Since Dancing with the Stars became a hit five years ago, America has rekindled its love affair with dancing. We’ve watched everyone from Emmitt Smith to Donny Osmond to Laila Ali to Tucker Carlson to Joey Fatone to Tom Delay shake it like a Polaroid picture on national television. But Delay isn’t the only politician who can get down. As we await the season premiere of Dancing tonight, TPM looks back at the long history of political shuffles and shakes.
October 1962: President John F. Kennedy watches his children dance in the Oval Office.
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June 12, 1971: President Richard Nixon dances with his daughter in the East Room at her wedding reception.
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August 1979: President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn dance aboard the Mississippi boat Delta Queen.
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1981: President Ronald Reagan talks to his wife Nancy as she dances with Frank Sinatra at a Los Angeles party.
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1984: Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, far right, performs in a group dance routine during the Miss Alaska pageant.
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July 5, 1992 : Future California governor Arnold Schwarzenneger dances with his mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
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August 17, 2000: Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman does a shimmy as he accepts the vice-presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
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January 20, 2001: Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne dance after addressing the Texas / Wyoming Inaugural Ball.
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July 2002: Former Attorney General Janet Reno dances with a campaign staffer during her unsuccessful run to become the governor of Florida.
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November 3, 2002: D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton dances as she takes the stage at a rally at the Lincoln Theater.
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September 12, 2003: Former DNC Chair Howard Dean dances on the campaign trail during his unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic nomination.
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March 28, 2007: MC Rove, the stage name of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, performs at the 2007 Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner.
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April 25, 2007: President George W. Bush dances during the performance of a West African dance company at the White House.
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January 1, 2009: The Clintons dance at the New Year’s celebration in Times Square.
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January 20, 2009: Vice President Joe Biden dances with his wife Jill at the Biden Home States Ball.
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2009: Former Speaker of the House Tom Delay performs on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. More pictures from Delay’s stint on Dancing with the Stars can be found here.
ABC
2009: President Barack Obama dances with his wife Michelle during the 2009 Nobel Banquet.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
2010: RNC Chair Michael Steele and an RNC intern yuk it up for the camera. More pictures from Steele’s photo-shoot with the RNC interns can be found here.
Odell Photos
