I thought it only fitting to insert a bit of Presidential knowledge(?) in the old blog, and what better excuse for White House Occupant trivia than our day to honor Presidents? The 1st bit of trivia is that although G.W. Bush is counted as #43, he's actually only had forty-one predecessors in the post. So, by 'position # sequence', here goes.....
1) G. Washington, 1789-1797, was the only American president to be unanimously elected and the only one who did not represent a political party.
2) J. Adams, 1797-1801, the 1st president to reside in the White House. He moved in November 1800 while the paint was still wet.
3) T. Jefferson, 1801-1809, the main author of The Declaration of Independence was also the 1st inaugurated in Washington, D.C. Helped found the Democratic-Republican Party.
4) J. Madison, 1809-1817, at 5 feet, 4 inches & only 100 pounds was the shortest & the lightest president. He was also the 1st to wear trousers rather than knee-breeches.
5) J. Monroe, 1817-1825, 1st president to ride in a steamboat and his daughter was the 1st to be a bride in the White House. The last Revolutionary War veteran to be president.
6) J.Q. Adams, 1825-1829, the 1st to be son of a former president & the 1st to be photographed.
7) A. Jackson, 1829-1837, 1st born in a log cabin & 1st to ride on a train. He was also the 1st to experience and survive an assassination attempt.
8) M. Van Buren, 1837-1841, was 1st to be born in the USA. Raised in Kinderhook, N.Y., he was called 'Old Kinderhook', and soon he became known as 'OK', and that's how the word 'okay' evolved.
9) W.H. Harrison, 1841, the only president to study medicine, served the shortest time. He died of pneumonia one month after delivering his 105 minute inauguration speech on a cold day wearing no hat or overcoat.
10) J. Tyler, 1841-1845, 1st to become president due to the death of a serving president, he also had the most children, fifteen of them.
11) J.K. Polk, 1845-1849, 1st to have his inauguration reported by telegraph and the 1st to keep ALL his campaign promises.
12) Z. Taylor, 1849-1850, didn't vote until age 62 because he moved so often as a soldier he'd never established official residency anywhere.
13) M. Fillmore, 1850-1853, refused an honorary degree from Oxford University because he felt he had "neither literary nor scientific attainment."
14) F. Pierce, 1853-1857, had the 1st Christmas tree in the White House.
15) J. Buchanan, 1857-1861, was the only unmarried president.
16) A. Lincoln, 1861-1865, the 1st to wear a beard, the tallest at 6 feet, 4 inches, and the 1st to be assassinated in office.
17) A. Johnson, 1865-1869, was impeached for removing Secretary of War E. Stanton and was acquitted by a single vote in the Senate.
18) U.S. Grant, 1869-1877, a Union Army Commander during the Civil War and established Yellowstone as the 1st national park in 1872.
19) R.B. Hayes, 1877-1881, he banished liquor from the White House and held the 1st Easter egg roll on the White House lawn.
20) J. Garfield, 1881, was the last of seven presidents born in log cabins and the 2nd to die by assassination, only two months after taking office.
21) C.A. Arthur, 1881-1885, was called 'Elegant Arthur' due to his great sense of fashion.
22) G. Cleveland, 1885-1889, personally answered the White House telephone and was the only president married in a White House ceremony, June 2, 1886.
23) B. Harrison, 1889-1893, only president to be the grandson of a president and the 1st to have electricity in the White House.
24) G. Cleveland, 1893-1897, he's the reason for G.W. Bush being #43 with only forty-one predecessors. He was the only president to be elected to non-consecutive terms, also the 1st to have a child born in the White House, his daughter Esther in 1895.
25) W. McKinley, 1897-1901, 1st to ride in an automobile, 1st to campaign by telephone, and the 3rd to die by assassination.
26) T. Roosevelt, 1901-1909, the 1st to use the term 'White House' for the Presidential Residence. 1st American winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
27) W.H. Taft, 1909-1913, the 1st president to own an automobile and the only president to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of The United States, 1921-1930.
28) W. Wilson, 1913-1921, the only president buried in Washington, D.C. He's interred at Washington National Cathedral.
29) W.G. Harding, 1921-1923, the 1st president to speak over the radio and the 1st newspaper publisher to be elected to the office. He also had the biggest feet at size 14.
30) C. Coolidge, 1923-1929, lighted the 1st national Christmas tree in 1923 on the White House lawn and refused to use the telephone while president.
