List of nicknames used by George W. Bush

Former American president George W. Bush (a.k.a. "Bushie", "Dubya") is widely known to use nicknames to refer to journalists, fellow politicians, and members of his White House staff. His penchant for bestowing nicknames may come from his experiences with Skull and Bones, the Yale University secret society that gives every member a nickname. His was reportedly "Temporary", because he never chose a permanent one.^[1]

Bush's nicknaming proclivity is noted enough to have attracted a variety of satire, including a New York Times humor piece and a Doonesbury strip where "Condi" is admonished with the phrase "Careful, Brown Sugar".^[2]

Family

• Poppy, 41, Old Man – George H. W. Bush^[3]
• Bushie – Laura Bush (this is a mutual nickname)

Foreign leaders

• Dino (short for Dinosaur) – Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada^[4]
• Pootie-Poot, Ostrich Legs – Vladimir Putin, President^[5][6][7] and former Prime Minister of Russia
• Bandar Bush – Bandar bin Sultan, ambassador to the United States from Saudi Arabia^[8]
• Landslide – Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom^[9]
• Man of Steel – John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia^[10]
• Shoes – Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy

Staff

• Big Time, Vice – Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America^[6]
• Rummy – Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense^[7]
• Izzy, Altoid Boy – Special Assistant Israel Hernandez (for his role as provider of breath mints to the President on the campaign trail)^[11]
• Boy Genius, Turd Blossom, the Architect – Senior Advisor Karl Rove^[6][12]
• Condy, Guru – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice^[6]
• The World's Greatest Hero – Secretary of State Colin Powell^[13]
• Big O (current), Pablo (former) – Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill
• Fredo – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales^[6][14]
• Danny Boy, Dan the Man – Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Bartlett
• Ari-Bob – White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer^[15]
• High Prophet, Hurricane Karen – Karen Hughes, Special Advisor; Director of Communications under Texas Governor George W. Bush^[16]
• The Blade, My Man Mitch – Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels^[17]
• Big Country – Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh^[18]
• Brownie – Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael D. Brown^[19]
• Brother George – CIA Director George Tenet
• Sit Room Guy – White House Situation Room Director James P. Wisecup
• Tree Man – Bush's unnamed Forest Services official ^[20]
• La Margarita – Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings^[21]
• Tangent Man – White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card
• Tiny – Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage^[22]
• Light Bulb – National Energy Policy Development Group Executive Director Andrew D. Lundquist.
• Bullets – Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman^[23]
• M&M – assistant to Vice President Cheney Mary Matalin^[24]

Politicians

• Bama, Rock – Barack Obama, former Democratic Senator, Illinois, Bush's successor as President of the United States^[25]
• Boner – John Boehner, former Republican Majority Leader, former Speaker of the House ^[26]
• Big Boy – Chris Christie, former United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, current Governor of New Jersey ^[27]
• Conan the Republican - Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Republican Governor, California ^[28]
• Pablo – Paul Wellstone, Democratic Senator, Minnesota^[29]
• Pedro – Peter King, Republican Congressman from New York^[9]
• Hogan^[30] – John McCain, Republican Senator, Arizona^[9]
• Big George – George Miller, Democratic Congressman, California^[3]
• Freddy Boy, Freddo – Fred Upton, Republican Congressman from Michigan^[3]
• Congressman Kickass – John Sweeney, Republican Congressman, New York^[31]
• Nellie (former), Benney (former), Benator (current) – Ben Nelson, Democratic Senator, Nebraska(Daily Show, 02/28/05)
• Ellis – Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer, Democratic Senator, New York^[32]
• Ali – Barbara Boxer, Democratic Senator, California^[9]
• Frazier – Dianne Feinstein, Democratic Senator, California^[9]
• Sabertooth – Barney Frank, Democratic Congressman, Massachusetts^[33]
• Red – Adam Putnam, Republican Congressman, Florida^[34]

Journalists

• The Cobra – Maureen Dowd^[35]
• Stretch/Little Stretch – David Gregory, NBC^[36][37][38]
• Stretch – Dick Kyle, Bloomberg News^[38]
• Super Stretch – Bill Sammon, then of The Washington Times, now of The Washington Examiner^[38]
• Mikey – Mike Emanuel, Fox News^[39]
• Shades – Peter Wallsten, blind reporter for the Los Angeles Times^[40]
• Panchito – Frank Bruni, reporter who covered Bush campaign in 2000 for the New York Times^[41]

