Sina Najafi on presidential doodles
The doodles are very different from president to president. Reagan, for example, who had dreams of being a cartoonist, made very workmanlike doodles. They’re nicely done, but he had a limited repertoire, drawing the same people again and again. In that way, they’re not very interesting, but there is a level of art that he brings to it that you don’t find in someone like Kennedy.
Kennedy made these strange word poems, once writing “Austria Neurotic Cheese” again and again on a piece of paper. What meeting is this where Austria, neurosis, and cheese are being discussed? Or maybe these things are not being discussed. Maybe they’re discussing Austria and he’s thinking on the side about neurosis and cheese.
[here; webpage for the book here]
5 months ago