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1. George Washington.
Married his way into becoming the richest man in Virginia.
1st George Washington (1789-1797) Net worth in today’s dollars: $525 million His Virginia plantation, "Mount Vernon," consisted of five separate farms on 8,000 acres of prime farmland, run by over 300 slaves. His wife, Martha Washington, inherited significant property from her father. Washington made significantly more than subsequent presidents: his salary was two percent of the total U.S. budget in 1789
His salary was 2 percent of the US Economy in 1790’s
Wouldn't let inferiors sit in his presence.
Grew hemp
He was the only unanimously elected U.S. president, and rightfully so. He set the tone for the presidency (including inventing the Cabinet system and starting the tradition of the inaugural address).
He didn’t have enough money to get to his own inauguration so he had to borrow $600 from his neighbor.
Washington was always at the frontlines in any of the many battles he took part in and there are countless stories of Washington returning from battle with bullet holes in his uniform, or without a horse, (it having been shot from under him), but he always remained unharmed. As a general, he believed, in the strength of small numbers. Typically both a loner and rebel, Washington preferred a small band of dedicated warriors over large armies any day of the week and he won plenty of battles when the odds were decidedly not in his favor.
However, some historians believe George Washington not very good a military strategy, and in fact lost as many battles as he won.
He did lead the famous surprise Christmas attack across the Delaware River in 1776, but just nine months later, he was almost fired as general because he lost the city of Philadelphia when the British Gen. Howe outmaneuvered him. It took a whole lot of help from the French to eventually win the war.
FACT OR CRAP: At his inauguration, Washington had only one tooth. At various times he wore dentures made of human teeth, animal teeth, ivory or even lead. FACT
2. John Adams:
Defended the redcoats in the Boston Massacre.
2nd John Adams (1797-1801) Net worth: $19 million Adams received a modest inheritance from his father. His wife, Abigail Adams, was a member of the Quincys, a prestigious Massachusetts family. Adams owned a handsome estate in Quincy, Massachusetts, known as "Peacefield," a working farm, covering approximately 40 acres. He also had a thriving law practice.
Had an incredibly high and squeaky voice and spoke with a lisp. He stubbornly refused to wear dentures.
Died, July 4, 1826…the same day as his bitter rival, Thomas Jefferson. They died only minutes apart. Adams’ last words were, “and still Jefferson lives”…not realizing Jefferson had died minutes earlier.
Graduated Harvard College (1755). Adams was the great-great-grandson of John and Priscilla Alden, pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.
Adams and Jefferson were the only presidents to sign the Declaration of Independence, and they both died on its 50th anniversary, July 4, 1826.
Vice-President under Washington. Older that any other president at his death, he lived 90 years, 247 days.
Taught himself to speak Dutch. Then hopped in a boat to the Netherlands, where he borrowed money to keep America from going broke.
FACT OR CRAP: He never, never took a drink of alcohol his entire life. (Crap – made up)
3. Thomas Jefferson, the third (and many would say greatest) president of the United States was not merely one of the key Founding Fathers and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence - he also invented the swivel chair.
Opposite of Washington in that he wouldn’t let anyone bow to him and always wanted to be like a “regular guy”…often answered the door to the White House himself.
3rd Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) Net worth - $212 million Jefferson was left 3,000 acres and several dozen slaves by his father. "Monticello," his home on a 5,000 acre plantation in Virginia, was one of the architectural wonders of its time. He made significant money in various political positions before becoming president, but was mired in debt towards the end of his life…as sadly, he was not good at managing money. Jefferson enjoyed fine living and often outspent his income to support his lavish lifestyle….
When he died in 1862, he had racked up over $100,000 of debt. In today’s terms, that’d be like $1.5 million! Jefferson’s family, stuck with his debt, had no choice but to sell Jefferson’s beloved home, Monticello, to help settle the debt.
Besides being totally awesome at writing stuff, Jefferson also designed houses with swivel chairs and automatic doors and even invented the portable printing press. In addition, he also founded the University of Virginia, just because he could.
Thomas Jefferson was an avid inventor who is credited with inventing the coat hanger… hideaway bed….and dumbwaiter.
Grew hemp
JFK even famously said the combined abilities of 49 Nobel Prize winners couldn't compare to the brainpower of a lone Thomas Jefferson. Such was the badassery of Jefferson that Kennedy even said that to their faces.
He had to add accent marks to his draft of the Declaration of Independence so that he could read it out loud without shitting himself. Throughout his presidency, he gave only two speeches -- one speech per term, and both were at his
-- As a result, Jefferson also pioneered the strategy of sending the State of the Union address to Congress in writing rather than delivering it in person, a tradition that would survive until Woodrow Wilson.
Jefferson made up for his lack of stage presence in the same way that bad metal bands do -- by wearing ridiculous clothes. His pants were a hideous shade of red, and he often looked like he had dressed in the dark. He'd intentionally wear ridiculously out-of-fashion clothes, with different styles randomly thrown together in a way that was impossible not to notice.
On his epitaph, which he composed, it mentions that he was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statuette of Virginia for Religious Freedom and that he was the father of the University of Virginia. He neglected to mention he had been the President of the United States.
Fact or Crap – Jefferson spoke 6 different languages. -- FACT
4. James Madison…smallest president. He was 5’ 5” and weighed only 100 pounds. He was at least fifty pounds smaller than his wife, Dolly Madison. And with her boisterous personality, some felt she pushed him around. He denied this.
He hated parties and dancing, but his wife always threw balls and parties. James Madison is the first president to have an integration ball.
"First Lady" was used first in 1849 when President Zachary Taylor called Dolley Madison "First Lady" at her state funeral.
British troops burned the White House 1814.
First president to have had prior service as a congressman.
First president to wear trousers rather than knee breeches.
> Net worth today: $101 million
Madison was the largest landowner in Orange County, Va. His land holding consisted of 5,000 acres and the Montpelier estate. He made significant wealth as Secretary of State and president. Madison lost money at the end of his life due to the steady financial collapse of his plantation.
FACT OR CRAP: He was so p-whipped by his wife that he often carried her purse for her, even after he became president…for this he was ridiculed by his enemies and political opponents. Some began calling him, The Dandy Madison.
CRAP – MADE UP
5. James Monroe: Graduated College of William and Mary (1776) Secretary of State under Madison. Secretary of Was under Madison.
On December 2, 1923 proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine, warning European powers not to interfere in U.S. affairs. First president to ride on a steamboat.
First U.S. Senator to become president.
First inaugural to be held outdoors. His daughter was the first to be married in the White House.
The U.S. Marine band played at his second inaugural and every inauguration since.
He, like Jefferson and Adams, died on the fourth of July…not the same year.
He once chased his Secretary of State from the White House with a pair of fire tongs.
FACT OR CRAP: He had such a bad case of dandruff, he had one aide always by his side, whose job it was to pick flakes out of his hair so he would look presentable when he went into meetings with his cabinet.
CRAP – MADE UP
6. John Quincy Adams: Graduated Harvard College (1787) Secretary of State under Monroe.
Adams swam nude (weather permitting) in the Potomac River every day.
A female reporter once caught him swimming in the Potomac and forced him to give a nude interview.
First elected president not to receive either the most electoral college votes or popular votes.
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." -- John Quincy Adams
First of two sons of a president to become a president.
Only president elected to the House of Representatives after his presidency.
He named one of his sons George Washington...Adams
The only two Presidents to return to elected federal government positions after their final terms? The other is Andrew Johnson.
With his father away from home most of the time busying himself with the rebel cause, Adams, at age eight, was the man of the house. He, in fact, often talked about watching the battle of Bunker Hill from his front porch, constantly worried about being, as he wrote in his diary, "butchered in cold blood, or taken and carried...as hostages by any foraging or marauding detachment of British soldiers." Remember when you were eight and you worried about missing Pokemon?
He kept a pet alligator in the East Wing of the White House. That actually probably came in handy for some of that shrewd negotiating we mentioned earlier.
Loved to have sex outdoors, and said, "The art of making love, muffled up in furs, in the open air, with the thermometer at Zero, is a Yankee invention."
He was widely lauded as the best diplomat ever. Before he became President, he was instrumental in the acquisition of Florida under president James Monroe. He also had a big part in writing the Monroe Doctrine, which was a ballsy declaration that basically told Europe to eff off.
As president, he was a vocal opponent of slavery and supported education advancement, which could make one think that his failure to get re-elected was due to his simply being too smart -- and too ahead of his time -- for the voting public.
FACT OR CRAP: His wife, Abigail Adams lost her left hand in a horse and buggy accident and therefore always wore extremely large and blousy dresses with large pocket in order to hide the stump. --- CRAP
7. Andrew Jackson: No formal education. Was first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and he served briefly in the Senate.
