Politics & Government

'Obama in History': White House Criticized for Making Additions to Past Presidents' Bios

The White House had added links touting President Obama's accomplishments to biographies of past presidents.

The White House is drawing criticism for recent additions to the presidential biography pages on the White House website.

The additions, in the form of a “Did you know” section placed at the end of selected presidential biographies, tout President Barack Obama’s accomplishments while in office.

At the end of the biography of former President H.W. Bush, the White House has added:

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Did you know?
  • President Barack Obama awarded George H.W. Bush the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for his commitment to service and ability to inspire volunteerism throughout the country, encouraging citizens to be “a thousand points of light.” The administration continues to promote service and civic engagement, honoring heroes of local communities as “Champions of Change” and fostering civic participation.

Richard Nixon’s biography is now followed by:

Did you know?

The White House addition to Ronald Reagan’s page includes:

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Did you know? 
  • In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule

The additions prompted the Republican National Committee to create an “Obama in History” page on Tumblr.

In the description, the page creators write: “In this White House, it's all about ‘The One.’ Need proof? Now his White House staff has even started inserting Obama into the biographies of previous presidents. In fact, the photos below highlight Obama's role in some other historical moments, you may not have been aware. (NOTE: This website is intended to be satirical and is not intended to be construed as real ... except perhaps in the mind of President Barack Obama.)”

Twitter users have also joined in criticizing the additions. Searching Twitter for the hashtag #ObamaInHistory produces results such as:

In 1803, Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase for $233 million in today's dollars, which Obama spent while you read this. #ObamaInHistory – Cuffe
Obama said that George W. Bush adding 4 trillion in debt was unpatriotic, so he added 5 trillion. #ObamaInHistory – AG
Ronald Reagan went to Berlin and said "tear down this wall!" Barack Obama went on The View and talked about the Kardashians.#ObamaInHistory – Andrew Stiles
In 1945 Harry Truman puts 'The Buck Stops Here' on Oval Office desk. Jan 2009 Obama tells staff 'Get that thing outta here.'#ObamaInHistory – Carl Camera

According to a Fox News report, a White House official justified the additions saying, "We simply added links at the bottom of each page to related whitehouse.gov content, which is a commonly used best practice to encourage people to browse more pages on a site." 

What do you think? Are the additions simply a way to encourage people to browse additional pages on the White House website or an inappropriate attempt to promote a sitting president? Let us know in comments.

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