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Being President of the United States comes with awesome perks. You get your own jet (and limo), a few personal chefs, and exotic holidays paid for by the working masses. Celebrities want to meet you…and those guys in the black suits are even willing to die for you. Not too shabby.
Just don’t expect to talk your way out of a speeding ticket, though.
As head of the executive branch of government, most Americans assume that the POTUS will not only enforce the laws of the land, but abide by them, too. While most of our presidents do a pretty good job behaving themselves, every so often, the leader of the free world breaks the law.
Interestingly, President Ulysses S. Grant broke the same law three different times!
Before sitting presidents were wheeled around in a bulletproof limo affectionately known as The Beast, a few of them drove their own horse-drawn buggies. Unfortunately for citizens of Washington D.C., Grant just liked to drive his just a little too fast.
During one of his more flagrant infractions, President Grant was racing so fast up M Street that when Officer William West of the Metropolitan Police Department attempted to stop the speedster, it took him half a block to bring the carriage to a standstill. President Grant was then taken into custody, and his horse and buggy were impounded.
Ouch.
Later on at the station, the other police officers were scratching their heads about what to do with the President. Could he be arrested? Could he even be charged? But Grant handled the run-in with poise and humility. “I was speeding, you caught me and I’ll pay the ticket.” Grant then forked over $5…and walked back to the White House.
No one is above the law or beyond the consequences of breaking it. Not even the one who signs laws into being!
Click here for the online report.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Busted
Caught
Consequences
Embarrassing
Guilty
History
Law
Penalty
Police
Politicians
Pulling Rank
Repeat Offense
Rules
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
