Pearl Bailey, Nixon's 'Ambassador of Love,' charms her way to No. 5 in countdown

5: Pearl BaileyPearl Bailey, "The Muppet Show," “Captain Kangaroo,” others. While technically not a regular on either of the aforementioned shows, Pearl Bailey made enough guest appearances (as herself) to be granted the extremely rare Punditty TV Pantheon Guest Star Exemption. Without question, she earned it.

Some, like young Zane E. Punditty, recognized Bailey’s brilliance from Day One. But only now, in this ugly era of financial meltdown, political impasse and war without end, does she emerge as perhaps the closest thing this country has had to an undisputed national heroine since the days of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller.

Bailey would pop in now and again on various children's TV shows to discuss such topics as the Hegelian Dialectic, Cold War geopolitical strategies and her friendship with the likes of Mahalia Jackson and Eartha Kitt. Still, Bailey remained ever-accessible, as down-to-earth as the woman next door who bakes cake after cake and pie after pie so that the entire neighborhood can share in the bounty.

Worldwise yet very much a woman of the people, Bailey’s contribution to the amelioration of all humanity cannot be overstated.

Consider briefly the United Nations and Bailey’s relationship to this powerful world assembly. Since at least early 1993, when President ClintonPresident Clinton gave Attorney General Janet RenoJanet Reno the OK to order an assault on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, many Americans have understandably grown uneasy when talk turns to the U.N. Nevermind that this particular Clinton/Reno-initiated crime had no direct link to U.N. business -- the whole affair had a distinct New World Order stench about it.

As the 1990s progressed, millions of Americans found themselves obsessed with disturbing mental images revolving around the NWO and various scenarios inspired by the Rapture-themed “Left Behind” series. As president, Clinton did little to counter these concerns, and our nation still suffers for it today.

But when Pearl Bailey was a Nixon-appointed “Ambassador of Love” sitting in on U.N. meetings in the early 1970s, her mere presence kept any such doubts and fears from taking root in the hearts of the American people. Simply stated, Pearl Bailey put the Fear of God in the U.N. while simultaneously reassuring her fellow citizens through carefully selected TV guest spots. If Breshnev was getting a little testy, Nixon would send Bailey to a U.N. meeting. The Russian despot always backed down, and Americans always drew a kind of unspoken reassurance from the knowledge that Bailey was out there on the front lines, doing her part for the American Way of Life.

In fact, a thorough study of Bailey’s sociological impact finds that “international tensions eased noticeably after every appearance Bailey made at the U.N. Domestically speaking, her influence was even more profound: Without exception, consumer confidence increased in monthly statistics released subsequent to a Bailey guest appearance on any TV program between 1971 and 1979.”*

In addition to the enormous sway she held over the course of world affairs and the American economy, Bailey was that bridge all children need from the inner to the outer world, from the intimate world of family and friends to the great, wide world of possibilities, inquisitiveness and expansive awareness.

Her kindly manner, rapier-like wit and fluent command of international diplomacy make Bailey a must in any serious pantheon of Best Television Characters in a Secondary or Lesser Role. Although she played herself, Bailey’s was a role that no other human being alive at the time or since -- with the possible exceptions of Valerie Plame Wilson or Cher – could have performed with such valor and distinction.

*Citation courtesy of National University Library League's (NULL) graduate research paper division, economics sector. (“Woman of Honor, Woman of Truth: Pearl Bailey and Her Lullaby-like Effect on the American Electorate, 1967-1982;” Kamplebahn; Adrian Morraine; 2007, University of Virginia*)

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Watch Pearl Bailey sing “In the Good Ole Sumertime” with Floyd the Muppet from this clip filmed during the Carter Administration in the late 1970s.

Next up at No. 4: The two-faced teenager who influenced a president.

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The Punditty Pantheon of TV Greats can be viewed in full at:

http://www.punditty.com/tvcharacters.html