What's in a name

"The first of many strokes of good fortune for Adolf Hitler took place thirteen years before he was born. In 1876, the man who was to become his father changed his name from Alois Schicklgruber to Alois Hitler. Adolf can be believed when he said that nothing his father had done had pleased him so much as to drop the coarsely rustic name of Schicklgruber. Certainly, 'Heil Schicklgruber' would have sounded an unlikely salutation to a national hero."

Thus opens Ian Kershaw's two-volume biography Hitler, a well-written and informative (albeit unsettling) read. Amazing, the power of a name. It's unlikely Hitler would have gotten far in politics with a name so clumsy and undignified as Schicklgruber.

That little anecdote came to mind the other day when I heard that a man named Tom Vilsack is running for president in '08. President Vilsack? Can you imagine that? Today, President Vilsack held a summit with world leaders on... No way.

Politics is all about image, and it really helps to have a catchy name - or at least a name that doesn't suggest a synonym for 'scrotum'. We've had 43 presidents in our country's history, and the goofiest last names out of that pool are Roosevelt, Hoover, and Fillmore. I doubt Vilsack's gonna make the cut.

Though it must be said that Vilsack is better than Schicklgruber. Or Hitler. Definitely better than Hitler.