”.

(Yes, April 20 is almost two weeks ago and yes, I’m commenting on it now because it takes me that long to get through an average Sunday New York Times. Come next week, expect an update from me about how the New York Times is reporting US Troops may have already entered Baghdad.)

“First Off the Tee” is an historical review of the golfing abilities, styles, and demeanors of the many American presidents who have played the game. According to Van Natta, Woodrow Wilson was the worst of the lot. And John Kennedy was the best, despite the fact that it wasn’t even his favorite sport:

”Dwight Eisenhower was famous for his love of golf. Perhaps he was too famous, since his successor, John Kennedy, the most gifted presidential golfer of all, decided it was politically wise to curtail his own appearances on the links. Unfortunately, this led to rumors of other sports occupying his time and to Theodore Sorensen's remark: ''This administration is going to do for sex what the previous one did for golf.''

Van Natta also attempts to show how golf can reveal the character of a man. Which brings us to one of the great Presidential characters of all time, Bill Clinton. Believe it or not, sometimes “the man from Hope” took some liberties with his scorecard.

”Many of our presidents who turned in respectable scores played in violation of the game's honorable rules. Some were worse than others when it came to accepting a conceded (gimme) putt of a few feet, or re-teeing a wayward drive (taking a mulligan). Clinton occupied a universe of his own when it came to playing loosely, managing not only to mangle all the rules but to convince himself in the course of replaying multiple shots that he was turning in legitimate scores in the mid- to low 80's. Not surprisingly, Van Natta sees unsettling affinities between Clinton's golf game and his ethics.

There's an old adage that purports to link character with on-course demeanor. According to this view, you learn everything you need to know about people by playing three holes of golf with them. By the time Van Natta got that far with then former President Clinton, the man from Hope had granted himself three ''Billigans.''

To paraphrase Ted Sorenson, it appears Clinton was doing for golf what he was already doing for sex.