When I first 'Homeland Security', I thought that 'Homeland Security' was about securing you home by installing security alarms and surveillance cameras in every room to protect your house from terrorism.

Anon

When I was about 6, which would have made it about 1951, I said something innocuous to my grandparents and my grandfather said, "Better not say things like that, or McCarthy will get you." He was joking, but for years I thought "McCarthy" was some kind of mythical ogre like the "boogeyman" who would kidnap you if you misbehaved. For years every time I was bad I worried about "McCarthy". Many years later I found out I hadn't been all that far off.

Eric

When the politicians were talking about issues which begins with the word "pro-" as in pro-war, pro-immigration, pro-abortion, etc. I thought they were professional on war, immigration, gun-control, etc.

Anon

When I first heard "USA PATRIOT act" from the news and in the magazine, I thought that "USA PATRIOT act" is something about the Americans involved in patriotism like people should love America and be patriotic about the nation.

Anon

When I was about eight, since basically all my parents watched was the news, I thought that the definition of politics was old guys in suits that argued about what was in law textbooks. My mom later explained it when I was ten.

Anon

when i was little(about 2), george Bush was president and i thought he and his vice president were people who snuck around and hid behind bushes and got information about people, and his vice president wrote down everything.

prpleprincess

I used to believe that Barbara Castle was a building you could visit. (She was a British government minister at the time!)

..maz..

i used to believe that everytime we elected a president was because the old one died!!:)

angel

When my brother (16 yrs my senior) went to vote in the General Election I asked him to put my vote in for Harold Wilson - on his return he confirmed that he'd done it. When he won I was delighted and told all my friends about how I had contributed to the victory. It was about 10 years later when my sister-in-law, in an argument, told me that you have to be 18 to vote. I couldn't believe that my brother had lied to me.

Ant

I am from Ireland but grew up in london in the 1980's. At that time Northern Ireland was in the news a lot as was Sinn Fein. Until i was 8 i thought Sinn Fein was a woman and i couldn't work out why she never came on tv herself.

Rosa

I didn't realize the whole checks and balances thing when I was little, and I thought the president could just order something to be done, and it would have to be done. So I always wondered why he didn't order the nation to reelect him, so he could be president forever. I thought that maybe the ONLY thing a president couldn't do was order himself to be reelected, so I thought that he should confer with another country, and come to an agreement that if the other country's president would help his pass a law so he could be president forever, he would help that other president in doing the same thing. At least that's what I was planning on doing if I ever became president!!

k8y

While in kindergarten one day, I remember somebody interrupting the class and telling us that Jimmy Carter had been elected president. Shortly after I asked my teacher what a president did and was given a rushed answer, "he runs for stuff...". For the few years following I believed that the president was a marathon runner who did so wearing a suit followed by other suited runners wearing dark sunglasses.

B Lantz

Growing up in the UK in the 80s, I thought Margaret Thatcher was married to Michael Foot, the left-wing leader of the opposition, and that all the stuff on the news about her being the Iron Lady and him being a hopeless old lefty was to do with the fact that she bullied him at home and wouldn't do the cooking and stuff.

Billy