Kerry Tymchuk talks at Albany Chamber luncheon

The most successful presidents in our country's history all shared a common trait - a keen sense of humor. So said Kerry Tymchuk during the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce lunch forum Wednesday at the Lum Yuen restaurant.

Tymchuk, state director to U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith and former chair of the Oregon Lottery Commission, assisted Sen. Robert Dole in writing a book entitled "Great Presidential Wit" that ranks the nation's 43 presidents by sense of humor and their political effectiveness. The two men believe there is a direct link between presidents who could laugh at themselves along with the rest of the country and their leadership skills.

"Presidents who have a sense of humor get things done," Tymchuk said.

One writer said Abraham Lincoln, "rose wisecracking to the level of biblical scripture," during one of the worst periods in our country's history. "I laugh because I must not cry," Lincoln once said.

Ronald Reagan used humor to help bring down communism. "We actually had people going into Moscow who would relay the jokes Russians were telling about their government and Reagan would use that information in his speeches," Tymchuk said. "He almost always started his speeches with an anecdote or a joke."

Although Franklin Roosevelt's time in office was during war, he shut out the outside world for an hour each afternoon to hold a "cocktail hour" where business was suspended and cheerful banter was the rule. His cousin, Teddy Roosevelt, "loved life and traveled extensively," Tymchuk said. It wasn't unusual for Roosevelt's children to put a pet snake into a visiting dignitary's coat pocket, amusing both themselves and their father.

Calvin Coolidge, although a quiet man, had a sarcastic sense of humor, Tymchuk said. "He liked to pop the balloons of self-important people," Tymchuk said.

Despite being elected the first president of the United States, George Washington ranks only 15th in the humor department.

Dead last is Millard Fillmore, the 13th president, who served from 1850 until 1853 as a member of the Whig Party. Others near the bottom are James Polk and James Buchanan.

Tymchuk said Sen. Smith has a "great sense of humor … he's a great story teller."

Tymchuk also answered questions from chamber members. He said the struggle over country payments for western states affected by the lack of timber revenues has become "a turf fight." About 23 states share in funds to replace the loss of Western Oregon Severance Taxes due to federal policies that have almost killed all timber harvesting on public lands in the last 15 years.

"Oregon receives about 50 percent of the funds, and now, the other states want more money," Tymchuk said. "Senator Smith and Senator Wyden are both fighting to keep the current funding level. Senator Smith also believes we should get back to a reasonable level of timber harvesting and that would provide timber tax receipts to support our schools."

A Reedsport native, Tymchuk lives in Beaverton and has served as special assistant and director of speech writing for former Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole and as legal counsel and director of speech writing for her husband, Sen. Robert Dole. He is a 1981 graduate of Willamette University and a 1984 graduate of the Willamette University School of Law.