40 Presidents in 40 Weeks

#30: Coolidge, Calvin

2010-07-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Calvin Coolidge

July 4, 1872 (Plymouth Notch, Vermont) - Jan. 5, 1933 (Northampton, Mass.)

I get by with a little help from my friends
(or, more specifically, my mom and my nieces).

This bears direct transcription: "COOLIDGE, CALVIN (1872-1933), was a shy, silent New England Republican who led the United States during the boisterous Jazz Age of the 1920's. He was the sixth Vice-President to become President upon the death of a chief executive. Coolidge was vacationing on his father's farm in Vermont when President Warren G. Harding died in 1923. The elder Coolidge, a notary public, administered the oath of office in the dining room. Never before had this ceremony been performed by such a minor official or by a President's father." Coolidge was sworn in a second time eighteen days later by a justice of the Supreme Court, since the Attorney General questioned the validity of the first oath of office. When Coolidge was later asked to recall his first thought upon learning that he would become President, he replied: "I thought I could swing it."
Coolidge was known for his even temper. He was "solemn, frugal" in contrast to the boisterous masses... "a public that had largely thrown thrift to the wind," the nation's "flaming youth" as depicted by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
As President, Coolidge tried to heal the administration after the corruption scandals of Harding's presidency. He pursued a policy called "constructive economy," supporting American business at home and abroad. He declared: "The business of American is business." In 1924, he easily won reelection, facing no real competition.
In the White House, Coolidge's wife was gay and charming, happy to entertain. Coolidge stuck to behind-the-scenes details. "He enjoyed appearing unexpectedly in the kitchen to inspect the iceboxes and to comment on future menus. He once protested mildly because he thought 6 hams were too many for 60 dinner guests. Coolidge also liked to play practical jokes on the staff. He would ring for the elevator, then stride quickly down the stairs, or push all the buttons on his desk just to see all his aides run in at once."
While in office, Coolidge's sixteen year old son died from "blood poisoning." He'd developed a blister on his toe while playing tennis, which resulted in an infection that spread! What a way to go! Awful, awful.
Coolidge chose not to run again in 1928. He announced this decision by slipping a piece of paper to a reporter which read: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." When asked to comment upon leaving the capital, he said: "Good-bye, I have had a very enjoyable time in Washington."
The stock market crash of 1929 distressed Coolidge, who felt he may have done more to avert it while in office. He was increasingly unhappy in the early 30s. In 1933, Mrs. Coolidge found President Coolidge lying on the floor of his bedroom. He had died of a heart attack.

#29: Harding, Warren G.

2010-07-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Warren G. Harding
Nov. 2, 1865 (Corsica, Ohio) - Aug. 2, 1923 (San Francisco, California)

"I'm tweaking into a whole new era, g-funk, step to this I dare ya."

From the sublime to the subprime... if World Book luvved Woodrow Wilson, it certainly does not luvv Warren Gamaliel Harding (and yes, that is seriously his middle name). According to World Book, "Historians almost unanimously rank Harding as one of the weakest Presidents." He was elected primarily as a repudiation of Wilson's ambitious foreign policy and aggressive social agenda. Harding campaigned on the slogan "Back to Normalcy," in the post-World War I era. It's unclear what "normal" was, but the American people were happy to elect a president who didn't have much of an agenda at all.

Warren G. Harding has perhaps only one thing in common with my father: they are both the eldest of eight children.

Before going into politics, Harding made his career as a newspaper man. When he was in his early twenties, he and his friends bought a bankrupt weekly paper in Marion, Ohio, for $300. He turned it into a prosperous daily, using his skills as an editor and orator.

Over the course of Harding's political career--from state senator, to lieutenant governor, to U.S. Senate--he became known for being "genial and popular," but not for getting things done. As a Senator he did not introduce a single bill. He voted in favor of woman's suffrage, but admitted to a group of suffragists that he was "utterly indifferent" to the issue.