7th Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) Net worth - $119 million While he was considered to be in touch with the average middle class American, Jackson quietly became one of the wealthiest presidents of the 1800's. "Old Hickory" married into wealth and made money in the military.
Placed 2,000 of his political supporters in government jobs and established a "kitchen cabinet" of informal advisors.
In 1835 he made the final installment of national debt making Jackson the only president of a debt free United States
Then Bill Clinton also accomplished the feat 164 years later.
He was the only president to serve in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
He was the only president to have been a prisoner of war.
He was the first president to have been born in a log cabin. First president to ride a railroad train.
Was in over 100 duels, many because people bad mouthed his wife, Rachel. He rescued her from an abusive relationship with her first husband and it was in question if she was officially divorced when they married. If someone mentioned this, Jackson would draw on them.
Enormously popular.
He called paper money “junk” and only used gold coins. Oddly, he was honored for this by being placed on the 20 dollar bill.
He also liked to move outhouses around so when people went out to use their bathroom, the bathroom was no longer there.
Jackson was the first president to take his oath outside at the Capitol in Washington. A huge crowd for the time period, at least 20,000 people, waited for the new president.
What happened next is truly legendary. The crowd migrated to an open house at the White House, as part of another tradition that lasted until the time of President Grover Cleveland.
The crowd quickly turned into a rowdy, drunken mob that smashed objects inside the White House. Jackson escaped either through an open window or side door, and organizers put large amounts of free booze on the White House lawn to lure the mob out of the building.
To make matters worse, an open feud broke out at the inaugural ball when the wives of Jackson’s cabinet members shunned a fellow wife, as part of what was later called the Petticoat Affair.
When the 1828 election rolled around, a lot of people were terrified when they heard Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson was running. He got the nickname Old Hickory because he used to carry a hickory cane around and beat people senseless with it, and if you're wondering why he did that, it's because he was a lunatic.
Andrew Jackson was the first president on whom an assassination attempt was made. A man named Richard Lawrence approached Jackson with two pistols both of which, for some reason, misfired. With the possibility of an assassination taken off the table, Jackson proceeded to beat Lawrence near death with his cane until Jackson's aides pulled him off the assassin.
The guns were inspected afterward and it was discovered that they were in perfect working order, leading some historians to believe that it was an odds-defying "miracle" that Jackson survived. Experts believe the bullets were simply afraid of Jackson
Jackson said:
"I have only two regrets: I didn't shoot Henry Clay and I didn't hang John C. Calhoun."
By the way, Calhoun was his vice-president.
Net worth today: $119 million
While he was considered to be in touch with the average middle-class American, Jackson quietly became one of the wealthiest presidents of the 1800s. “Old Hickory” married into wealth and made money in the military. His homestead, The Hermitage, included 1,050 acres of prime real estate. Over the course of his life, he owned as many as 300 slaves. Jackson entered considerable debt later in life.
Because he was wounded in the duel at age 39 and never got rid of the bullet…he had a huge amount of phlegm in his chest and throat, always.
FACT OR CRAP: Jackson didn’t have his hair cut the last ten years of his life, leaving him looking quite shaggy at the time of his death. --- CRAP
8. Martin Van Buren
Wrote an autobiography that failed to mention his wife, even once.
Vice President under Jackson.
First president born in the United States of America. He and his wife spoke Dutch at home.
He took his four years salary, $100,000, in a lump sum at the end of his term.
After serving one term as president, he made three unsuccessful bids for reelection.
Because he was skilled at attaining his political goals, he was also nicknamed the 'Little Magician'.
His wife was also his cousin once removed.
FACT OR CRAP:Van Buren's nickname was 'Old Kinderhook'. He often approved things by signing 'O.K.' which is where 'OK' came from. FACT
9. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
Chris Demm was married at the place he was born.
This solemn place is currently covered with snow and has goose shite everywhere…it was occupied until 1999.
The song “Taps” was composed there.
First Thanksgiving in the new world at his future house.
Rumor has it that all of the first ten president’s partied there. That’s unconfirmed but we know for sure that Lincoln was there…he stopped by twice.
Chris Kelly nearly pulled a tent down there doing a dance called the “Giant” or “the Carolina Hop” while at Chris Demm’s wedding.
Harrison's father was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
His grandson was Benjamin Harrison, who became the 23rd President.
Harrison gave the longest inaugural address - one hour 45 minutes… 8,578 words long …in the cold March rain…it gave him pneumonia.
The new president then attended a parade and three inaugural balls, in the same wet clothing he wore outside during the speech. He also drank at the inaugural balls.
His immediate job before becoming president was clerk of Hamilton County (Ohio) court.
First president to die in office. Inaugurated on March 4, 1841, contracted pneumonia in late March, died in the White House on April 4. Served 31 days.
FACT OR CRAP: HIS LAST WORD’S WERE…I SHOULD HAVE WORN A COAT
CRAP
10. John Tyler: Graduated College of William and Mary (1807). Vice President under Harrison. First vice president to assume office after the death of a president.
When he ascended to the presidency following the death of William Henry Harrison, he was dubbed "His Accidency"
Tyler was so deeply unpopular during his presidency that all but one of his cabinet members resigned in protest.
In January 1843, the Whigs introduced impeachment resolutions in the House, but the measures were defeated. Tyler served as president without being a member of any political party. He was a grand-uncle of Harry S Truman.
He had 14 children that lived to maturity. The youngest was born when he was 70 years old.
Five years after he left the White House, he was so poor that he couldn't even pay a bill of $1.25 until after a corn harvest. His first wife, Letitia Christian Tyler (1841 - 1842), was number 6 on the list of sexiest frist ladies.
Sadly, her First Lady sexiness was short-lived; she died a year after Tyler was elected to office. His second wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler (1844 - 1845), was number nine on the list of sexiest first ladies.
Julia parlayed her sexiness into celebrity status, when she posed for an ad that crowned her “The Rose of Long Island.” And that was before she was First Lady.
FACT OR CRAP: He halted government for two weeks after he had a boil on his left buttock lanced. - FACT
11. James Knox Polk:
James K. Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina on November 2, 1795. He was the first President born in North Carolina.
Graduated University of North Carolina (1818).
Presidnet Polk was one of only three Presidents that didn't have any children.
James Polk was the first presidnet to have his inauguration reported by telegraph.
He was the first President who had been Speaker of the House.
James Knox Polk was a workaholic who worked long hours.
· Polk was the first president in office to have his photo taken in 1849
James K. Polk was the most successful president in American history. During the 1844 campaign, he made 5 promises: to acquire California from Mexico, to settle the Oregon dispute, to lower the tariff, to establish a sub-treasury, and to retire from the office after 4 years. When he left office, his campaign promises had all been fulfilled.
He was the first "dark horse" (long shot) presidential nominee in U.S. history.
· Died shortly after leaving office. It is believed that Polk worked so hard whilst President that he weakened himself physically and died as a result at age 53.
He was plagued by diarrhea during his entire one term in office.He eventually died of what was described as a “derangement of the stomach and the bowels”. FACT OR CRAP: Before the advent of anesthetics and antiseptic practices, Polk survived a gallstone operation at age 17. -- FACT
12. Zachary Taylor: No formal education. Taylor served in the regular Army for 40 years and never voted, never belonged to a political party nor took any interest in politics until he ran for president at age 62.
He was elected in the first national election held on the same day in all states (November 7, 1848).
He was the first president elected without holding any previous elected office.
Never voted for a President
"An argument is made that Senator Atchison held the office of President between the Polk and Taylor administrations. This argument rests on the fact that President Taylor, for religious reasons, refused to swear the oath of presidential office on a Sunday. So he delayed his scheduled inauguration until the next day, and took the oath on Monday, the fifth of March, 1849.
"Some claim that during the day's delay, Senator Atchison held the office of President. The story is made all the more irresistible by the apparent fact that "President" Atchison slept through his entire "term in office" because he was hung over after all the inaugural parties.
Taylor refused all postage due correspondences, so it was several days later when he found out he was the next President
Taylor chewed tobacco and spit it incredibly accurately. Aids say he never, ever missed a spittoon. He did not smoke.
Taylor had a big head, coarse features, a short neck, and thick unkept hair. His body was big and barrel-shaped. His legs were short, to the degree that he required help from an orderly to get into the saddle
Taylor's near-sightedness, it is supposed, unconsciously caused him to keep his eyelids half-closed to sharpen his vision. This brought his heavy brows down and gave the impression of a fierce scowl [2c].
At close range (including reading), Taylor had to keep one eye closed to prevent double vision.
