When Poetry Becomes a Hammer

In a shockingly unusual turn of events, a public official has spoken the truth!

Rhode Island Poet Laureate Thomas Chandler had some harsh words of criticism for both George and Laura Bush.

Asked in an email interview what he thought about the recent cancellation of a celebration of poetry at the White House (due to fears of anti-war protests), Chandler is reported to have called George W. Bush "the worst president in American history." Chandler then continued: "I have been challenging friends & colleagues (including historians) to name a worse one. No one can. Millard Fillmore & Gerald Ford may have been do-nothings, but they did not actively and consistently always make the overtly wrong choice."

As for the first lady, Chandler says: "Having Laura Bush act as the administration's cultural liaison is a pathetic gesture."

He adds, "In itself, the role means nothing. Even Hitler had a cultural liaison." And, he says, "Her comment that poetry should not be political would be laughable were it not so telling about the Bush's [sic] general arrogance."

Chandler has since repudiated the Hitler remark, saying that he felt he went too far, and that he was stating his personal views, not those of Bryant College or in his role as the Poet Laureate. Personally, I don't feel he did. Hitler did have a cultural liaison, and that didn't make him the awful monster that he was. In fact some amazing art was created under Hitler (Leni Rieffenstahl's films come to mind)

The thing is, having a cultural liaison doesn't make you a good leader, unless you use him or her to enhance the life and the world of the people you are serving.. Using culture as a way of giving the masses their bread and circuses, or convincing rich people that their life has meaning is not the best use of resources and denies the possibilities. As Brecht says, "Art is not a mirror that can reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it."


Bravo to Tom Chandler for standing up to the idea of poetry as something more than a frivolous pleasantry for urban intellectuals and millionaires. Poetry (and art in general) is not just for the readers of the New Yorker It's for everyone. And it can be used as a hammer.

Read the Providence Journal Article

Read two poems by Tom Chandler