Harding was chosen as the Republican party's nominee for the presidency at the 1920 party convention in Chicago. The convention was deadlocked after four ballots. Harding was selected as the compromise candidate in a smokey backroom at the Blackstone Hotel, in the wee hours of the morning. Talk about political kingmaking! Calvin Coolidge, the cool-as-a-cucumber governor of Massachusetts was selected as VP.

Harding's administration was marked by nepotism. He brought so many buddies with him from his homestate that they became known as "the Ohio gang." This, predictably, erupted into political scandal with the Teapot Dome incident: Harding's Secretary of the Interior accepted a bribe for leasing government-owned oil reserves to private companies. He was sent to prison. World Book speculates that this scandal contributed to Harding's early demise...

Farm regions in the US suffered a serious depression in 1922. The following year, Harding decided to go on a speaking tour to "revive confidence in his administration." While he was traveling, Harding received news from Washington about a Senate investigation into the oil leases. This apparently disheartened him and he later fell ill when passing through Seattle. It's possible that he suffered some form of food poisoning. By the time the presidential trip made it to San Francisco, Harding was diagnosed with pneumonia. He died there on August 2, 1923. He was buried in Marion, Ohio. No autopsy was performed and the precise cause of death was never ascertained.

Too Big to Fail

2010-07-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

I am facing down the last two weeks of my clerkship and still have over a dozen presidents to do... lordy, how did this thing get away from me?

Here's an interesting article about the two most recent presidents on the bloggity-blog to tide you over until I rally for the original Warren G.

Stop look so judgey, Woody... I'm trying to finish this project, I swear!

#28: Wilson, Woodrow

2010-07-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Woodrow Wilson
December 29, 1856 (Staunton, Virginia) - February 3, 1924 (Washington, D.C.)

Woodrow "Smudgey face" Wilson

World Book hearts Woodrow Wilson in a big way: "Before reaching the height of popularity as a world statesman, he had achieved success in two other careers. First, as a scholar, teacher, and university president, he greatly influenced the course of education. Then, as a political leader, he brought successful legislative reforms to state and national government. Wilson would have won a place in history even if he had been active in only one of his three careers. . . . Historians consider Wilson one of the three or four most successful Presidents."

Wilson had three daughters with his first wife. Wilson's first wife died while he was serving his first term as President. He was heartbroken. A year later he met his second wife, a widow of a Washington jeweler, and remarried.

We can thank Wilson for:

The residential college system at Yale (what what!)--he tried to put a "preceptorial system" in place at Princeton, but those snobs were too attached to their eating club system to accept it. Yale and Harvard adopted his vision of the "quad plan" with separate colleges, each arranged in a quadrangle around a central court, with its own dorms, eating hall, master and tutors;
Keeping us out of World War I for almost three years, for what that's worth (he was wedded to peace until the Germans started attacking American ships without warning in March 1917)--his adamant stance on neutrality earned him the nickname, the "human icicle";
Creating an independent Department of Labor and ushering in new labor laws like the Adamson Act (establishing the eight-hour work day) and the Child Labor Act (limiting the number of hours children can work);
The League of Nations (for what that's worth).

President Wilson was the first American president to cross the Atlantic Ocean while in office. He spent months abroad in 1918-19, enjoying a enthusiastic reception after WWI from European people who considered him a great statesman for helping negotiate the Treaty of Versailles. He had a hard time winning support for the peace agreement at home and an even harder time winning support for the League of Nations. In September 1919, Wilson began a speaking tour of the US to drum up support for the League among the American people (Wilson was an awesome orator). He suffered a paralytic stroke while traveling from Pueblo, Colorado to Wichita, Kansas, on October 2, 1919, and ultimately served the rest of his term as an invalid. He did not call a cabinet meeting until April 13, 1920. In the intervening months, the cabinet met "unofficially and carried on much of the routine work of government during Wilson's long illness."

Wilson's work in advocating for the League of Nations was quickly dismantled by his Republican successor: Warren G. Harding.

