Scandal! Is Obama the first president to publish an article in a scientific journal?
Fortune magazine CLAIMS that Barack Obama is the first president to publish a scientific article.
They are referring to:
Obama, Barack (2016). "United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps." The Journal of the American Medical Association. Published online July 11, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.9797 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2533698
See also JAMA’s Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/JAMA_current?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Move over @JustinTrudeau, as @BarackObama reclaims the coolest politician title with this @JAMA_current article! https://t.co/2piBJQEbJ5
— Jigyasa Sharma (@s_jigyasa) July 11, 2016
Dear Fortune/JAMA/Obama, I’ll see your JAMA article and raise you Thomas Jefferson’s description of the extinct giant sloth Megalonyx, “A memoir on the discovery of certain bones of a quadruped of the clawed kind in the western parts of Virginia.”
Jefferson, Thomas (1799). “A memoir on the discovery of certain bones of a quadruped of the clawed kind in the western parts of Virginia.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 4(30), 246-60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1005103
Take that Obama!
I’m sure sticklers and losers might say this was only published while Jefferson was Vice-President, in 1799. But that’s even more impressive, I’m sure Veeps don’t get kid-glove peer-reviews like POTUS does.
Also see Jefferson’s scientific correspondence while sitting as president, March 4, 1801 to March 4, 1809:
And, according to Wikipedia,
As a result of presenting his paper, Jefferson is often credited with initiating the science of vertebrate paleontology in the United States. In 1799 Dr. Caspar Wistar correctly identified the remains as those of a giant ground sloth. In 1822 Wistar proposed naming the species Megalonyx jeffersonii in honor of the former statesman.
Did Obama get a sloth named after himself? I don’t think so!
Also, Jefferson was president of the American Philosophical Society, the country’s oldest scientific society, from 1797 to 1814. I haven’t seen Obama preside over any scientific societies lately, have you?
Clearly this is an outrage! Someone tell Donald Trump, Ph.D.! (aka @ScientistTrump) (https://twitter.com/scientisttrump)
References
Bedini, Silvio A. (1985). “Thomas Jefferson and American Vertebrate Paleontology.” Virginia Division Of Mineral Resources Publication 61, 1-26. https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/PUB_61.pdf
Jefferson, Thomas (1799). “A memoir on the discovery of certain bones of a quadruped of the clawed kind in the western parts of Virginia.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 4(30), 246-60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1005103
Obama, Barack (2016). “United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps.” The Journal of the American Medical Association. Published online July 11, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.9797 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2533698
Notes
(Note in edit: The comments app seems to have crashed, for now try e.g. Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NickJMatzke/status/752797222341734400
https://twitter.com/NickJMatzke/status/752797401065271296 )