His old Army horse, named Whitey, would often graze on the White House lawn and visitors would take horse hairs as souvenirs.
Zachary Taylor revelled in the name 'Old Rough And Ready'…the name was given to him by several DC madams.
He had, by far, the largest testicles of any president.
He ate cherries and ice milk on a hot day on the fourth of July as they dedicated the Washington Monument. That evening he began having abdominal cramps, possibly the result of the cherries and/or the milk he ate. He steadily worsened: diarrhea and fever developed, and the diarrhea turned bloody. His doctors did what they could. He died on July 9…his intestines exploded
He was the second president to die in office..
Like virtually all Presidents, there were many people who might have wished Taylor dead. Because of theories that Taylor might have been poisoned (most notably by strychnine), his body was exhumed on June 17, 1991.
With permission of descendants, samples of it were analyzed. Some arsenic was found, but in quantities said to be too small to cause harm [2e]. This has not satisfied some commentators, who find flaws in the testing methods.
FACT OR CRAP: The doctor that pronounced him dead never ate another bite of ice cream or drank another glass of milk -- CRAP
13. Millard Fillmore: No formal education.
Queen Victoria once declared that Millard Fillmore was the most handsome man she had ever seen
Vice President under Taylor. Fillmore did not meet Taylor until after they were elected.
When he moved into the White House, it didn't have a Bible. He insisted someone bring one in. He and his wife, Abigail, installed the first library.
He installed the first bathtub and kitchen stove in the White House.
Fillmore could not read Latin and refused an honorary degree from Oxford University, saying a person shouldn't accept a degree he couldn't read.
His enemies described him as supremely ignorant.
In his desperation to broker the Compromise of 1850, he ended up with legislation that united everyone only in their displeasure and did little to ameliorate the tensions that would eventually lead to civil war.
Fillmore was in excellent health up to a few weeks before his death. On February 13, 1874, Fillmore suffered his first stroke while shaving, which paralyzed Fillmore on his left side. Fillmore suffered his second and last stroke on February 26 and died on March 8, 1874 FACT OR CRAP: He often wore his wife’s under garments around the East Wing of the White House. --- FACT
14. Franklin Pierce:
Nicknamed Handsome Frank
He gave his inaugural address from memory, without the aid of notes.
He installed the first central heating system in the White House.
He and writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of “the Scarlet Letter”) were old college buddies. They were vacationing together in the White Mountains when Hawthorne died in his sleep.
He was well liked but suffered from depression and alcoholism.
First president to put a Christmas tree up in the White House.
First President whose Vice-President never served, because he died before assuming any responsibilities.
Pierce's son Bennie, age 12, died in a train accident while the family was on their way to Washington to his inauguration in February 1853. Pierce's wife Jane was emotionally devastated by Bennie's death and would spend time writing tearful letters to her dead son while she lived in the White House….Caused Pierce to turn to alcohol more and more.
Pierce is an ancestor of former President George W. Bush. Bush's mother, Barbara Pierce Bush, is the fourth cousin, four times removed to Franklin Pierce.
Because of his religious beliefs, Franklin Pierce is the only president to affirm the oath of office.
Died of Dropsy and inflamation of the stomach
His wife, Jane Means Appleton Pierce (1853 - 1857) was the 37th sexiest first lady. FACT OR CRAP – Franklin Pierce was arrested for running down Mrs. Nathan Lewis in his horse and buggy. She suffered minor injuries. As the President was arrested, he simply declared, "I am Mr. Pierce". He was released. - FACT
15. James Buchanan: Graduated Dickinson College (1809). Secretary of State under Polk. In 1857
By the time Buchanan was 30 years old, he had amassed a fortune of $ 300,000. He was never married, so the duties of White House hostess were performed by his niece, Harriet Lane.
When Southern states stated their intention to withdraw from the Union, he called their actions illegal but said he had no authority to stop it.
Buchanan tired of being president and refused to run for reelection. He told Lincoln he had never been more miserable and that he was thrilled to be leaving the White House.
He is rumored to be our first gay president…he lived with Alabama Senator William Rufus King for many years.
William Rufus King, was referred to by critics as his “better half,” ‘’his wife,” and “Aunt Fancy.” Around Washington, the pair were known as the “Siamese twins,” slang at the time for gays and lesbians.
And when King was appointed envoy to France, in 1844, Buchanan lamented to a friend that “I have gone wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any of them.”
Quietly but consistently bought slaves in Washington, D.C., and then set them free in Pennsylvania.
Buchanan’s fate was linked to an episode in 1857 called the National Hotel disease, an outbreak of an illness tied to pre- and post-inauguration activities that left at least 36 people dead.
Guests who attended events at one of Washington’s biggest hotels came down with a mystery illness, and then died quickly or over the course of the following two years.
Buchanan himself contracted the disease twice and survived: once before his inauguration and once shortly after it. In both cases, he was at the hotel.
Among the 36 fatalities were people who attended the official post-inauguration banquet at the hotel, including three U.S. congressmen.
Rumors spread that Buchanan had also died, but he recovered after spending the first weeks of his presidency in bed.
Today, experts believe inadequate sanitary conditions existed in the hotel, including problems with its sewage system. It was mostly people who ate at the hotel who became ill, while bar patrons showed no symptoms. FACT OR CRAP: One of his eyes was nearsighted and the other farsighted. As a result he always cocked his head to the left. -- FACT
16. Abraham Lincoln: No formal education. He was a theatre lover.
According to THE Complete Book of U.S. Presidents -- -- Lincoln "had disproportionately long arms and legs," and might have even suffered from the Stretch Armstrong disease, more commonly known as Marfan Syndrome,
It's not just that his arms were superfreakgiant; they were incredibly strong. Several sources claim that, when Lincoln was in his 20s, they saw him carrying a box of stones weighing one thousand pounds, regularly.
In the 1830s, Lincoln was just beginning his political career and running for office in the New Salem assembly. At his very first speech, a small fight broke out in the crowd between a Lincoln supporter and some anti-Lincoln dude. Lincoln left the podium mid-speech, went into the audience, grabbed one of the combatants by the throat and threw him 12 feet.
Lincoln used to tell of a man who came up to him one day in Illinois offering a present. The present was a knife, and the man said, "I was given this for being the ugliest man in the world; it is now your trophy, until you find someone uglier than you," and Lincoln claims he held onto it all his life. [Sidebar: "Hand Knife to President" is NOT a game you should play today.] He had warts, scars, enormous ears and eyes that looked like they were constantly threatening to sink deep into his face
On April 9, 1865 Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant signed term of Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Virginia.
Five days later, on April 14, 1865 Lincoln went to Ford's Theater to watch "Our American Cousin" and was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth. He died the next morning at Petersen's Boarding House. Lincoln was the first president to die by assassination.
He was the first president to wear a beard.
His son Robert Todd Lincoln, was in Washington, D.C. when Lincoln was killed, was also on the scene when President Garfield was shot in 1881, and President McKinley was assassinated in 1901.
A poll of historians named Lincoln the nation's greatest president. Washington was second.
Robert Lincoln, son of President Lincoln, was saved from a nasty railroad accident by Edwin Booth. Edwin was the brother of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Abraham Lincoln's mom died when she drank the milk of a cow that grazed on poisonous snakeroot?
FACT OR CRAP: He is the only U.S. president who was also a licensed bartender. He was co-owner of Berry and Lincoln, a saloon in Springfield, Illinois -- FACT
17. Andrew Johnson: No formal education. Vice President under Lincoln.
Nicknamed the Tennessee Tailor
When he was 14, he and his brother were sold as servants to a tailor, they had to work for him and in return they would get food, clothing and shelter. After 2 years the boys ran away.
Johnson was married at a younger age than any other president. He was 18 on May 5, 1827 and Eliza McCardle was 16. He is the only president to serve in the Senate after his presidency.
Johnson was the first president to be impeached by the House, but on March 26, 1868 was acquitted by the Senate by a one-vote margin.
He kept dozens of white mice as pets, even in the White House.
He was buried beneath a willow tree he planted himself with a shoot taken from a tree at Napoleon's tomb.
The inauguration of Andrew Johnson as Abraham Lincoln's vice-president in 1865 was marred slightly by the fact that Johnson was incredibly drunk. He'd been downing whiskey in an effort to medicate himself for typhoid fever (that was his excuse, anyway) and was so far gone by the time he was sworn in that he slurred his oaths, and had to abandon his attempts to swear in new senators.
He died of a stroke.
FACT OR CRAP: When President Lincoln died, Andrew Johnson hurridly trimmed his eyebrows and beard to make him more presentable to the public for a state funeral. - CRAP
18. Ulysses S. Grant's middle name was . . . Ulysses.
His name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. The US Military Academy messed up his name when he enrolled, and it stuck.