Wilson died in his sleep on February 3, 1924. He was buried in the Washington Cathedral. He is the only President interred in Washington, D.C.

#27: Taft, William

2010-07-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

[GUEST BLOG ENTRY!!!! from my dear friend Eric... As an aside, I am in San Francisco with a band of buddies, two of whom are from Ohio. These two Ohioans married each other last year in a lovely ceremony at the Taft Museum of Art, which was erected at the site where Taft accepted the Republican nomination for the presidency in Cincinnati. Says one Ohioan, "The Tafts are winners."]

William Taft
September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930

Glad to lend a hand to my favorite blog about drawing and researching the Presidents! I used my parents' 1985 World Book set, which remains within easy reach in their front hallway coat closet an astounding 25 years later! For my drawing, I used pen and paper; I got a little carried away with the hair and moustache.

World Book mentions Taft's infamous heft a quite a few times. My favorite reference: "A newspaperman wrote that he looked 'like an American bison--a gentler, kind one.'" (neither newspaper nor newspaperman specified) Let's just say you could fit at least two Obamas in this guy.
Taft didn't really want to be President. His mother thought he would be happiest as a judge, but his wife thought he was better fit for the Presidency. "In the end, Taft's mother proved to be right." In 1913, Taft told incoming Prez Woodrow Wilson, "This is the lonesomest place in the world." So emo!
Here are some things that happened during his Presidency (1909-1913): New Mexico and Arizona became the 47th and 48th states. The 16th Amendment became law, giving Congress the legal power to levy income taxes. The Post Office began parcel-post service. Imagine where Zappos would be today if this hadn't happened!
Like his predecessor, Taft was all about the trust busting. "Nearly twice as many 'trust busting' prosecutions took place during Taft's four years in office as had occurred during Roosevelt's administration of almost 8 years."
Taft had a ridiculously impressive political trajectory: 1890: Solicitor General, 1892: Federal Judge (6th Circuit Court of Appeals), 1901: Governor of the Philippines (!?), 1904: Secretary of War, 1908: Prez, 1921: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. World Book points out that becoming Chief Justice was his proudest accomplishment. I would like to point out that becoming Guv of the Philippines was his weirdest accomplishment, or at least the last possible thing you would guess he did for a living if you saw a picture of the guy. (Unless your only reference is my drawing, in which he looks ambiguously ethnic, and maybe could pass for Filipino) WB: "Taft's career in the Philippines was an example of the best in colonial government." Hmm...
His son, Robert Alphonso Taft, "...became a famous U.S. Senator from Ohio.' (never heard of him)

[ed. -- Thank you Eric! You're a champ.]

Interlude

2010-07-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, a team of construction workers unearthed the crypt of Michigan’s first governor, Stevens T. Mason, in Capitol Park in Detroit. The plan is to move the remains to a more prominent location. According to mlive.com, this is the third time Governor Mason’s remains have been moved: “Mason died in 1843 in New York, but his body was moved to Detroit's Capitol Park in 1905. His remains were moved to another location in the park in 1955.” However, no records of the 1955 move exist.

Stevens T. Mason, the “Boy Governor,” was elected territorial governor of the Michigan Territory at age 22 and then elected governor of the State of Michigan at age 24, in 1835. According to Wikipedia, “Mason is the youngest state governor in American history.” I tell you this for several reasons. First, it is an interesting historic tidbit and, while obviously a modest detour from the task at hand, I’m all about interesting historic tidbits. Second, Michigan being my home, I am proud that we had such a youngling for a leader in the early heady days of statehood. Admittedly, his youth makes me feel vaguely inadequate in much the same way that Beyonce’s age (seven and a half months my junior) makes me feel like an utter failure. Nevertheless, personal insecurities aside, this Mason fellow is fairly impressive. And finally, there is something grimly fascinating about old bones (or maybe ashes?) being uncovered a few blocks from my workplace.

