The Picture of Dorian Bush

Ever notice how the office of President ages its occupant?

At a press conference this morning, Barack Obama already looked older and more careworn, and he's not even taken the oath yet.

Jimmy Carter aged more in his four years of office than he has in the 30 years since.

George H. W. Bush (aka '41') exhibited the wearing effects of the responsibility of office in his four-year stint.  He started out fresh and ended up barfing all over the Japanese prime minister.

Richard Nixon did not age gracefully during his terms, but then he had extraordinary pressures.  Tracking 'enemies' and keeping his ex-CIA mafia in line took a fiendish toll.

Ronald Reagan was helped by already being old when he took office and by being an actor who knows makeup, but by the end of his eight years he was applying the pancake like Bozo the Clown.

No one deteriorated more or as quickly as Lyndon Johnson.  LBJ wore the burdens of war and domestic revolutions (political and cultural) visibly.  By the end the formerly robust Texan looked more gnarled and withered than a bristlecone pine, only without the longevity.  He didn't last long past his Presidency.

No so President George '43' Bush.  He slipped into office looking every inch the happy frat boy, and no visible care has lined his face since.  Given the horrendous events of his terms, you would think he'd look like Ross Perot by now, but not so.

Mr. Bush must have a secret.  Maybe it's simply a positive attitude, as in 'the sun will come up tomorrow', maybe it's the ability to keep short office hours and take frequent naps, maybe he is too shallow to feel the weight of responsibility, or maybe he just delegates everything to someone else and has a beer.

If the latter, I think I know who it has to be ... Dick Cheney.  

Consider this:  who has exhibited the greater physical toll of office, Bush or his VP?  Which of the two has spent more days in a hospital, or secluded in a secure and undisclosed location?  Which of the two shuns public appearances the most?

It's like a twist on 'The Picture of Dorian Grey',  Cheney is the picture to Bush's Dorian.

Whatever Bush's trick may be, I think it's fair to observe that concerned, engaged Presidents take a physical and emotional beating in office, and Bush isn't and hasn't.