Witness to some of the bloodiest battles in history, Grant could not stomach the sight of blood…even animal blood. Even rare steak nauseated him.
While president, he was arrested for driving his horse too fast and was fined $ 20.
Grant said he knew only two songs. "One was Yankee Doodle and the other wasn't."
He smoked 20 cigars a day, which probably caused the throat cancer that resulted in his death.
Ulysses S. Grant was unflatteringly known as 'Unconditional Surrender Grant',
He was also the first President to run against a woman candidate, Virginia Woodhull the nominee of the "Equal Rights Party" in 1872.
Ulysses S. Grant was the epitome of American badassery, a hard-drinking bastard who before taking office had been responsible for over half of the Union victories in the Civil War.
Then he calmly smoked cigars while everyone was scared shitless and being bombarded by artillery shells.
He was so shy that he wouldn't change or shower in front of his men. Officers bathed by stripping and having their men pour water on them. It was the same for everybody -- there is no privacy in a huge camp with thousands of men. Everybody except for Grant, who hid in his tent
Speaking of hiding, Grant did the same thing at his daughter's wedding. While everybody was out celebrating , Grant had a sudden onslaught of the wedding jitters and holed himself up in his room while crying hysterically.
Ulysses Grant was one of only two presidents to have three former presidents die under his watch. Nixon was the other.
FACT OR CRAP: It was so cold at this presidential inauguration that the canaries that were supposed to sing at the inaugural ball froze to death -- FACT
19. Rutherford B. Hayes: Rutherford B. Hayes and his family spent every single evening in the White House singing gospel hymns.
On September 8, 1880 Hayes arrived in San Francisco to become the first president to visit the West Coast.
He was the first president to graduate from law school.
Mrs. Hayes, Lucy Ware Webb, was known as "Lemonade Lucy" because she refused to serve alcohol in the White House.
Only one exception was made…Wine was served at the White House in 1877 when Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch of Russia visited the White House.
Pets - Siam, a Siamese cat; Grim, a greyhound; Duke, an English mastiff; Hector, a Newfoundland; Dot, a terrier; canaries; cows; horses; goats; other dogs
The first telephone was installed in the White House by Alexander Graham Bell himself. First President to use a phone - his phone number was 1
There is a plaque at his birthplace in Ohio, which is now a gas station.
He had serious problems with mites that got into his beard.
Argentina and Paraguay were involved in a bloody conflict during his presidency…he mediated ownership of a large tract of land…decided for Paraguay and is now a national hero there.
The first Easter egg roll on the White House lawn was conducted by Hayes and his wife. He kept his campaign pledge and refused to run for a second term.
FACT OR CRAP: When the next president, James Garfield took office, his staff found numerous problems caused by the Hayes’ pets…chewed furniture, lots of shedding hair, even some dog and cat droppings. -- CRAP
20. James A. Garfield: - Critics said the A stood for Asshole.Garfield
Was the first left-handed president.
He was the last of seven presidents born in a log cabin. On election day, November 2, 1880, he was at the same time, a member of the House, Senator-elect and President-elect.
He could write Greek and Latin simultaneously…on language with his left hand, the other with his right hand.
Pets: Kit the horse; Veto the dog; fish
Garfield was the first President to campaign in more than one language (English and Spanish).
Lucretia Garfield forgave her husband for his short affair with a woman whose last name was Calhoun.
Graduated Williams College (1856).
Only 131 days after taking office..On the morning of July 2, 1881, Garfield entered the Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. He had barely reached the waiting room when Guiteau stepped from the shadows firing two shots from a pistol, shouting, “I am a Stalwart! Arthur is President now.” -- AND…((TAKE THAT!))
The President collapsed to the floor, remaining fully conscious though in a great deal of pain, asking, “My God, what is this?”
One of the bullets grazed Jim’s arm, the other striking him in the back close to the spine. When the first doctor arrived on the scene he administered brandy and spirits of ammonia, ensuing an immediate bout of vomiting. Next, a prominent Washington doctor (D.W. Bliss) assumed control of the situation, inserting a metal probe into the wound, which become stuck and was only removed with great difficulty and great pain on Jim’s part. This task was performed without anesthesia, and without a murmur from the President, according to Dr. Bliss’ accountings.
All in all, sixteen doctors participated in treating (or killing) the President, eventually turning a three-inch deep and rather harmless hole, into a twenty-inch long gash that stretched from his ribs to his groin. The pus from the wound oozed more day by day, Jim’s 210-pound frame dwindling to 130 pounds.
Sadly, this incident transpired before the overpass of modern medicine. The doctors of this era took little, if any, precautions when working on the President, using either their fingers or dirty instruments. Most participated for public recognition, to be a part of this historical event.
Garfield was shot with a .44 British bulldog revolver. Guiteau bought that specific gun because he thought it would look good in a museum.
On September 19th shortly after being moved to New Jersey to escape the summer heat of Washington, as well as mosquitoes incubated by the stagnant canal in back of the White House, Jim Garfield died in a sea of agonizing pain. Vice-President Chester A. Arthur, a Stalwart, took the oath of office the following day. Jim’s death rigorously effected Arthur's beliefs in a positive way.
Jim Garfield was buried in Cleveland, Ohio. Guiteau went on to be tried, convicted and sentenced to death. On June 30, 1982 he was hanged.
Charles J. Guiteau wrote a pamplet and made a couple of speeches in support of Garfield becoming president. Because of that, Guiteau felt he was due a post as a U.S. counselor, what is better known as ambassador these days. He wanted to be the ambassador to Paris. When Garfield refused to consider him, Guiteau began planning to assassinate the president.
The sixteen doctors submitted an $85,000 bill to the Senate, which only authorized a $10,000 payment with many referring to the doctors as quacks FACT OR CRAP - Garfield had the first elevator installed in the White House for his mother. FACT
21. Chester A. Arthur:
The A stands for Arthur…he was Chester Arthur Arthur.
Vice President under Garfield. Arthur's wife, Ellen Lewis Herndon, died before he became president, so Arthur's sister, Mary Arthur McElroy, served as White House hostess.
Arthur enjoyed walking at night and seldom went to bed before 2 A.M. He had 24 wagon loads of old furniture and junk removed from the White House before moving in.
A man-about-town, he entertained lavishly and often, and enjoyed going to nightclubs.
Arthur told a temperance group that called on him at the White House, "I may be President of the United States, but my private life is my own damn business." Arthur destroyed all of his personal papers before his death.
Arthur suffered from a fatal kidney disease called Bright's Disease, whereby his body could not properly flush toxins out of its system. He died only one year after leaving office.
His former home, 123 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, is now a Middle Eastern specialty food store famous for their falafel.
Not only was Chester A. Arthur a very sharp dresser (he owned over 80 pairs of pants, he also insisted on taking time out from government affairs each day to change his pants…much like Chris Demm did with his socks
FACT OR CRAP: Arthur clothing is a clothing line started by Chester A. Arthur’s son who also had his father’s love of fashion. Today they are in over 500 stores across America. -- CRAP
22. Grover Cleveland: Dedicated the Statue of Liberty on October 28, 1886. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. He lost the 1888 election for second term to Benjamin Harrison, despite garnering a larger popular vote.
MENTAL FLOSS PAGE 49…HOW HE TOOK HIS YOUNG WIFE. He was her legal guardian…he called her “Frank”.
While sheriff of Erie County, New York, Cleveland was also the public executioner and personally hanged two murderers.
Grover Cleveland, was accused by his Presidential Election opposing candidate of being a draft dodger because he paid a man $150 to take his place in the war. [which was allowed under the Conscription Act of 1863].
In 1886, Grover Cleveland who was 49, married Frances Folsom, the 22 year old daughter of his friend Oscar Folsom. The couple married in the Blue room of the White House. In American history, Grover Cleveland was the only President whose wedding took place in the White House and Frances Folsom, the youngest First Lady. The couple have five children.
The only president's child born in the White House, was Cleveland's daughter, Esther.
Frances was such a looker, President Cleveland, a close friend of her father, called dibs right when she was born. Twenty one years later, she married him in the White House and fulfilled every little girl’s dream of marrying a man twenty-seven years her senior. FACT OR CRAP: THE ADORABLE SESAME STREET MUPPET “GROVER” IS NAMED FOR GROVER CLEVELAND BECAUSE HIS GREAT GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER WORKED ON THE SHOW. - CRAP
23. Benjamin Harrison: Graduated Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (1852).
Harrison grew up in a family of 13 children. He was the second president whose wife died while he was in office.
