Franklin Delano Roosevelt : the enigmatic angler -- Harry S. Truman : we'll take the starch out of them; eventually -- Dwight D. Eisenhower : compassionate conservative -- John F. Kennedy : the charismatic with a stricken father -- Lyndon B. Johnson : the secret history of Medicare -- Richard Nixon : a flower that bloomed only in the dark -- Jimmy Carter : the righteous engineer -- Ronald Reagan : socialized medicine and the working stiff -- George Herbert Walker Bush : stick to the running game -- Bill Clinton : kicking the can down the road -- George W. Bush : bring it on : reforming Medicare.