Should President Bush elect not to attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics?  That’s the big debate these days.

It’s not just a moral and ethical question.  It’s also a question wrapped up in political history.

Is there precedent for an American president to stay away from an Olympics?  Of course there is  — in fact there are far more examples of presidents staying away than attending.

Here’s the most delicious example.  In 1932 President Hoover declined to attend the Olympics.  He was too busy campaigning for re-election.  And where those Olympics held?  Los Angeles.  Yes, Hoover stayed away from Olympics — in his own country.

He sent Vice President Charles Curtis instead.  We’ll pick up the story from — and we’re not making this up — the Charles Curtis fan site:

For the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, California; at the request of President Hoover, Vice-President Charles Curtis opened the Games for the United States. An actual recording of Charles Curtis announcements can be heard in the movie “The Jim Thorpe Story.”

And here’s photographic proof.  That good looking gent is VP Curtis.

Surely Dick Cheney would be just as intimidating to the Chinese.  So send him to the Beijing Olympics.  He’d strike fear into them.  And probably he could medal in the shooting competitions.