Grandson of William Henry Harrison…the one who died after giving the long speech in the cold.
He was the first president to have electric lights installed in the White House but he was scared to turn them on and off himself for fear of electrocution…he had his staffers do it.
When the Harrisons moved into the White House, it was in such a dilapidated state that plans were made to build a new mansion elsewhere in Washington.
His last daughter, Elizabeth, was younger than his four grandchildren. Harrison was defeated for reelection by Grover Cleveland. Because of his wife's illness, he did not campaign. FACT OR CRAP: An excellent extemporaneous speaker, he once made 140 completely different speeches in 30 days. – FACT
24. Grover Cleveland:
Ran for an unprecedented 3rd term but lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Williams Jennings Bryan.
25. William McKinley:
September 6, 1901 McKinley was shot twice in the chest at point blank range by Leon Czolgosz while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He died on September 14 whispering his favorite hymn "Nearer my God to Thee."
He always wore a red carnation in his lapel for good luck.
He kept a parrot named Washington Post in the White House that whistled, "Yankee Doodle." McKinley was shot by an anarchist while at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo. He saw the shooter being beaten to the ground and yelled, "Don't let them hurt him!"
He was the first president to ride in an automobile—an electric ambulance that took him to the hospital after he was shot. He died eight days later.
McKinley's wife, Ida, was an epileptic and suffered a seizure during the second inaugural ball. He covered her face w/ a napkin so no one would be suspicious of what was going on and try to look at her contorting face.
He was the first president to use the telephone while campaigning
He is thought to hold the record for presidential handshaking - 2,500 per hour.
Had he been in better shape, his doctors said he might have survived his assassin's bullets. He almost never exercised. FACT OR CRAP: Fictional middle and high schools on the TV shows “The Wonder Years”, “Freaks and Geeks”, and “Glee” are all named after McKinley because his is the easiest presidential name to get permission to use for such things. – FACT – according to Judd Apatow
26. Theodore Roosevelt: Teddy Roosevelt was a big eater. It wasn’t uncommon for him to take down a dozen eggs for breakfast.
As a child, Roosevelt suffered asthma attacks and was too sickly to attend school. At 42, Roosevelt was the youngest president. The teddy bear is named for him.
He lost the sight in one eye while boxing in the White House. He had a photographic memory. He could read a page in the time it took anyone else to read a sentence.
Theodore Roosevelt kept a badger called Josiah who used to bite people.
He was the first president to travel outside the U.S. - Panama. Roosevelt craved attention. It was said that he wanted to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.
At first glance, Roosevelt may be a strange choice for number one, but the guy had everything.. He was in ridiculously good shape and a rugged outdoorsman. He cared passionately about the environment, bravely lead the way into battle, and fought against corruption in every office he held.
Theodore Roosevelt was so sexy that if he slept with your girlfriend, you'd be flattered.
He's part Chuck Norris (meme Chuck Norris, not actual Chuck Norris), part Evel Knievel, part John Wayne, and part Daniel Craig. He was the most popular man in America for a reason.
In 1898, Roosevelt formed the first U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, known as the Rough Riders. Most people already know of the Rough Riders and their historic charge up San Juan Hill, but few know that, since their horses had to be left behind, the Riders made this charge entirely on foot. You just could not stop this man from violencing the hell out of a San Juan Hill.
He strolled through the White House with a pistol on his person at all times, though, with his black belt in jujitsu and his history as a champion boxer, it wasn't like he really needed it.
It wasn't just his war record or the fact that he knew several different ways to kill you that made Roosevelt such a badass. It wasn't even the fact that he kept a bear and a lion at the White House as pets, (though that certainly helps). Teddy Roosevelt was a badass of the people. Roosevelt received letters from army cavalrymen complaining about having to ride 25 miles a day for training and, in response, Teddy rode horseback for 100 miles, from sunrise to sunset, at 51 years old, effectively rescinding anyone's right to complain about anything, ever again.
His mother and his first wife both died Feb. 14, 1884, in the same house. Roosevelt's is the third figure from the left on Mt. Rushmore
While campaigning for a third term, Roosevelt was shot by a madman and, instead of treating the wound, delivered his campaign speech with the bleeding, undressed bullet hole in his chest.
Most Badass Quote:
This quote actually comes from a fellow politician at the time of Roosevelt's death: "Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake there would have been a fight.
FACT OR CRAP -- Every member of Teddy Roosevelt’s family owned a pair of stilts, including the First Lady – FACT
27. William Howard Taft:
Taft is the only person to serve as both President and Chief Justice (1921-1930) of the U.S.
He inaugurated the custom of the president throwing out the first ball to start the baseball season.
Mrs. Taft was responsible for the planting of the Japanese cherry trees in Washington.
Taft, who weighed 332 pounds, got stuck in the White House bathtub the first time he used it. A larger one was ordered.
Taft was the last president to wear facial hair
The Taft's owned the last presidential cow and the first White House automobile.
He was the first president to take up golf.
His wife was the first spouse to ride next to her husband down Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day. It was in an open carriage.
He is one of only two presidents to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery; the other was John F. Kennedy in 1963.
He was too large to bend over and tie his own shoes…his driver always did it for him if they were traveling anywhere…if they weren’t going out in public, he just left them untied. (No slip ons??)
FACT OR CRAP: Taft once snuck bite of cake off the Prime Minister of England’s dessert plate while the Prime Minister wasn’t looking during a state dinner. The press got wind of this and an embarrassed Taft admitted he had stolen the food. -- CRAP
28. Woodrow Wilson:
His second wife, Edith, was a great-granddaughter of Pocahontas, seven times removed.
An avid golfer, Wilson used black golf balls when playing in the snow.
He is the only president buried in Washington, D.C. Woodrow Wilson. He was in the famous Virginia Glee Club when he attended UVA, studying law.
Wilson suffered a seizure at age 40 in 1896, which lead to weakness in his right arm and sensory disturbances in his fingers. He was unable to write for almost a year. He continued to suffer periods of weakness on his right side from 1906 to 1913.
The episodes were usually accompanied by severe headaches that would last several days. It is now believed that Wilson actually suffered several small strokes. By 1919, he had almost constant headaches, as well as heart and vision problems. He suffered a massive stroke in 1919 after a speaking engagement in Colorado, which confined him to a wheelchair for several months and left him permanently blind in his left eye.
Wilson left office in 1921 and lived another 3 years before he died at home on Feb. 3, 1924.
His first wife, Ellen, died of an incurable kidney disease, which left Woodrow Wilson depressed for some time.
He liked to imitate drunks and tell racist jokes w/ an Irish accent.
So far, Wilson is the only president to hold a doctorate.
He became the president of Princeton University, his alma mater.
As a child he suffered from dyslexia which made him slow as a student. Campaign Slogan: He Kept Us Out Of War.
He loved to attend the theater, especially Vaudeville. FACT OR CRAP – Wilson was very tall but didn’t like having his clothes made specially for him…therefore his opponents often made fun of the fact that his pants were as much as six inches too short for him and the sleeves in his jackets weren’t long enough either. -- CRAP
29. Warren Gamaliel Harding: With these words, “I cannot hope to be one of the great presidents, but perhaps I may be remembered as one of the best loved,” Warren G. Harding began one of the most corruption-riddled and discredited administrations in the nation’s history.
He was the first president to own a radio.
While president, Harding played golf, poker twice a week, followed baseball and boxing, and sneaked off to burlesque shows.
He once, famously, lost the White House china in a poker game.
Warren Harding was the first president to speak over the radio.
Harding had the largest feet of any president. He wore size 14 shoes.
He suffered a nervous breakdown at the age of 24. Harding spent several weeks at a Battle Creek, MI sanitarium run by Dr. J.P. Kellogg (yes, that Kellogg).
His father George Tyron Harding died in 1928 and was the first father of a president to survive his son.
He had affairs with Nan Britton and Carrie Phillips. Phillips was the wife of James Phillips, a long time friend of Harding. The affair between the two lasted from 1905 to 1920. It came to light in love letters that Harding wrote to her that were discovered in 1963. The affair ended when Harding won the Republican nomination. To keep her silence, Phillips and her husband (who had, by this time, learned of the affair) were sent by the Republicans on a long trip to Japan and then received monthly payments in exchange for their silence. Those payments ended upon Harding's death.
Gaston Means wrote a book called “The Strange Death of Warren G. Harding”. Means wrote the book in 1930 in which he made the claim that Harding was poisoned by his wife, Florence because of his affairs. Since Mrs. Harding refused to allow an autopsy at the time of the president's death, there was no way to dispute Means' claims but most historians believe that Harding died because of a stroke.
