Presidents’ Day is Monday. We rarely think of the words prankster and president in the same breath, yet many past presidents have been pranksters. I’m never sure who enjoys pranks more, the prankster or the persons pranked. You decide as you read the ideas of fun that presidents of the United States have enjoyed. It's not every day that you get fooled by the nation's Prankster-in-Chief. I wonder how we would respond if we learned President Trump pulled any of these presidential pranks.

LYNDON JOHNSON, President 1963-1969.

President Johnson loved cars and kept a large collection of them at his Texas ranch. One of the more unusual cars was an Amphicar. It looked like a normal car, but worked like a boat when driven into water.

Johnson used the vehicle to prank guests. He would invite visitors to take a drive around the ranch with him in his blue convertible. When they got to a steep hill at the edge of a lake, Johnson would let the car pick up speed. Then he would shout, “The brakes don’t work; we’re going into the water!”

As the car entered the lake, the passengers would panic – until they realized they were in an Amphicar. Instead of sinking, they were motoring across the lake. Later Johnson would tease the visitors for trying to save their own skins instead of the President’s.

CALVIN COOLIDGE, President 1923-1929.

President Coolidge earned his nickname, Silent Cal, by keeping silent, so it makes sense that his White House pranks were wordless. Coolidge used a series of buttons on his desk to summon his staff. He liked to prank them by pressing all the buttons at once so he could watch people run from all directions.

He also liked to slip out the front door of the White House, press the alarm button near the door, and watch the Secret Service run up the walk to find out what was wrong. Coolidge enjoyed this prank so much he would do it several times in a row. We can only guess how much the Secret Service liked it.

HARRY TRUMAN, President 1945-1953.

President Truman pulled more pranks in the White House than any other president. He was planning a trip to South America and several reporters were going. Often they had to get painful shots on these trips to protect them from yellow fever. One of the reporters was terrified of needles. He was overjoyed when he learned the press didn’t need shots for the trip.

Suddenly he was told the president decided everyone did need the shot. A reluctant Tony Vaccaro was ushered to the White House clinic. He was asked to lie on his tummy on the examining table facing the wall. (Yellow fever shots were given in the rear end, not the arm.) Seconds later the door opened and a familiar voice said, "This won't hurt a bit, Tony." He turned to see President Truman holding a giant hypodermic needle – the kind used by veterinarians on horses. Vaccaro started to shake. Then he saw the smiling president and realized it was a prank.

BARACK OBAMA, President 2009-2017.

President Obama called Virginia Governor Tim Kane's last radio call-in show, "Ask the Governor," as Kane was nearing the end of his term. The caller was announced as "Barry from D.C. with a question about traffic in Virginia.” Kane was poised to take the question, when the caller revealed that he wasn't just any Barry from D.C. – it was President Barack Obama from the White House.

For a second Kane was speechless, then he broke into laughter, and finally tears when he learned that the radio station had collaborated with the president to give him a humorous and memorable send-off.

A Polish neuroscientist, Dr. Fran Luschinsky, says that pulling pranks makes you smarter. Her research shows that people who pull at least one prank a week grow twice as many new brain cells as nonpranksters; have higher IQ scores; earn more money; and report being happier than nonpranksters.

Like presidents, I'm suspicious that neuroscientists enjoy good pranks too! Are Dr. Luschinsky’s statistics a prank?

Source: Prank-lopedia