Conservatives, pundits upset by Obama additions to presidential biographies

Rory Cooper of The Heritage Foundation noticed it first — that the White House had inserted mentions of President Barack Obama into presidential biographies on whitehouse.gov — and he asked on Twitter, "Aren't bio pages supposed to be neutral? For kids?"

Seth Mandel at Commentary Magazine investigated further, finding that mentions of the current president popped up in every presidential biography from Calvin Coolidge onward, skipping only Gerald R. Ford.

The Obama mentions say things like:

"On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama Administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations."

"President John F. Kennedy famously suggested the American people: Ask what you can do for your country. In 1961, the Peace Corps was created, facilitating service among citizens working toward peace in developing countries. In 2011, President Obama celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps with a Presidential Proclamation."

"In 1977, President Jimmy Carter created the Department of Energy; today the DOE works with the Obama Administration to drive towards innovation in energy and reducing reliance on foreign oil with an all of the above approach."

"In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule."

"Continuing his work as a lifelong public service, Clinton created the Clinton Foundation in 2001 to improve global health, education, economies and environments. Affectionately calling him Do-Gooder-in-Chief, President Obama has worked with Clinton to make buildings in our country more efficient — announcing a $4 billion investment in energy efficiency upgrades for commercial buildings."

On Twitter — a platform that Powerline's John Hinderaker argues is dominated by the right — the presidential biography additions spawned a hashtag game using the tag, #ObamaInHistory.

"I'm sure that during the Social Security debate in 2005, if President Bush had updated the biographical page to say that he was trying to preserve FDR's original vision of Social Security, liberals would have been up in arms," Philip Klein writes at The Washington Examiner. "Obama should get beyond his own narcissism and realize that, win or lose in November, he's just a temporary part of something that's bigger than himself."