politics

I used to believe that everyone in the United States voted using electronic voting booths of the style used here at home (in central New York state). In fact, I believed this until the 2000 presidential election, and was flabbergasted to learn it was not true!

Anon

I used to think the the whitehouse was right off the highway near my house, I live in Wisconsin;)

Paulette

Back when President Bush Sr. was in office I had to be about 5. I remember my dad was watching him make a speech on TV and he started laughing. I asked him why he started to laugh at Bush and he told me, "No reason, he's just a good man." So everytime Bush said something (Even though I had no clue what 'Desert Storm' was or even the 'budget') I laughed at him becuase I thought it would make him more chairismatic....

Mike

as a small child in the early seventies, i was desperately aware of shortages and the need to understand our resources: gasoline, climate change, CFC's, water (we lived in southern florida), solar cells, recycling, all these things blended together for me. When I heard that Nixon and Brezhnev were getting together for S.A.L.T. talks, I was astonished: i couldn't imagine that scarcity exteded to salt as well. I asked my father on the way to school that morning why salt was so inexpensive , seeing how it's so scarce. He fixed me with an odd little look, and then said that there was plenty of salt to go around. Well, why are they making such a big fuss and having salt talks then?" I asked, exasperated as only a small child can be. I give my father major parent-points for not laughing in my face there and then. Instead, he explained that it stood for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

heidi schmidt

When I was a child we listened to the radio for our news, and I remember hearing several times about how President Truman was having a Steak Dinner for visiting royalty. I knew steak was pretty scarce in our house so that would have been a nice treat. Of course, now I know he was hosting STATE Dinners for people.

MerryMarjie

I remember my Grandpa talking about the Cold War - and I always thought that it was a war at the south pole because that was the coldest place I knew of.

Jill

Abraham Lincoln invented all the WORDS. He wrote the dictionary by candle light in his log cabin. (Lincon Logs were so named in his honor.)

Maryk

When I was very young, I would hear about the "Iron Curtain" and I thought it was a gigantic metal drapery between countries and no one could go through it.

AK

I didn't fully grasp the idea of a "secret ballot":

One election year Dad mentioned that no one knows who you vote for. I took that to mean, "including yourself". So I said, "Can't you just walk in there, bang your fist on the table and demand that your vote goes to [a particular candidate] ?"

Some time later I realized the true meaning of the "secret ballot".

Tom

My 18 year old brother thought the former vice president was named Al Gorbachov.

Jeff

When I was 10, Ronald Reagan was elected president. My dad said that George Bush would take us into a war, so I was terrified that if anything happened to Reagan we would be in WW3 and the whole earth would be blown up with nuclear bombs.

Jennifer

I thought Abraham Lincoln was the first Jew.

Ken

I used to believe that the Demon Headmaster and Jack Straw were in fact one and the same person. I couldn't watch any parliamentary sections on the news because I thought that he was going to hypnotise me.

Pete

I used to believe that Aiatola Reza Parlev was praying. In portuguese "reza" means pray, and I believe that this Aiatola was praying some tipe of supplication named Parlev

AF

Once during a general election a political reporter asked a candidate "How was your campaign?"

I thought that they were asking about the fizzy wine!

Tim

Once at the time of a general election I asked my Mum if they had jelly and icecream at the Labour Party?

Tim

I used to believe the president of the United States sat upon a throne and ruled like a king. The only difference was his garb-- he wore a suit and tie instead of a robe and a crown.

David

I was very young when the whole WATERGATE situation occurred. I remember hearing things on t.v. and thinking that it had something to do with alligators!

JILL