Slideshow: Mr. Smith Goes to Sesame Street

Mr. Smith Goes to Sesame Street (1 of 9)

This week, "Sesame Street" kicks off its fortieth season on air. But the TV show's transition to middle age hasn't been entirely smooth. Conservative bloggers are blasting an episode in which Oscar the Grouch, who lives in a garbage can, described the fictional "Pox News" channel as "trashy." (Presumably he would know.) And the show has flirted with politics before: Politicians guest-star, and international versions of it cover topics like HIV in South Africa and ethnic strife in Ramallah. Click through this TNR slideshow to see videos of political figures who have visited Elmo, Big Bird, and the rest of the “Sunny Days” gang.

Michelle Obama (2 of 9)

Though she's appeared with Elmo multiple times, Michelle Obama’s most sustained appearance on "Sesame Street" concerned food. Here, the First Lady teaches Elmo and Big Bird about growing their own food in a local garden, just like the one she keeps by the White House.

Laura Bush (3 of 9)

Mrs. Bush paid a visit to "Sesame Street" back in 2002, to read to children from the book Wubba, Wubba, Woo. It explains, “No matter what you look like, no matter what you do, everybody likes to say, 'Wubba, wubba, woo!'" Laura Bush would later appear on the Indian version of the show during a visit to New Delhi.

Mike Huckabee (4 of 9)

At a 2006 meeting of the National Governors Association, Huckabee squared off against a Muppet duo of Elmo and a Hispanic character, Rosita. They joked that Governor Vilsack had made good “budget recommendations,” to chuckles from the crowd. Weirdest moment: Elmo fixated on the sound of the word “Huckabee,” incessantly repeating it over and over.

Barbara Bush (5 of 9)

Barbara Bush appeared on "Sesame Street" with Big Bird and the Count von Count to read from Ezra Jack Keat’s classic children’s book Peter’s Chair. The first lady keeps remarkably calm while waiting for the Count to stop counting and let her begin the story.

Ralph Nader (6 of 9)

In this segment on “people in the neighborhood,” consumer advocate Nader appears along with Barbara Walters and 1980s tennis star Martina Navratilova. When cast member Bob jokes that Nader's memory has “total recall,” Nader retorts, “I’d like to recall that joke,” and rips apart Bob's sweater in order to demonstrate its low quality.

Jesse Jackson (7 of 9)

When the reverend and onetime presidential candidate appeared on the show back in the '70s, it was to perform a call and response poem titled, “I Am Somebody.” The poem is genuinely inspiring, but one wonders if today's bloggers would complain about toddlers repeating the phrases “I may be on welfare” and “I am God’s child.”

Kofi Annan (8 of 9)

Annan, then the United Nations secretary-general, appeared on "Sesame Street" in 2001 to resolve a dispute between Elmo and friends over who would get to sing the “Alphabet Song.”

Related Links: Sesame Street (9 of 9)

Click here to read Christopher Orr's take on the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Street" and learn what his favorite muppet song is.

Click here to read Christopher Orr on the "Sesame Street" parody of "Mad Men."