The Teapot Dome scandal involved the selling of the country’s oil reserves located in Caper, Wyoming for personal gain.
Warren Harding was the 29th president and served for only two years before dying. As a child, he suffered from the mumps.
In 1901, he had surgery on one of his ears. As a U.S. senator, physicians treated him for nasal allergies and dermatitis. He chewed tobacco and smoked two cigars every day.
He became president in 1921. At this time, he was overweight, may have had heart disease and become winded whenever he played golf. In 1923, Harding contracted stomach flu. Later that summer, he was playing golf in Canada when he complained to his doctor of nausea and stomach pain. His doctor concluded he had heart problems, possibly angina and needed cardiac therapy.
Harding died several days later in San Francisco at the age of 57. There was no autopsy, but it is thought that he had a heart attack. FACT OR CRAP:
Because the US Congress had rejected the Treaty of Versailles, the state of war with Germany from WWI still existed. The war formally ended in 1921 when the US Congress passed a joint resolution. Harding was playing golf in New Jersey when he was notified that the resolution was ready for his signature. Harding left the golf course and went to the home of New Jersey senator Joseph Frelinghuysen. Harding signed the resolution there and then returned to the golf course. FACT
30. Calvin Coolidge:
The only president ever born on July 4.
Vice President under Harding.
Calvin Coolidge had two lions, a wallaby, and a pygmy hippopotamus (among others)
Despite strong party support, Coolidge announced on August 2, 1927, "I do not choose to run for president in 1928."
While governor of Massachusetts, Coolidge was once punched in the eye by the mayor of Boston.
Known for being quiet but was a bit of a prankster…sometimes he would ring the buzzer at the White House, wait for all the servants to snap to attention, then run away and hide.
He was the only president sworn into office by his father, a justice of the peace and notary public.
Coolidge averaged nine hours of sleep a night and took afternoon naps of from two to four hours.
His wife recounted that a young woman sitting next to Coolidge at a dinner party confided to him she had bet she could get at least three words of conversation from him. Without looking at her he quietly retorted, "You lose."
He also had a mechanical horse installed in the White House so he could practice his horseback riding skills. FACT OR CRAP Calvin Coolidge had a morning ritual where he enjoyed having Vaseline rubbed on his head while he ate breakfast in bed. FACT
31. Herbert Clark Hoover: The New York Stock Market crashed on October 29, 1929, marking the beginning of a severe economic depression that dominated the Hoover presidency.
During their first three years in the White House, the Hoovers dined alone only three times, each time on their wedding anniversary.
Herbert Hoover had pet alligators…they were really his son’s gators.
He didn’t like to look people in the eye and didn’t like seeing his servants. He installed a bell system…when he was walking down the hall he would ring the bell three times…that meant that he was on his way and that any servant should hide in a closet or, if they were outside, behind a bush.
Hoover was the first president to donate his salary to charity.
In 1922, Hoover, then Commerce Secretary, participated in the first successful long-distance television demonstration in New York.
Herbert Hoover never promised a "chicken in every pot." It was a Republican Party ad not endorsed by Hoover during the election.
Herbert Hoover was the first president to have a telephone right on his desk.
One of the most honored presidents, Hoover received 84 honorary degrees, 78 medals and awards, and the keys to dozens of cities.
He was the first President that was a millionaire.
He approved the "Star-Spangled Banner" as our national anthem.
When Hoover invited the black wife of a congressman to the White House for tea, he was officially denounced by the state legislature of Texas.
Charles Curtis, Hoover's vice president, was the only nonwhite person to be elected vice president of the U.S. He was a Kaw Indian.
When the Hoovers wanted to speak privately while in the presence of White House guests, they spoke Chinese.
A common sign held up by hitchhikers during the fall of 1932 read: "If you don't give me a ride, I'll vote for Hoover."
Herbert Hoover was the last President to have his term of office end on March 3. FACT OR CRAP: The night of the inauguration of his successor Franklin Roosevelt, Hoover and his wife went to stay in a hotel. The hotel, unfortunately, was a hosting a “Thank God Hoover’s Gone” party. – FACT 3 2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Graduated Harvard College. In 1933 Roosevelt launched the "New Deal" relief measures, revived the banking industry, and delivered the first of 30 "Fireside Chats".
The birthday cake presented to FDR on the occasion of his 59th birthday was 5 feet high and weighed 300 pounds.
In 1949 reelected to an unprecedented third term. December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Congress declared war against Japan the next day. June 6, 1944, D-Day, Allied forces landed on the Normandy coast of France.
Reelected to an unprecedented fourth term.
He was the first defeated vice presidential candidate to be elected president. He was related by blood or marriage to 11 former presidents.
In 1921, at the age of 39, Roosevelt contracted polio which left him without the use of his legs.
During a speech in 1933, an assassin shot at him five times and hit five people surrounding him, but not FDR. The mayor of Chicago was hit, and died.
A stamp collector, he received the first sheet of every new commemorative issue. In, 1939, he became the first president to appear on television. Died in office on April 12, 1945.
Roosevelt's official presidential limo was a Ford equipped with hand controls because he enjoyed driving despite his polio affliction. He only stopped driving himself after experiencing a 1933 assassination attempt in Chicago. From then on, his limousines were armor-plated.
FDR contracted polio in 1921 and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life, but his disability was carefully hidden from the press and the public.
Roosevelt's health began to decline in 1940, right after he was elected to his third term. He was losing weight and suffering shortness of breath, which his doctor diagnosed as bronchitis. In 1944, he was diagnosed with hypertension, heart disease, left ventricular cardiac failure and bronchitis.
In March 1945, while working at his desk, the former president complained of a horrible pain and died at 3:35 p.m. of a stroke. He was 63 years old.
He was the only president whose mother forced him to wear a dress until he was five years old. FACT OR CRAP: President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th day of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal. - FACT
33. Harry S Truman: June 19, 1945 he flew to Washington State and became the first president to use air travel within the country. June 26, 1945 the United Nations Charter was signed. August 6, 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The second atomic bomb was dropped August 9 on Nagasaki.
November 2, 1948 won reelection over Thomas E. Dewey in what was regarded as a major political upset.
A two-lane bowling alley was installed in the White House in 1947 as a birthday gift to President Truman. No matter that he hadn't bowled since he was 19, Truman knocked down seven pins on the first roll at the alley, which was paid for by donors from Truman's home state of Missouri and moved to the Old Executive Office Building in 1955.
Truman didn't use the alley much himself - he was more of a poker player -- but the addition was a big hit with Truman's staff, some of whom formed a bowling league.
January 20, 1953 Truman attended inauguration of President Eisenhower and then left by train for Independence, Missouri.
Once back in Missouri, he walked in on his wife, Mamie, burning all his personal letters from his time as president. He said, “what are you doing…think of history” She replied, “I am”.
Truman made hundreds of speeches all around the country, as many as 10-15 a day, from train platforms. The crowds were wildly enthusiastic, leading Truman to believe that all the polls and pundits were wrong and he actually did have a chance to defeat Dewey, who because of his lead stayed 'above the fray' and campaigned only in generalities. FACT OR CRAP: Truman's mother, a Confederate sympathizer, refused to sleep in Lincoln's bed during a White House visit. - FACT
34. Dwight David Eisenhower: Graduated U.S. Military Academy, West Point New York. Held no other political office.
He hated cats. If they came near his home in Gettysburg, PA, he would shoot at them. This is after he retired from the presidency.
He was the last president born in the 19th century.
He was the only president to serve in both World Wars.
A skilled chef, he was famous for his vegetable soup, steaks, and cornmeal pancakes.
He was the first president licensed to fly an airplane.
Prior to becoming president, he had an appendectomy. The operation left him with the tendency to develop painful lesions between the lining of the abdominal cavity.
Eisenhower was a heavy smoker, smoking up to four packs a day. During his presidency, he was advised by doctors to quit smoking and to everyone's amazement, did so cold turkey.
Eisenhower had a heart attack in 1955 and was told to keep his weight down and not to run for re-election, but did so anyway.
Six months before being re-elected to the presidency, Eisenhower developed Crohn’s disease and had surgery in May, 1956. A year later, he had a stroke.
After serving out his second term, Eisenhower suffered 16 gallstones and had his gallbladder removed. He is believed to have suffered at least four heart attacks before dying at age 78 in 1969.
Eisenhower was the first president to have a Plexiglass bubble installed on the roof of his limousine in order to be seen by crowds even in bad weather.
Eiesenhower was the first president to ever hit a hole-in-one.
First President of all 50 States.
First President to apper on color television.
