What's in a nickname?
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From ‘Huckleberry Capone’ to ‘Turd Blossom’: A History of White House Nicknames
Nancy Reagan, who held a lot of power in her husband’s White House, had a slew of nicknames. According to Karen Tumulty’s recent The Triumph of Nancy Reagan, the first lady was called “The Iron Butterfly,” “The Belle of Rodeo Drive,” “Fancy Nancy,” “The Cutout Doll,” “The Evita of Bel Air,” “Mommie Dearest,” “The Hairdo with Anxiety,” “The Ice Queen” and “Attila the Hen.” All of these handles revealed a core truth of the Reagan administration: Nancy was a key player, and aides crossed her at their peril.
Another first lady who could be brutal in her assessments of staff was Barbara Bush. When longtime Bush friend and political fixer James Baker reluctantly gave up his job as secretary of State to try to rescue President George Bush’s floundering 1992 reelection campaign, Barbara felt that Baker was not fully engaged in the effort. According to Peter Baker and Susan Glasser’s The Man Who Ran Washington, Mrs. Bush would derisively call Baker “The Invisible Man,” prompting the president to say, “Barb, get off his case.”
Nicknames abounded even in the “no-drama” Obama administration as well. Jim Jones, Barack Obama’s first national security adviser, was frustrated with second-guessing from the Obama team and left the White House on poor terms. He used to call young White House staffers “the water bugs,” and the White House itself “the Politburo.”
Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes was so critical of Israel that his nickname in the White House was “Hamas.” Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett’s propensity for getting her way in policy disputes by making her case during nocturnal visits to her friends Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House residence earned her the nickname “The Night Stalker.” And Homeland Security Adviser — and now Biden Deputy Attorney General — Lisa Monaco’s steady stream of dire security warnings led Obama to dub her “Dr. Doom.”
Much more at the link.
What’s clear from the history of presidential nicknaming is that there is more to it than just locker room talk. In politics, as in life, nicknames help encapsulate the essence of a person, or at least that’s what the nicknamers hope. Nicknaming in the White House is not done idly. It has a purpose, albeit typically an unpleasant one. And as long as power is up for grabs and jealousies are sparked by ambitious players, the nicknames won’t be going anywhere.
