My favorite sex fantasy is becoming president, so I can do it to two hundred million people at once.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker compares political power to sexual fantasy, using hyperbole to critique the scale of presidential control.
- In plain terms
- I'd love to be president to impact everyone at once.
- What can you take from it?
- Power fantasies often mirror intimate desires.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does power relate to personal desire?
- What does this reveal about the nature of presidency?
Another view
It trivializes the presidency by reducing it to a physical act.
More from Gore Vidal
Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.
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