FACT OR CRAP: All toled, it appears Eisenhower had six heart attacks in his lifetime – FACT
35. John Fitzgerald Kennedy:
He was so intelligent he would only watch the first half of movies…then he would become bored, able to tell the outcome already, and stop watching.
Kennedy's health problems began was he was just 2 years old and contracted the measles. Immediately after, he came down with a near-fatal bout of scarlet fever. He also suffered from whooping cough, diphtheria, and other respiratory infections as a child. Before finishing college, Kennedy suffered colitis, appendicitis, Addison's disease, jaundice, severe back problems and early onset osteoporosis.
By the mid-1950s his back problems became so severe, he could barely walk and often used crutches in private. By the time he became president in 1961, he was in constant pain and needed daily injections of pain killers, including Demerol, just to function. He was assassinated in 1963.
On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was killed by an assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy, at 43 years old, was the youngest man elected president; and at 46 years old, he was the youngest to die.
Kennedy was the only president to win a Pulitzer Prize, for his biography "Profiles in Courage". He was the first president to have served in the U.S. Navy.
He was the only president to appoint his brother to a cabinet post.
John Kennedy's rocker was made in Asheboro at P&P Chair Company
Plagued with a bad back his entire life, Kennedy was disqualified from service in the army. Instead of using this as an excuse to pursue the decidedly more sane strategy of staying the fuck away from explody things, Kennedy had his dad pull a few strings so he could sneak his way into the navy, where he eventually became a lieutenant. Just to get some perspective, Bill Clinton dodged the draft, Grover Cleveland paid someone else to go in his place when he was drafted, but Kennedy beat the system by forcing his way into the navy. Once there he handled himself like a gravel eating shit-miner, instead of the rich Boston pretty boy he actually was.
While almost no two sources are in agreement as to just how much tail Kennedy snagged, historian John Richard Stephens says that "Kennedy confided with friends that he could only be satisfied with three women a day.
JFK's sexual conquests allegedly include Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Jayne Mansfield, and Angie Dickenson among others.
In August of 1943, while serving as skipper of the PT-109, Kennedy's boat was ripped in two by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. Kennedy and his crew were tossed into the water and surrounded by flames. Kennedy, despite a chronic back injury , managed to swim four hours to safety while towing an injured crewman by the life jacket strap with his teeth.
FACT OR CRAP: It was well known in Washington at the time that at his inauguration dinner, Kennedy got a hand job from Marilyn Monroe. --- CRAP.
Eight of the Last Nine Presidents Are More Popular Now Than They Were As President . . . Especially JFK and Jimmy Carter
You always hear people reminisce about how great things used to be under RONALD REAGAN or BILL CLINTON. It's like we've forgotten that one governed using his wife's astrology charts, and the other was a Hall-of-Fame pervert.
--Gallup just released the results of a poll where they took approval ratings for the past nine presidents . . . and in eight of the nine cases, the presidents are more popular now than they were when they left office.
--John F. Kennedy has the highest retro approval rating. His approval rating right before his assassination was 58%. Now, almost 40 years later, his approval rating is up to 85% . . . the highest of any modern ex-president.
--Ronald Reagan is up from 63% when he left office to 74%.
--Clinton is up from 66% to a more appropriate 69% today.
--George H.W. Bush is up from 56% to 64%.
--Gerald Ford is up from 53% to 61%.
--Jimmy Carter had the second-biggest jump, behind JFK's. He's up from 34% approval when he was voted out of office, to 52% today. Experts say it's because of the humanitarian and diplomatic work he's done since he left office.
--Lyndon Johnson held from 49% popularity to 49%. He's the only president whose popularity didn't go up.
--George W. Bush is up from 34% when he left office to 47% today.
--And finally, even Richard Nixon is up . . . he had a 24% approval rating when he was impeached and now has a 29%.
The Secret Service has codenames for the president, vice-president and their family members. Ronald Reagan was 'Rawhide', George H. W. Bush was 'Timberwolf', Bill Clinton was 'Eagle', George W. Bush was 'Trailblazer' and Barack Obama is 'Renegade'. 37. Richard Milhous Nixon: Graduated Whittier College (1934) and Duke University Law School (1937). Vice President under Eisenhower. July 20, 1969 Neil A. Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters located at the Watergate Hotel.
August 9, 1974, effective at noon, Nixon resigned as president, becoming the first president to ever voluntarily leave office. This was a direct result of the scandal created by attempting to cover up the "Watergate Affair".
A Pakistani man's gift to President Nixon required an unusual accessory to fully appreciate. S. Nabi Ahmed Rizvi provided a magnifying glass inside a plush blue velvet box, along with two snapshots of himself and two grains of rice. One grain of rice featured a portrait of Nixon as president; the other featured a portrait of a young Nixon in the Navy. The gift was displayed as part of the National Portrait Gallery's "To the President: Folk Portraits by the People" exhibit.
Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first U.S. president whose name contains all the letters in the word "criminal." William Jefferson Clinton was the second?
He was painfully shy and awkward. He asked his wife, Pat, to marry him on their first date…then he obsessively pursued her for two years until she finally said yes. He even drove her on dates w/ other men during the two year interim.
When he ran for Senate in 1950 he accused his opponent Helen Douglas of being a communist. He called her “pink right down to her underwear”.
He avoided talking to people even after he became president. He spent hours alone in his office with a yellow legal pad, jotting down lists of enemies.
- During his famous trip to China, it seems the President developed a rash on his backside. It was determined that it was caused by a reaction to the varnish that was used on the toilet set. The Secret Service debated how to manage the situation, since, after all, they're charged with protecting the President's ass, but they didn't want to embarrass the Chinese by complaining. After some debate, they came up with a clever solution... Certain that the rooms were bugged, they decided to talk about the President's "issue" in a loud, clear voice. The next day, there was a doily on the toilet.
- During a trip to the USSR, a couple of the Secret Service agents - again certain that the room was bugged - decided they were determined to find it. After going through the room from top to bottom, they finally found a metal disk in the middle of the floor, under the carpet. Emboldened by their discovery (and reinforced by some alcohol), they proceeded to dismantle the compartment. A few minutes later, their efforts were rewarded with the sound of a loud crash -- as the chandelier in the room below fell to the floor. FACT OR CRAP: He had lunch alone, at his desk, nearly every day. His meal was almost always rye crackers, skim milk, a canned Dole pineapple ring, and a scoop of cottage cheese. - FACT
38. Gerald Rudolph Ford: Graduated University of Michigan (1935) and Yale University Law School (1941). Vice President under Nixon. Appointed Nelson A. Rockefeller as vice president.
Granted Richard M. Nixon an "absolute pardon" for all federal crimes he may have committed or taken part in while president.
He was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. Both Ford and his wife, Elizabeth "Betty" Bloomer Warren, had been models before their marriage. Ford was a model for Cosmopolitan and Look magazines in the 1940's.
Running for Congress in 1948, Ford campaigned on his wedding day.
He was the first president to release to the public a full report of his medical checkup.
Ford was the only president whose two assassination attempts against him were made by women.
Ford was the first president not elected by the people to become president.
He became vice president when Agnew resigned, and president when Nixon resigned.
He was defeated by Jimmy Carter in his bid to win a full term.
Before he got into politics, he was a male model and even owned a modeling agency.
He wasn't just small-time, either. Here he is on the cover of Cosmopolitan:
When Ford was in his 20s, he was modeling part-time for an agency owned by one John Robert Powers, who went on to become serious shit. During Ford's time there, he became roomies with one Harry Conover, who also was a model. Conover wanted to start his own modeling agency, but lacked the money. So Ford chipped in $1,000 and became a silent partner of the new Harry Conover Agency.
A decade later, Ford would marry a John Robert Powers model named Elizabeth Bloomer Warren, whom you may now know as Betty Ford.
39. James Earl Carter, Jr.:
The "hostage crisis" remained with Carter for the remainder of his term. Carter was the first president born in a hospital.
He was the first president graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy.
He was the first president sworn in using his nickname, "Jimmy".
He wrote a children’s book called “The Little Baby Snoogle Fleejer”.
In elections since the end of WWII, the taller of the two main party candidates has won the election 75% of the time. Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush are the only post-war presidents to have defeated taller rivals. Since 1900, nobody under the height of 5ft 9in has ever won the presidential election.
Likes a wide variety of classical, bluegrass, country, and folk music, including favorites Bob Dylan, Allman Brothers, Paul Simon, and the Marshall Tucker Band. Regularly attends ballet, opera, and symphonic concerts.
Stole a penny from the collection plate at church when he was five years old; was punished by his father.
Shot his sister Gloria "in the rear end" with a BB gun after she threw a wrench at him; was punished by his father.
Was denied being selected high school class Valedictorian because he played hooky and went to a movie.