Others

• Kenny Boy – Kenneth Lay^[42]
• Weadie, Weadnik – author Doug Wead ^[43]
• The Englishman – Peter McMahon, husband of Dana Perino ^[44]
• Flies on the Eyeballs Guy – Director of the CIA Counterterrorist Center Cofer Black ^[45]
• Rosey – appointee Jack Rosen^[46]

See also

• List of nicknames of United States presidents
• Lists of nicknames – nickname list articles on Wikipedia

References

1. "'Bonesmen' for president – Countdown with Keith Olbermann". MSNBC. 2004-10-03. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
2. Doonesbury Comic Strip, 7 April 2004
3. Trudeau, Garry (31 January 2001). "On being dubbed by Dubya". CNN. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
4. "CBC News Indepth: Canada – U.S. relations". CBC News. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007.
5. Reynolds, Paul (23 May 2002). "Analysis: Bush and Putin on nickname terms". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
6. Parade, "Bye-Bye Landslide & Fredo", 30 September 2007, p. 19
7. "George W. Bush's Nicknames". About.com. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
8. "Profile: Prince Bandar". BBC News. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
9. Published May 21, 2005 (2005-05-21). "George W. Bush's Nicknames for His Friends and Enemies". Nymag.com. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
10. "AM – Bush anoints Rudd as the new 'man of steel'". Abc.net.au. 2008-03-29. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
11. "Names & Faces". The Washington Post. 26 June 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
12. Borger, Julian (2 October 2003). "Boy Genius or Turd Blossom?". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 8 May 2010.
13. Hasan, Mehdi (2002-01-02). "NS Profile – Colin Powell". New Statesman. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
14. Elliott, Justin. "A Gonzales resignation is not enough". Salon. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
15. "JewishJournal.com". JewishJournal.com. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
16. "'Hurricane Karen' blows hot for Bush". The Age (Melbourne). 31 March 2004.
17. Slevin, Peter (4 October 2004). "In Indiana Race, Bush's Budget Blade Becomes 'My Man Mitch'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
18. Stevens, Dana (2011-09-28). "Who Is Joe Allbaugh?". Slate. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
19. "Top Worldwide". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
20. Borger, Julian (20 May 2002). "Bush's love of Pootie-Poot Putin". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 8 May 2010.
21. "Margaret Spellings: Media Star". Newsmax.com. 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
22. "FRONTLINE: bush's war". PBS. 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
24. "Political Consultant Mary Matalin Plays Not My Job", Wait Wait....Don't Tell Me!, 2014-01-11
25. "The Blue State: Video: Obama displays personal appeal on Conan". Thebluestate.typepad.com. 2006-05-14. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
26. "The Crying Shame of John Boehner". Rolling Stone. January 5, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
28. "'Bonesmen' for president – Countdown with Keith Olbermann". MSNBC. 2004-10-03. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
29. Bas, Dana (2 February 2001). "Senate Democrats welcome Bush appearance at retreat". CNN. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
30. Adams, Cindy (8 August 2008). "Get A Handle On Exiting Prez". New York Post.
31. Mahoney, Joe (11 November 2007). "Former Rep. John Sweeney charged with aggravated DWI". Daily News (New York).
32. "Chuck Schumer's Political Future". Newyorkmetro.com. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
33. "Barney Frank zings Bill O'Reilly, GOP foes". BostonHerald.com. Associated Press. 2008-11-09. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
34. "hungrycoyote's Blog | Talking Points Memo | Putnam, Tudor Clash in Forum (FL-12)". Tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com. 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
35. "Editorial: Publishing world / Maureen Dowd offers reheated morsels". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 16 August 2004.
36. "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Bush on Ribs". Snopes.com. August 19, 2007. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
37. campaigndesk.org
38. Born, Matt (31 May 2002). "Bush snarls as White House pack closes in". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 8 May 2010.
39. ""Mikey" Emanuel's Embarrassing Moment". Retrieved 2008-06-01.
40. Cornwell, Rupert (16 June 2006). "Bush shows his sensitive side, telling blind journalist: 'I'm interested in the shade look'". The Independent (London). Retrieved 8 May 2010.
41. The Nation: Frank Bruni, the Plutocrats’ Pundit. Eric Alterman, September 18, 2013.
42. The Smoking Gun: Archive
43. The New York Times > Washington > In Secretly Taped Conversations, Glimpses of the Future President
44. Baxter, Sarah (9 December 2007). "Bushs cool blonde is a northern gran". The Times (London). Retrieved 8 May 2010.
45. [Woodward, Bush at War, pp.53.]
46. Jack Rosen, by Aly David, www.lifestylesmagazine.com, c2007

External links

• Nicknames used by George W. Bush at NNDB