Ok. Interlude over. A dear friend is working on a guest entry (!) for President Taft, so that’ll be up soon.

#26: Roosevelt, Theodore

2010-06-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Theodore Roosevelt
Oct. 27, 1858 - Jan. 6, 1919

Hello friend. I haven't forgotten about you or this little project. Work has gotten a bit more stressful (and my level of efficiency has sadly not improved). Nevertheless, here we are with President #26--Teddy Roosevelt, who was the youngest man ever to become president. He was 42 when McKinley was assassinated. He served two terms, from 1901 to 1909. He was a big bear of a man who "regarded public life as a great stage" according to World Book.

Things Roosevelt said:

He practiced what he called the "strenuous life"--boxing, horseback riding, swimming, hunting, hiking...
He said as president, "I did not usurp power, but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power."
Of his foreign policy: "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
Of his time as President: "I do not believe that anyone else has ever enjoyed the White House as much as I have."
During the run-up to the Spanish American War, when Roosevelt was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he said President McKinley had "no more backbone than a chocolate eclair."

Things Roosevelt did:

Busted trusts (big business monopolies)!
Regulated railroads!
Passed laws to protect people from harmful food and drugs after reading Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle!
Supported a revolutionary government that took control of Panama so he could get his #@$!$ canal! He later visited Panama and was the first President to travel to a foreign country while in office.
Added over 125 million acres to the national forests in the interest of conservation!
Ran for a third term in 1912, after the Republicans lost confidence in the then president William taft! He ran on the Bull Moose ticket, so named because after Teddy was asked how he felt, he answered, "I feel as strong as a bull moose." He lost that election to Woodrow Wilson.

Roosevelt died in 1919 from complications of a jungle fever he'd contracted while exploring in Brazil. Around the same time, he admitted that he had been blind in his left eye since 1905. He had lost the sight while boxing with a military aide in the White House!

#25: McKinley, William

2010-06-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

William McKinley

Jan. 29, 1843 (Niles, Ohio) -- Sept. 14, 1901 (Buffalo, New York)

Watercolor!
(His face is shiny because I didn't wait for it to dry before taking the picture. I'm sleepy.)

McKinley succeeded Grover Cleveland in 1897. He was the third President to be assassinated and the fifth to die in office! That's a lot given that he was only #25.

"Others sometimes regarded [McKinley] as cold an pompous, perhaps because of his rigid bearing, piercing eyes, and his tight, thin lips. He went to church regularly and lavished great care and affection upon his invalid wife." She suffered from shock and grief after both her daughters died at a young age. She later developed epilepsy. "McKinley was devoted to his wife and constantly cared for all her needs. When he was governor of Ohio, he would turn before entering the state house in Columbus, then remove his hat and bow to his wife in their hotel room window across the street. He waved to her from a window at 3 o'clock every afternoon." Later during his campaign for President, McKinley refused to leave his wife for long campaign tours. Therefore, McKinley's friend and political patron, Marcus A. Hanna, a Cleveland millionaire, "arranged to have thousands of visitors travel to Canton[, Ohio]" where McKinley would give short, rehearsed speeches from his front porch. He was elected and became president in 1897.

McKinley campaigned on raising tariffs (good ol' American protectionism) and enacting a new gold standard for currency. I have to be honest that the last few presidential entries in this historical romp through the 1981 World Book have involved lengthy passages about currency scandals, the silver standard, the gold standard, crazy inflation, and so forth. I don't understand any of it so I haven't been including it... not necessarily the best approach, I admit.

At the beginning of McKinley's first term, a Cuban revolt was raging against Spanish rule. In 1898, a U.S. ship exploded in Havana harbor (nobody ever figured out why). Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, urged McKinley to declare war. McKinley waffled. Roosevelt called him a "white-livered cur" who had "prepared two messages, one for war and one for peace, and doesn't know which one to send in." McKinley finally declared war on April 11, 1898. The Spanish-American War lasted only 113 days, but in the end the U.S. acquired Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. (In McKinley's second term, the Supreme Court affirmed that the residents of these new dependencies did not have the rights of citizens and that Congress could impose tariffs on their trade). Roosevelt, who had returned a hero from the Spanish-American war, was selected as McKinley's running mate for his second term.