Played basketball at Plains High School.
Ran cross-country and played under-140 lb. football at Annapolis.
Rode a motorcycle before entering politics.
To keep in shape, rides a bicycle, jogs, and plays tennis. FACT OR CRAP: Though he has read many historical books and non-fiction biographies, Carter admits he has never read a fictional novel. - CRAP Reads 3 to 4 books a week, and has taken a speed-reading course.
40. Ronald Wilson Reagan: Graduated Eureka College (1932). Moments after Regan was inaugurated on January 20, 1981, 52 Americans held hostage in Iran since November 1979 were released.
Ronald Reagan was 77 years old when he left office, making him the oldest president.
He was the first and only president to have been divorced.
President Reagan, who was gifted 372 belt buckles while in office, also received enough tacking equipment during his time in Washington to outfit an entire stable.
Reagan was a Hollywood actor before becoming involved in politics.
He made more than 50 movies, mostly westerns or action pictures.
· During his college years, Reagan performed lifeguard duties at Lowell Park in Illinois where he saved 77 people from drowning to death.
· Reagan's radio announcer job brought him to Hollywood In 1937 to cover the Cubs at spring training. While there, he took a screen test and subsequently signed a contract with Warner Brothers for $200 a week.
Everyone knows about the attempt on Reagan's life when he was President, but an assassination attempt also took place when he was governor of California. Two men tried to firebomb the governor's residence amid the chaos of the times in 1968.· After his graduation from Eureka College, Reagan became a Chicago Cubs radio announcer for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa.
His first major health problem was in March 1981 when a would-be assassin shot at him and the bullet missed his heart by less than one inch, piercing his lung instead, causing it to collapse.
In July 1985, Reagan underwent surgery to remove cancerous polyps from his colon. Later that summer, he had cancerous cells removed from his nose. In 1987, Reagan underwent a minor surgery for an enlarged prostate and again had skin cancer removed from his nose.
Early in Reagan's presidency, he started wearing a hearing aid.
In 1989, he suffered a head injury when he was thrown from a horse. Reagan announced he had Alzheimer's disease in 1994 at the age of 83. He died on June 5, 2004 at the age of 93.
· Throughout his presidency, Ronald Reagan coined several phrases that still appear from time to time including "New World Order", "Privatization", "The Welfare Cadillac", and most famously "Trickle Down Economics" also known as "Reaganomics". FACT OR CRAP: President Reagan didn’t really like jelly beans as it has been widely reported…he just needed something colorful on his desk and Nancy suggested a jar of jelly beans. He rarely, if ever, ate one. CRAP he loved them
· President Reagan loved to snack on jelly beans and was particularly fond of the Jelly Belly brand. In fact, blueberry Jelly Bellies were developed especially for the President to match the color scheme of his inaugural festivities, which featured bowls of Jelly Belly beans. Roughly, 2,800,000 jelly beans were served at the festivities.
41. George Herbert Walker Bush: October 15, after a bitter partisan debate, Clarence Thomas is confirmed by a 52-48 vote as Supreme Court Justice.
November 3, 1992 Bush is defeated in his bid for reelection.
When Bush received his military commission in 1943, he became, at age 19, the youngest pilot in the Navy.
Bush is related to Benedict Arnold, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Presidents Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Gerald Ford.
Bush became the first vice president ever to serve as acting president when Ronald Reagan underwent surgery for three hours in 1985.
George Herbert Walker Bush is the second man in US Presidential history whose son became President.
In 1990, the president of Indonesia presented a Komodo dragon to President Bush. Perhaps worried that the venomous, flesh-eating lizard wouldn't play nice with Millie, the first dog, Bush donated the dragon, named Naga, to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Naga, who sired 32 offspring, died of an abdominal infection at the age of 24 in 2007. During his stay in Cincinnati, Naga was a star attraction, drawing about one million visits each year. Mental Floss: The bizarre history of White House pets
In 1992, while at a formal dinner in Japan Bush became ill and vomited on the prime minister of Japan, then fainted. Now, the word “Bushusuru” means “to do the Bush thing” and vomit heavily in Japanese. FACT OR CRAP: Geroge Bush hated Broccoli and banned it from White House events. FACT
42. William Jefferson Clinton: In 1978 when Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas, he was at the time, age 32 and the youngest governor in the U.S.
In high school, Clinton played saxophone in a jazz trio. The three musicians wore dark glasses on stage and they called themselves "Three Blind Mice".
He was the second president of the United States to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
His nickname as a child was Bubba.
He won a 2004 Grammy along w/ Sophia Loren and Mikhail Gorbachev for the group’s recording of “Peter and the Wolf”.
He was elected governor of Arkansas when he was 32 making him the youngest governor in the United States at that time.
As a boy, Clinton suffered from acid reflux and was forced to eliminate certain foods from his diet and take antacids regularly.
As early as 1992, doctors were worried about Clinton's heart health because of high cholesterol levels. In a 2001 press conference, Clinton announced he was taking Zocor to lower his cholesterol.
Standing at 6-feet, 2-inches tall, Clinton's weight varied between 214 and 236 pounds during his time in office, giving him a body mass index of 29.1, which is considered overweight.
In 2004, Clinton was evaluated at New York Presbyterian Hospital for chest pain and shortness of breath. Doctors determined he needed an urgent quadruple bypass, and that his coronary arteries were over 90 percent blocked.
In February 2010, Clinton had two mesh stents inserted to prop open a clogged coronary artery after being hospitalized with chest pains. He made a full recovery.
Clinton gave 140 pardons on his last day as President of the United States.
Bill Clinton was a master communicator and his speeches are something that anyone looking at how to deliver effective messages to an audience should study. FACT OR CRAP: When he was a child he was mauled by a sheep. He called it the worst beating he ever got. (until Hillary found out he got oral in the oval office). FACT
43. George W. Bush: Graduated Yale University (1968).
Bush worked in the energy business, and was once part owner of the Texas Rangers baseball franchise.
Bush's first initiative was the No Child Left Behind Act, a measure that raised schools standards, requiring accountability in return for tax dollars and lead to measurable gains in achievement, especially among minority students.
Having lost the 2000 election by more than a half-million popular votes, Bush is the first president since 1888 ( President Benjamin Harrison) to become President without winning the popular votes. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Core by 500,000 votes, then won a disputed recount in Florida by a few hundred.
George W. Bush is the second father and son to be elected as presidents in the U.S. Presidential history.
President Bush and his family received about 1,000 gifts per month during his two terms in office. Bush's haul included an iPod from U2 lead singer, Bono, "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" and vocabulary-building game from the Sultan of Brunei, and an electric harp with a speakerphone from Vietnam.
The most unusual gift Bush received may have been the 300 pounds of raw lamb meat from the president of Argentina in 2003. The lamb, like all gifts from overseas, was accepted by the Office of the President on behalf of the nation, and passed along to the General Services Administration. Most non-perishable gifts of state end up in presidential libraries or the National Archives.
Cowboys running back, Calvin Hill, father of Grant Hill, was a friend and fraternity brother of George W. Bush while the two were at Yale.
One of his most coveted possessions is a picture of himself along with the rock band ZZ Topp.
He was named People Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2000
The first President for over 100 years not to use a veto in his first term. The last time a President did not use a veto in the first term was in 1841. FACT OR CRAP: GEORGE W. BUSH CANNOT STAND TO SLEEP IN A ROOM WITH ANY LIGHT IN IT. HE COVERS EVERY CLOCK AND EVERY SLIVER OF LIGHT…HIS ROOM IN THE EAST WING OF THE WHITE HOUSE HAD TO BE SHORED UP SO THAT NO LIGHT GOT IN, EVEN UNDER THE DOOR, WHEN BUSH BECAME PRESIDENT – CRAP
Barack Obama: Born to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas…
Obama worked his way through college, aided also by student loans and scholarships.
Has admitted to dabbling in marijuana and cocaine while in college.
He attended Occidental College and Columbia University, and went on to attend law school and became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.
Loves food…loves five guys. One of the few treat type foods he does not like is ice cream…hates it, as a result of working at a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager.
Collects Spiderman and Conan the Barbarian comic books.
He has read every Harry Potter book.
His name means “one who is blessed” in Swahili
• His favorite meal is wife Michelle’s shrimp linguini
• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father
• He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed
• He can speak Spanish
• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead
• His favorite drink is black forest berry iced tea
• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn’t
• He can bench press an impressive 200lbs
• He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name
• His favorite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• His favorite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date
• He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker
• He doesn’t drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol
• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician
• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside
• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes
FACT OR CRAP – HE WAS BORN IN THE UNITED STATES. -- ??
