Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels: Insulting the President, from Washington to Trump, Battistella Edwin L.

Political insults tell us what we value in our leaders by showing how we devalue them. In Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels, linguist Edwin Battistella collects over five hundred insults aimed at American presidents. Covering the broad sweep of American history, he puts insults in their place-the
political and cultural context of their times. Along the way, Battistella illustrates the recurring themes of political insults: too little intellect or too much, inconsistency or obstinacy, worthlessness, weakness, dishonesty, sexual impropriety, appearance, and more. The kinds of insults we use
suggest what our culture finds most hurtful, and reveal societys changing prejudices as well as its most enduring ones. How we insult presidents and how they react tells us about the presidents, but it also tells us about our nations politics.

Readers discover how the style of insults evolves in different historical periods: gone are apostate, mountebank, flathead, and doughface. Say hello to moron, jerk, asshole, and flip-flopper. Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels covers the broad sweep of American history, from the founders
debates over the nature of government to world wars and culture wars and social media.