I was drawn to the expression, “presidential president” appearing in Washington Post’s (August 12) article titled, “What a presidential president would have said about Charlottesville.”
It follows:
“Here is what President Trump said Saturday about the violence in
Charlottesville sparked by a demonstration of white nationalists,
neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members: We condemn in the strongest
possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence
on many sides. On many sides. Here is what a presidential president
would have said: “The violence Friday and Saturday in Charlottesville,
Va., is a tragedy and an unacceptable, impermissible assault on
American values. It is an assault, specifically, on the ideals we
cherish most in a pluralistic democracy — tolerance, peaceable
coexistence and diversity. ….
Of course, I've heard expressions such as Presidential candidate, Presidential campaign, Presidential speech "Presidential agendas," and "Presidential advisor" to be sick 'n' tired, but I don’t think I’ve heard such a usage as “presidential president” very often.
Mr. Trump is a legitimate president apart from potential criticisms. Why does it need to be “presidential president.”?
- Does “presidential president” mean a desirable / ideal /president-like president? Is it a common expression?
- Do you say 'vice presidential vice-president, 'chairpersonal chairparson,'directorial director,' 'managerial manager, 'doctoral doctor,''paternal father, maternal mother,' 'childish child,' and likewise?
Appendix:
In response to some of community members' behest to include the research I’ve done for this post, the followings are what I did and found before posting this question.:
I checked:
Readers English Japanese Dictionary published by a Japan’s leading English dictionary specialist publisher, Kenkyu-sha Publishing (2nd Ed), Oxford Advanced Learners English Dictionary (2000), Oxford Concise English Dictionary (10th Ed.), Oxford American Dictionary (1980), and Collins Cobuild English Dictionary (2003 New Ed.) all at hand.
Being an octogenarian, I admit all English dictionaries I had bought and presently own are pretty or very old as I am. I bought most of them before retiring more than 20 years ago.
Readers English Japanese Dictionary defines ‘presidential’ simply as ‘of president.’
OAELD shows it only as an adjective, without definition.
OCD shows ‘presidential’ as an adjective, derivative of president, without giving its
meaning.
Oxford American Dictionary shows ‘presidential’ as an adjective of ‘president’ without showing its meaning.
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary defines ‘presidential’ as presidential activities or things relate or belong to president. ex. Peru’s presidential election.
The above results resonate the comments of some users that they have hardly, or never heard of the usage of 'presidential' made in the manner of the above quote. I noted even a respectable answerer, J.R says he 'hasn't seen the phrase "presidential president" very often, either,' much less for an old non-native English speaker like me who've never resided in any of English-speaking countries even only for a short period.
After posting this question, I checked online Oxford Dictionary (ODO) though it was a kind of after-thought, and I found that it provides the second definition of 'presidential as: “Having a behavior or demeanor befitting a president. Dignified and confident,” as I stated in my comment in response to @Clare’s comment.
Best Answer
This use of the word "presidential" is using Oxford English Dictionary definition 1.b.
The word was originally used to refer to presidential candidates, as opposed to a sitting president like President Trump, when discussing whether their behavior and conduct was of the kind that made them fit to be a president. That is still the way in which it is most commonly used.
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, there was much discussion about whether candidate Trump had a demeanor that was presidential, or befitting a president.
When asked about his demeanor during the campaign, Trump famously said that if he was elected president:
The writer in the Washington Post is insinuating that President Trump's remarks about Charlottesville were not appropriate for the office of President, or in other words not presidential. The writer is contrasting that behavior with what a presidential president would have said, by which they mean, these are the remarks that befit the office of President.
Edit: In your second question, you ask:
The reason most of these phrases would be unnatural is because the adjective presidential meaning "befitting a president" is unique. It is an outgrowth of usage.
As with most adjectives that us the -al or -ial suffix, its initial meaning was of or pertaining to the noun, as with OED 1.a.
So uses in this sense would be something like "The presidential campaign was underway." Uses like this were extended to the sense cited at the top of this answer gradually over a long period of time. You can see the difference between the meanings in this sentence:
When discussing who should be chosen for president, it was and is reasonable to ask, "Does this person have a presidential appearance/demeanor/style?"
However, directorial, managerial, and doctoral never underwent these shifts in usage.
The only sure way to know whether an adjective derived from a noun can be applied to itself this way is to consult the entry for the adjective in a thorough dictionary.