1. Administration鈥擥eorge Washington
As the first U.S. president, George Washington not only defined the role of the chief executive, he also coined certain words to explain elements of the presidency such as the commander in chief鈥檚 period of time in office, which he called an 鈥渁dministration.鈥 Washington introduced the new use of the word in his Farewell Address in 1796 when he wrote, 鈥淚n reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error.鈥 The Oxford English Dictionary credits Washington with the first evidence of the usage of 32 words鈥攊ncluding 鈥渁verage鈥 and 鈥渋ndoors.鈥 As Dickson notes, however, that doesn鈥檛 mean the first president coined the terms, only that his writings contained the earliest recorded instances of them, in part because his papers were among the few to survive from the 1700s.
2. First Lady鈥擹achary Taylor
In the early decades of the United States, the president鈥檚 wife was commonly referred to as the 鈥減residentress鈥濃攓uite a mouthful. Not until Zachary Taylor eulogized Dolley Madison in 1849 did that begin to change. 鈥淪he will never be forgotten because she was truly our First Lady for a half-century,鈥 the twelfth president wrote of the widow of the fourth president. The title eventually grew in usage to encompass all presidential wives.
3. Founding Fathers鈥擶arren G. Harding
Today鈥檚 common collective reference to the Revolutionary War-era statesmen who drafted the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution had an unlikely start in a 1918 speech given by then Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding to the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution in which he said, 鈥淚t is good to meet and drink at the fountains of wisdom inherited from the founding fathers of the Republic.鈥 Harding, who had a penchant for alliteration, wielded the term again during his 1920 presidential campaign, and it soon supplanted the usage of 鈥渇ramers鈥 to describe America鈥檚 Revolutionary leaders, which Dickson says changed the way we now view them. 鈥淭he use of 鈥榝ramers鈥 connotes a much more diverse group, while 鈥榝ounding fathers鈥 sounds like they were this group of men walking in lockstep, and of course the reality is they had huge disagreements on voting, slavery and other issues.鈥
4. Iffy鈥擣ranklin D. Roosevelt
Although Franklin D. Roosevelt was a patrician with a very high-class way of speaking, Dickson notes that he wasn鈥檛 afraid to include slang in his linguistic arsenal, such as the use of the word 鈥渋ffy鈥 to describe uncertainties or Supreme Court decisions with which he disagreed. Roosevelt commonly swatted away hypothetical queries from reporters at press conferences by saying, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an iffy question.鈥
5. Lunatic Fringe鈥擳heodore Roosevelt
Dickson says that Theodore Roosevelt鈥攚hose contributions to the popular lexicon included 鈥渂ully pulpit,鈥 鈥渕uckraker,鈥 鈥渓oose cannon鈥 and 鈥減ack rat鈥濃攚as the most masterful president at coining new phrases. 鈥淪o many of his constructions are still around and still have his imprint on them. He just seems to have been the most colorful presidential contributor to the language,鈥 Dickson says. After leaving the White House, Roosevelt added to his linguistic legacy when in his review of the avant-garde Armory Show in 1913 the unimpressed former president wrote, 鈥淭he lunatic fringe was fully in evidence, especially in the rooms devoted to the Cubists and the Futurists, or Near-Impressionists.鈥 The term soon crossed over from the art world to the political arena to characterize those with beliefs well outside the mainstream.
6. Mulligan鈥擠wight D. Eisenhower
America may have liked Ike, but not as much as Dwight D. Eisenhower loved golf. The duffer-in-chief even popularized a term now in common parlance on golf courses around the world. In 1947, the Washington Post reported that after hitting a wayward tee shot, Eisenhower invoked executive privilege to hit another ball without taking a penalty. 鈥淕eneral Eisenhower got away from the first tee gracefully on his second shot, taking advantage of the rule of 鈥楳ulligans鈥 to smite one far down the middle after hooking his first shot into the trees,鈥 the newspaper reported. Eisenhower鈥檚 do-overs became common practices during his White House days, and so did the use of 鈥渕ulligan.鈥
7. Pedicure鈥擳homas Jefferson
No president coined more words than Thomas Jefferson. The Oxford English Dictionary credits America鈥檚 third president with the introduction of 110 new words including 鈥渂elittle,鈥 鈥渕ammoth鈥 and, aptly, 鈥渘eologize鈥 (a word meaning the creation of new words). 鈥淛efferson and his peers felt it was their duty to create a new language,鈥 Dickson says. 鈥淭hey wanted to create an American identity that included a distinct national language.鈥 As part of his work in forging a linguistic identity apart from the Queen鈥檚 English, Jefferson imported a number of French phrases from his years living in Paris, including the use of 鈥減edicure鈥 to describe the care of feet, toes and toenails.
8. Quixotic鈥擩ohn Adams
A voracious reader, John Adams in 1815 recalled the windmill-tilting protagonist of Cervantes鈥檚 鈥淒on Quixote鈥 in describing a Venezuelan revolutionary who hoped to unite all of Spanish America as 鈥渁 Quixotic adventurer.鈥 Dickson notes that there had been earlier uses of the word, but the second president鈥檚 reference helped to popularize it.
9. Squatter鈥擩ames Madison
In a 1788 letter to Washington, James Madison delineated several factions who might be opposed to the newly drafted U.S. Constitution, including a group of representatives from Maine who occupied land owned by others and to which they had no legal title. 鈥淢any of them and their constituents are only squatters upon other people鈥檚 land, and they are afraid of being brought to account,鈥 wrote Madison in the first recorded instance of the word 鈥渟quatter.鈥
10. Sugarcoat鈥擜braham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was capable of employing both soaring oratory and plain-spoken language. In a July 4, 1861, message to Congress, Lincoln used the latter to take aim at secessionists who claimed their actions were constitutional: 鈥淲ith rebellion thus sugar-coated they have been drugging the public mind of their section for more than thirty years, and until at length they have brought many good men to a willingness to take up arms against the government.鈥 The official government printer objected to Lincoln that the use of 鈥渟ugar-coated鈥 was beneath the linguistic dignity of the presidency, but the Great Emancipator stood firm and reportedly said, 鈥淭he time will never come in this country when the people won鈥檛 know exactly what sugar-coated means.鈥