Historians say today’s rebukes of presidents have grown more extreme

Criticism of the president has long been a staple of politics, but experts say lawmakers are becoming more extreme in their rebukes of the commander in chief.

White House scholars say that although every president has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous barbs, it has not historically been members of Congress hurling them. But more lawmakers are now doing so, and that has diminished the office of the presidency, historians say....

H.W. Brands, professor of history at the University of Texas-Austin and the author of books on several presidents, said he is not aware of “mockery of the president by elected officials” at the frequency that Obama has been getting it.

“Generally, there has been respect among elected officials for the office of the presidency,” Brands said. “The attacks have usually come from editorialists.”...

“In public statements like these, it is difficult to prove or disprove race as a factor,” said Julian Zelizer, professor of history at Princeton University. “My hunch would be that, in these times of polarized politics, we would see this tough rhetoric no matter what the president’s race.”

Ted Widmer, presidential historian and the director of the Carter Brown Library at Brown University, said that in trying to detect racism in criticism of Obama, each remark must be reviewed carefully. 

“But it sure seems like a pattern,” Widmer added. “And not a pretty one.”...