Art Hoppe reminisced about his career as a political satirist for the San Francisco Chronicle making fun of U.S. presidents.
Hoppe has written about it all - from the Kennedy administration to the Clinton administration - in more than 6,000 syndicated columns.Friday night, he received the National Society of Newspaper Columnists 1996 Lifetime Achievement Award at a banquet sponsored by the Deseret News.
Feeling overwhelmed, Hoppe said that he was honored to receive the award and graciously thanked the society for remembering him. He addressed the society at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird.
The life of a columnist is wonderful, he said. "Who else gets paid to tell people what they think?"
A few of Hoppe's well-known techniques for making fun of presidents are the soap opera, comic book or fairy tale scenarios.
First, the John F. Kennedy administration soap opera was called, "Just Plain Jack." He said it was about a lovable Irish family that loved big cocktail parties.
Then came the Lyndon B. Johnson administration's Western ballad, a combination of "Bonanza" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." "LBJ had the fastest handshake in the West," Hoppe said.
Gerald Ford was the inspiration for the Scoutmaster series with his lovely assistant, Lois Lotus. In the column, the Scoutmaster used his 20/20 vision and 100 I.Q. to solve societal problems.
Ford was so good and decent, the press could only attack him on his virtue, according to Hoppe.
An all-time favorite, the adventures of Sir Ronald and Sancho have been big hits with readers. A few episodes include the search of the White House and the growing cut budget.
Despite the slams he gave former President Ronald Reagan, Hoppe said he still liked him. "Reagan turned out to be one of the greatest presidents from my point of view," he said.
However, Bill Clinton is probably one of Hoppe's least favorite presidents. In satire, he said, it is important to like your subject so you don't "bludgeon them to death." Clinton lost Hoppe somewhere in the marijuana "I didn't inhale" escapade.
Closing his remarks, Hoppe said, "We (the United States) have survived the Cold War and lived through the most critical days in human history."
Society members considered meeting Hoppe and other newspaper legends an honor.
Barbara Robinson, a Las Vegas Review Journal columnist, said, "Art is brilliant. Unusually verbal for such a prolific humorist."
Hoppe has never won the Pulitzer Prize, but Charles Memminger, a columnist of the Honolulu Star, said, "I hope he will get a Pulitzer. He deserves one."