Peanuts, Popcorn, and American Presidents

Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball,” wrote Jacques Barzun, the late French-born historian of American culture. 


Barzun might have added that any U.S. politician with his eye on the White House had better know the difference between a ball and a strike. 


Since baseball became the National Pastime it has enjoyed a favored relationship with the seats of power—in Congress and even in the Supreme Court, but certainly with the chief executive. 


The venerable sportswriter Ray Robinson here surveys the presidential attitude toward the “best game” since the early twentieth century, separating the enthusiasts from the pretenders.