John Sayle Watterson was born in Cleveland and earned degrees from the University of Virginia, Case Western Reserve and Northwestern. He’s taught at the University of South Dakota and on military bases overseas for the University of Maryland. He now lives in Charlottesville and teaches history at James Madison University. His book “College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy” was published in 2000 by Johns Hopkins University Press, which has recently released “The Games Presidents Play: Sports and the President.”
What is the benefit for the average person of reading about “The Games Presidents Play?”
[The reader] will learn the way the sports personalities of the presidents influenced the ways in which they conducted their offices, the ways in which they lived their lives when they were in the White House, the ways in which they grew up. Sports were an integral part of their lives, including [those of] the first ladies. The variety of sports that presidents participated in is kind of remarkable.
What are some of the surprising things readers will learn?
Nixon’s interest in sports, his attempts to play sports, his talking about sports — he was actually very good at talking about sports — make people more sympathetic to him. This is a different slant on Nixon. Clinton is such a zealous sports spectator. He plays cards constantly. Clinton’s tendency to cut corners during his presidency [comes] into sharper focus [because of] his similar tendency to cut corners playing golf.
How closely do you think sports and political character are linked?
With several of the presidents who [were] not that interested in sports, such as Calvin Coolidge and Harry Truman, the links are different. Coolidge couldn’t relax and Truman never had the time as a young man, as a farmer, he really didn’t have a chance to learn sports.
But … it’s often true that presidents who played team sports often had a better system of delegating, had a better staff system. That’s the most obvious connection. … Sports have [also] become a credential for succeeding in politics. Sports emphasize competition; show[ing] that candidates can compete. It can also be a substitute for military experience. Football is said to have been invented as a substitute for war.
How special a figure is Teddy Roosevelt in the connection between sports and the presidency?
He is extremely important as a pioneer, introducing sports to the American public. It wasn’t previously a part of the presidential agenda or character. Presidents were wary of sports because it [suggested] they might be loafing on the job. Nobody could accuse [Teddy] Roosevelt of loafing on the job. His reputation as an energetic sometime-reformer went along with his sports persona, and he was able to use athletics to make political points. His conservation [principles] came out of his sporting experience.
Have you found that people are surprised that Woodrow Wilson was so involved with sports, that he was obsessed with golf?
Much of it was new to me, too. A reference I came across saying that he could have coached football was rather astounding. He played tennis and baseball, he bicycled. He didn’t do any of these with great proficiency, but he had an intense interest in sports. I think people will be surprised at his interest in golf; he also played a good game of billiards. This is all seemingly at odds with the picture we have of Wilson.
How did two of our most athletically gifted presidents — Gerald Ford and the first President Bush — come to be labeled as wimps, or, worse, clumsy?
It’s sort of an accident of their personalities. Bush had this reputation as an Easterner, and no one knew much about his college career or what a terrific athlete he was. He tried very hard to counter that image, but it had to do with the way he looked, the way he talked. Ford came into the presidency with a couple of strikes against him. And the press scrutiny was so great that everything — a stumble, bumping his head — was magnified. For Ford, that was nearly fatal.
What president would you most like to engage in a sport with?
Teddy Roosevelt, assuming I could keep up. [He] was such an interesting guy, such a fund of information, and exciting to be with. It would be forever memorable whatever it happened to be: hunting, hiking, or tennis in the rain. Roosevelt was a divine original. I think Bill Clinton would be a hoot to play golf with or a game of cards. He’s such a bright guy and he makes people feel good when they’re playing with him.
