What Former Presidents Do

 

You may remember Donald J. Trump. You know, orange hair and body, always yelling about election results. Yeah, that guy.

He recently made a major announcement titled "IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT."

The MAGA-Twitterverse was all in a stir because some thought Trump would name his 2024 running mate. Somebody posted that they thought Trump would name Kari Lake, the lady who ran for governor of Arizona and told a bunch of RINOs that she didn't want their vote. Guess what? She didn't get their votes and she lost her race.

It turns out that was not the important announcement. Instead, the important announcement was a collection of digital baseball cards or NFTs that featured Trump in various Superhero poses. 

Now, what are NFTs? NFT stands for "Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other." I hope that clears it up because I sort of know what a "cryptographic asset" is and that is only because I went to Wheeler High School. I'm not saying we used to sit around and talk about "cryptographic assets." We talked about "assets" that certain class members had. But, hey, I was a young man, cut me some slack.

Trump's NFTs were a bargain, I guess, at $99.00 each. Trump is really into helping the working class, and there's nothing the working class needs more than an NFT of Trump dressed up like Superman.

The website CryptoPotato reports, "The collection featured 2,533 NFTs in total sold for $99 each – meaning the sale raised over $250,000. Each NFT purchased entered buyers into sweepstakes with a chance to win various prizes, including a 20-minute meeting with Trump, a zoom call, a golf game, or an autograph signed by the celebrity."

I live in Cobb County which is not Trump's favorite county in the world so if I won a 20-minute meeting with him, 19 minutes of it would be him complaining about a rigged election.

 

Plus, I don't own any other NFTs and they just don't seem like good investments to me.  I like to invest in things I semi-understand.  But don't listen to me. I haven't watched CNBC in years.

I showed Trump's announcement to my wife.  She just said, "Bless."  When a Southern woman says that, it means she is not impressed. Trust me on that.

I agree Trump's NFTs are hokey and stupid and it takes narcissism to a whole new level. Trump is sort of known for that

 

But Presidents have been trading in on their office since Grant. But, of course, Grant was trying to provide for his family while he was dying of cancer.

Former Presidents over the years have written memoirs with titles like "A Time For Really Big Ideas Or Something" and "Dang, Who Is That Chick?" (Bill Clinton). 

 

Former Presidents will also give speeches for money. It is a pretty good gig.  Show up, people applaud, tell a few lame jokes, give the speech, get the check, and you're back home before dark.

 

My favorite President out of office story comes from a book called Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story Of A Great American Road Trip by Matthew Algeo.  

When Truman left office in 1953, he didn't have a Presidential pension, so he did various odd out-of-office jobs to bring in the money.

 

One day, the President of Chrysler gave Truman a new car.  

Truman had a speech to give in Washington, DC, in which he was going to hammer President Eisenhower. So instead of taking a train or a plane, Harry drove with Bess in the new car to Washington from Independence, Missouri and then went up to New York City, where somebody had given him tickets to a Broadway play ("Wicked").

This was before the Interstate Highway system came about, so you had Harry and Bess tooling along the back roads of America. It is also important to note that they had no secret service protection for this trip.

Harry gave his speech. Harry and Bess saw their play. Then, they went home to Missouri. Along the way they stopped for gas, to stretch their legs, and to get something to eat.  Many ordinary Americans told their friends they saw Truman today.

I don't think he made as much money as Trump's NFTs, but at least he wasn't dressed up like a cowboy or Superman.