Dueling Presidents

In 2002 The White House had to formally reject an offer to duel by an Iraqi leader

HISTORY

Jack Failor

2/3/20231 min read

I was listening to James May's How to Land an A330 Airbus, (a great laugh) and May discussed how men should relearn the art of dueling, instead of solving their problems with words. Whether it is In shopping malls or the street, always for the sake of a spectacle. Fantastic. James May then goes on to discuss the history of dueling both with sabers and smoothbore pistols, which are more likely to strike an onlooker than your opponent. He mentions that in October of 2002 George W. Bush was challenged to a duel against the President of Iraq to ease the relationship between the two nations, President Bush declined and therefore was a coward by dueling tradition. I had to look into this story after reading it so I found a CNN article from the time.

Kelly Wallace of CNN quotes Iraqi Vice President Tasha Yassin Ramadan as saying: "A president against a president and vice president against a vice president, and a duel takes place, if they are serious," the Iraqi vice president said. "And in this way we are saving the American and Iraqi people."(Wallace, 2002). This is pure comedy and could have been written by The Onion. How would history have been different if President Bush accepted the duel? We sadly will never get to know.

The article is linked below in case you are interested, thanks for reading.

Referenced Article:

Wallace, Kelly. “W.H. Rejects Bush-Saddam Duel Offer.” CNN. Cable News Network, October 3, 2002. https://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/10/03/iraq.bush.duel/.