On March 16, 1974, Richard Nixon had not been seen in any truly public setting for several months. His approval ratings were below thirty percent, gasoline prices were at record highs, and the US puppet government in Vietnam was a year away from its final collapse. Then, unexpectedly, he appeared, playing a shaky piano tune at the Grand Ole Opry:
Today, many Watergate and Nixon documentaries use the video from this event to illustrate when Nixon truly “jumped the shark.” He never made another appearance in front of the general public, and resigned in August of that year.
Here is the current President yesterday, within hours of learning that Al Qaeda had claimed to hold 3 US soldiers hostage in Iraq:
JAMESTOWN, Va. – JoAnn Falletta was doing what a conductor should  concentrating on the orchestra in front of her. No wonder it took her a few seconds on Sunday to realize someone behind her was motioning for a try. President Bush.
“Smiling at me kind of devilishly,” Falletta said. She gave him her baton and stepped aside.
Gesturing exuberantly, the president led the orchestra during part of its performance of “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
4,000 US combat soldiers were kicking down doors and ransacking homes in Iraq as bush waved the baton at the orchestra. Note all of the men standing in foreground in the photo, these were the Secret Service agents taken by surprise who had to chase Bush up to the stage.
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