Presidential Oddities

The Human Side of the American Presidency

Things are going to be pretty quiet around the U.S. until the next president takes office on January 20.  George W. Bush, the most unpopular president in recent memory and probably of all time, is unlikely to be able to do much more than tend to the Rose Garden. 

The president-elect has much planning to do, but at Writer to the World^TM there isn’t much fun in postulating about what kind of dog the first family is likely to get.  So, let’s cast an eye backward to the human side of past presidencies if for no other reason than to get a context for the upcoming term.

 

George Washington  First President  (1789 - 1797)

George Washington First President of the United States

Washington never represented a political party and was the only president to be elected unanimously.  James Monroe, the fifth president (1817 - 1825) received every electoral vote except one.  The holdout was a single New Hampshire delegate who wanted to preserve Washington’s legacy as a unanimous victor.

Washington never lived in the Executive Mansion, and was an avid collector and player of marbles - a passion he shared with Presidents John Adams (1797 - 1801) and Thomas Jefferson (1801 - 1809).

 

John Quincy Adams  Sixth President  (1825 - 1829)

America’s first professional journalist, Anne Royall, had several interview requests rebuffed by John Quincy Adams, but she remained persistent.   Royall knew Adams frequently swam nude in the Potomac River during the early morning hours.  Royall  gathered Adams’ clothes on the riverbank during one of his 5 a.m. swims, and sat on them until she was granted an interview. Royall thus became the first woman to interview an American president.

John Quincy Adams was the first son of a former president to be elected, which has since only be replicated by George W. Bush. 

Adams was also the first to be photographed, and fortunately for us all, it wasn’t during his skinny dipping swims. 

 

Martin Van Buren  Eighth President  (1837 - 1841)

Martin Van Buren Eighth President of the United States

Van Buren was the first American president born in the United States, a distinction that has since become a requirement for all subsequent presidential candidates. Earlier presidents were all born in colonies that became states after the adoption of the Constitution.

Van Buren’s political tag as “Old Kinderhook” is reported to be the root of the popular expression, “O.K.”  Van Buren’s hometown of Kinderhook, New York earned him the public moniker that was later shortened into O.K. when referring to the President.  It’s unclear how the term evolved into an expression of agreement.

 

John Tyler  10^th President  (1841 - 1845)

John Tyler was the first Vice-President to ascend to the presidency upon the death of a president, William Henry Harrison.  Harrison died of pneumonia after delivering the longest inaugural address in history (105 minutes) without the benefit of a hat or overcoat during a snowstorm.  Harrison’s 30-day term is the shortest in American history.

Tyler fathered more children than any other president.  His first wife delivered eight children and his second bore seven for a total of 15.  The last child was delivered after Tyler’s 70^th birthday. 

Tyler’s second wife is credited with initiating the tradition of playing “Hail to the Chief” whenever a president appears at a state function.

 

James Buchanan  15^th President  (1857-1861)

James Buchanan was the nation’s only bachelor president, and his niece Harriet Lane served as hostess for the Executive Mansion during his single term in office.

The Prince of Wales visited the United States in 1860 with so many people in his entourage that Buchanan was compelled to sleep in the hall to provide accommodations for all the guests.

Buchanan sent his successor, Abraham Lincoln, a note saying, “My dear sir, if you are as happy on entering the White House as I on leaving, you are a happy man indeed.”

 

Abraham Lincoln  16^th President  (1861-1865)

Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to wear a beard, the first to be assassinated and the tallest president with a height 6′ 4″. 

Lincoln’s famous stovepipe hat was more than fashionable adornment.  The President frequently stored bills, notes and letters underneath the hat. 

When rumors of General Grant’s proclivity for drink came to him, Lincoln responded, “Find out what whiskey he drinks, and send all of my generals a case, if it will get the same results.” 

 

Benjamin Harrison  23^rd President  (1889-1893)

Harrison holds the record for loquaciousness after making 140 completely different speeches in 30 days, which works out an average 4.6 new speeches per day.

On June 6^th, 1892, Harrison became the first president to attend a baseball game in which the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Washington Senators by a score of 7 - 4.

After getting an electric shock from a light switch, Harrison and his family refused to trust the newly installed electricity again.  The family never touched another switch and sometimes went to bed with the lights on. 

 

Theodore Roosevelt  26^th President  (1901-1909)

Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States

Theodore Roosevelt first coined the phrase “White House” that has officially remained since.  Previously, it was known as either the Executive Mansion or the President’s House. 

In recognition for his role as peacemaker in the 1906 Russo-Japanese War, Theodore Roosevelt was the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The stuffed toys known as “Teddy” bears were established in 1903 when the legendary outdoorsman Roosevelt refused to kill a bear accompanied by her cub that he encountered during a hunting trip. 

 

William H. Taft  27^th President  (1909-1913)

William Taft had several firsts.  He was the first president to own a car, the first and only president to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921-1930), and the first of only two presidents buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  John F. Kennedy is the second.

Of Taft’s less illustrious accomplishments is holding the record for being the heaviest president in history.  He weighed in excess of 300 pounds, and after getting stuck in a White House bathtub, he order a replacement big enough to accommodate four men of ordinary proportions.

Taft started the tradition of the presidential “first pitch” of baseball season on April 4, 1910 during an opening day game featuring the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics. 

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt  32^nd President  (1933 - 1945)

Franklin Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States

The only American president elected four times was also disabled.  Roosevelt never had the use of his legs while occupying the Oval Office as a result of contracting polio prior to his first presidential bid.

Franklin Roosevelt was related either by blood or marriage to 11 former presidents.

FDR’s election was the first to court the women’s vote.  Women earned the right to vote in 1920, but Roosevelt was the first candidate to recognize this important voting block. 

 

John F. Kennedy  35th President  (1961-1963)

John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president, the first president born in the 20th century, and the first to hold a television news conference.

Although the youngest president ever elected to office, JFK wasn’t the youngest to serve as president.  That honor belongs to Theodore Roosevelt who ascended to the presidency as the result of the assassination of William McKinley (25^th President, 1897 - 1901) at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY.  Roosevelt was 42 at the time, and Kennedy was 43 when elected.

Kennedy was the youngest president to die in office.

 

Ronald W. Reagan  40th President  (1981-1989)

Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States

Ronald Reagan was the oldest person elected to the American presidency at the age of 69. 

Reagan broke the “20-year” curse,” in which every president elected in a year ending in the number “0″ died in office. 

An assassin’s bullet failed to kill Reagan, which made him one of six American presidents to survive an assassination attempt.  The others were Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Gerald Ford.  Four presidents were killed by assassins.

 

That’s our summary of the triumphs and foibles of American presidents, and hopefully it will serve to remind everyone that presidents are people just like us.

For those who have ever been late to a first day on the job, John Adams and his family got lost in the woods to the north of Washington, D.C. for several hours on his first day.  If the person who many regard as a principle architect of modern democracy can make a mistake, so can you. 

And of course, the other way around too.

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