McKinley was assasinated six months into his second term. He was appearing at a public reception during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. Hundreds of people waited to shake his hand. Leon F. Czolgosz, an anarchist, approached him, grasped his hand, then shot him twice with a revolver he'd concealed with a handkerchief in his left hand. According to World Book, "McKinley slumped forward, gasping, 'Am I shot?' The crowd pounced on the assassin and began beating him. McKinley pointed to Czolgosz, imploring, 'Let no one hurt him.' He whispered to his secretary: 'My wife--be careful, Cortelyou, how you tell her--oh, be careful.'" Czolgosz was later electrocuted.

Net Worth

2010-05-30T05:26:00.000-07:00

Fascinating stuff, courtesy of bruns (thank you thank you):

The Net Worth of The American Presidents: Washington to Obama

#23: Harrison, Benjamin

2010-05-29T15:23:00.001-07:00

Benjamin Harrison

August 20, 1833 (North Bend, Ohio) - March 13, 1901 (Indianapolis)

I drew this absent-mindedly over a failed drawing of Grover Cleveland. Harrison looks a bit like a hartebeest, another featured creature of the "H" volume.

Benjamin Harrison is the only president to be the grandson of another president: William Henry Harrison (#9), hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe. Harrison won the 1888 campaign against Grover Cleveland with the help of a Republican campaign song: "Grandfather's Hat Fits Ben." Like his grandfather, he only served one term, failing to be reelected in 1893.

As president, Ben Harrison presided over some serious federal legislation, including adoption of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. He also launched a program to build a two-ocean navy and expand the merchant marine (by the time of Harrison's presidency the West had essentially been won--North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming all joined the Union during his term). In the first part of his term, both houses of Congress were Republican (like Harrison) allowing him to enact an ambitious legislative program and also spend a lot of money. Democrats were elected in great numbers during the mid-term elections in response to this spending. The new Democratic Speaker of the House, Thomas Reed, allegedly exclaimed: "This is a billion-dollar country!"

In the last days of Harrison's presidency, Queen Liliuokalani lost her throne in Hawaii in a revolution led by American planters. Harrison tried to rush a treaty of annexation to the Senate before leaving office--making Hawaii a U.S. territory--but when Cleveland returned to the presidency he withdrew it before the Senate could act. Cleveland called "the whole affair dishonorable to the United States."

Harrison's wife died two weeks before the national elections in the fall of 1892. Harrison was beat by Cleveland and in 1893 he returned to Indianapolis, where he had practiced law before entering politics. He remarried--his widowed niece (in law, I presume/hope). He died at home in 1901.

#22 & #24: Cleveland, Grover

2010-05-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Grover Cleveland
March 18, 1837 (Caldwell, NJ) – June 24, 1908 (Princeton, NJ)
Note: Cleveland is the first president to be featured on this blog who lived into the 20th Century! Hoorah! Also, World Book lists two of his five children has still living as of the date of publication (1981)! Which is to say, my life and the life of Grover Cleveland's kids overlapped for a bit. I feel very close to him all of a sudden.

With Mr. Cleveland, we knock out two presidents in our slow trudge towards forty: numbers 22 and 24. President Cleveland has the distinct advantage of being the only president who served two terms non-consecutively (Harrison interrupted but we'll get to that soon enough). Cleveland was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War--things were starting to settle down, but corruption in government was still a big issue.

Word Book describes Cleveland as a "big, good-humored man, called 'Uncle Jumbo' by his relatives."

For a short time, Cleveland served as sheriff in Buffalo. "During his term [as sheriff], the county had to hang two convicted murderers. Most sheriffs had delegated this distasteful task to deputies, but Cleveland sprang the traps himself. He explained that he would not ask anyone else to do what he was unwilling to do."

