By some strange coincidence one of the articles in the WSJ today is how Teddy Roosevelt once issued an executive order saying that all government documents must conform to the new Simplified Spelling Board's spelling decrees. This included using "pur" for "purr" and "blest" for "blessed". After quite a bit of criticism and ridicule, he eventually withdrew the order.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/teddy-ro...les-1429225187
(Google "Teddy Roosevelt, Rough Rider Over Spelling Rules" )