31) H. Hoover, 1929-1933, approved 'The Star-Spangled Banner' as the national anthem & was 1st president born west of the Mississippi River, in West Branch, Iowa.
32) F.D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945, the only president to serve four terms.
33) H.S. Truman, 1945-1953, 1st president to give a televised speech and 1st president to travel underwater aboard a submarine.
34) D.D. Eisenhower, 1953-1961, commanded Allied troops during the D-Day invasion of France in 1944 and the only president to serve in WWI & WWII.
35) J.F. Kennedy, 1961-1963, was the 1st Roman Catholic president, the 1st president born in the 20th century, the 1st to hold a televised press conference. At age 43 he was the youngest American elected president and, at 46, the youngest to die in office.
36) L.B. Johnson, 1963-1969, before going into politics he was a high school teacher in Texas.
37) R. Nixon, 1969-1974, 1st president to visit all 50 states, 1st to visit China, and only U.S. president to resign the office.
38) G.R. Ford, 1974-1977, once worked as a fashion model and became vice-president & president without being to either office.
39) J. Carter, 1977-1981, was the 1st president to be born in a hospital.
40) R.W. Reagan, 1981-1989, at 69 the oldest to take office and the 1st actor to be elected president.
41) G.H.W. Bush, 1989-1993, 1st vice president elected president since Van Buren, and also the 1st vice president to lose re-election since Van Buren.
42) W.J. Clinton, 1993-2001, the 1st president to be a Rhodes Scholar.
43) G.W. Bush, 2001-2008, the 1st son of a president elected to the office since J.Q. Adams.
Now wasn't that just informative? It sure cleared out a buncha space in my trivia files. Until next tme, take care.
12 comments:
Nice Blog :)
Mike-A lot of information I never knew before. But answer this, why don't I get Presidents Day off???
Oh please George!!!! Every day is a holiday for you now! grrrrrrrrrrrr...
Thanks for the trivia, Mike
L
Well, it's me again. Still can't seem to get the google/blogger thing to work, I just go back and forth and it keeps telling me that I don't have all the essential spaces filled or I have the wrong password. It hates me.
I'll just post as anonymous. Enjoyed the Presidents info, Mike. Some of those were pretty good guys. Bye!
Pat
THAT was terrific! I'm printing it up for Tom and the girls! Fascinating history has our country.
Carter was the first born in a hospital. Wow.
I think I read somewhere that Harry Truman's middle name is just an 'S' and that there's not supposed to be a period, for it's not an abbreviation. Harry S Truman. Right or wrong?
I used to have a book called Facts About the Presidents when I was a kid. It told you things like what they died of and what their last words were...I was a walking encyclopedia. I should have just waited until I found your blog.
Thanks, Mike!
Glad Y'All enjoyed it.
Lori, I still have a book I was given in the 50s with all the presidents bios in sequence up to Ike.
Cherie, the question of middle initial with no name. Rarely, individuals are given only initials as middle names, with the initial(s) not explicitly standing for anything Harry S. Truman is one example. This is common among the Amish, who commonly use the first letter of the mother's maiden name as a solitary initial for the sons and daughters.
Hi, Mike, I'm back!!!!! I've loved to read alll this info about your presidents, I hadn't a clue on any of this Trivia, but however, I have a question for you: it says that M. Van Buren was called 'Old Kinderhook', and soon he became known as 'OK', and that's how the word 'okay' evolved. But I read somewhere that the word OK was created during some war (I don't remember wich one), it said that the Army in this war used to write in a board the number of casualties each day, with a number and a K ("killed"), and when there was no casualty at all, they wrote "0 (zero) K(killed)--> 0K", which meant something very good, and therefore, the word OK was created meaning "good". Which one do you think is the good version?
I hope I'll be able to read your last previous stories quite soon. A huge hug, friend, from Mar ;-)
Mar, I think I like your version better. There's another theory that it came from calling The Oklahoma Territory 'OK' for short during the land rush because it was 'OK' to stake out unclaimed land. Don't think the Indians living in the area were consulted 1st though.
Just one small correction, Mike. Madison was so short his knee-breeches just LOOKED like trousers. ;)
Careful there Padre Tim, the Old Indian Fella is a bit "altitudinally challenged" too! hehehe
Good Job! :)
Post a Comment