A distant memory tickled by Mick LaSalle's blog entry asking for a first political memory. The day after the 1960 election, riding the school bus as a first grader, kids singing:

Whistle while you work
Nixon is a jerk
Eisenhower's lost his power
And Kennedy's going to work

Nobody ever criticized Eisenhower directly that I can remember -- he was a national hero. We certainly haven't a president immune from criticism since then, and other than Washington, there might not be any others. Even Grant, who was more of a hero (in the North) than Eisenhower or any other general would become, got criticized plenty when he became president. There was a decency about Ike that transcended politics.