After serving as sheriff, he was elected mayor of Buffalo, and after that governor of New York. All along he was considered a reformer, vetoing padded bills... he earned a reputation for wisdom, but also the hatred of Tammany Hall Democrats.

Cleveland's presidency, both the first and second term, were marked by labor unrest. During his second term, he tried to break up the Pullman Strike of 1894 first by court injunction, then by sending in federal troops to break up unions in an insane presidential power grab.

Cleveland is the only President to get married in the White House. He married Frances Folsom when she was 21 and he was 49--it was about a year into his first term. She had been his ward since her father died in 1875 (when she was 11). Her father had shared a law practice with Cleveland. This has a whiff of "ew" reminiscent of Celine Dion and René Angélil's bizarre marriage.

Cleveland had cancer of the mouth early in his second administration. He kept it a secret, to the point where he even arranged to have secret surgery on a friend's yacht in New York Harbor to remove part of left upper jaw. He wore a rubber jaw that allegedly made the removal hardly noticeable.

Cleveland died in 1908. According to World Book, his last words were: "I have tried so hard to do right."

#21: Arthur, Chester

2010-05-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

and.... I’m back! Today with a fellow named Chester Arthur, our twenty-first president, and the successor of James Garfield who was assassinated in office in 1881.

Chester A. Arthur
Oct. 5, 1829 (Fairfield, Vermont) - Nov. 18, 1886 (New York, New York)

World Book says: "Arthur enjoyed fashionable surroundings and fine clothes. He also liked to entertain friends. Tall, ruddy, and handsome, Arthur was sometimes called the "Gentleman Boss."

Arthur rose through the ranks of the Republican Party machine, as a protege of New York Senator Rosco Conkling. New York politics were rife with graft and waste, and Arthur was a great beneficiary of the system. However, as President, he faced tremendous popular demand for political reform and for a better system of filling public offices. He thus signed into law the Pendleton Civil Service Act, to the shock and disappointment of his party machine cronies. His administration became known for its honesty and efficiency.

Before becoming President, Arthur held a variety of political posts and before that he was a lawyer at a New York City law firm. He was known as a civil rights crusader, and won a case in 1855 that establish the rights of blacks to ride on any streetcar in the city.

Arthur's wife died a year before he was elected Vice President. As President, he asked his youngest sister to serve as his hostess. According to World Book, "Arthur though the White House looked like 'a badly kept barracks,' and ordered it renovated." As a result, he lived in the Washington home of Senator John P. Jones of Nevada for the first several months of his presidency.

While he was president, Congress sought to pass a bill banning Chinese immigration for twenty years. Arthur vetoed it, because he said it violated a treaty with China. Congress amended the bill to limit the prohibition for ten year and it became law.

A year into his presidency, Arthur learned that he had a fatal kidney disease called glomerulonephritis, or Bright's Disease. He was often in great pain, but kept the illness a secret (just like Jed Bartlet!). Because of his illness, he quietly avoided being nominated to a second term.

Thank you for reading and now, a public service announcement:

If you want to have a son that grows up to look like this (below),
name him Chester.
Test this wisdom at your own peril, my friends.

#20: Garfield, James Abram

2010-04-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

James Abram Garfield
20th President of the United States - HALFWAY, woop woop!
Nov. 19, 1831 (Orange Township, Ohio) Sept. 19, 1881 (Elberon, New Jersey)

The World Book entry on James Garfield begins: “GARFIELD, JAMES ABRAM (1831-1881), was the last President to be born in a log cabin. Nobody knows what kind of President he would have been, because he was assassinated only a few months after taking office.” Such drama and such brevity! I aspire to write as well. Also, what is it with log cabins that holds the American imagination so captive? I have my own thoughts, but I'll let you ponder upon it.

According to World Book, “Garfield was a big, athletic, handsome man with blond hair and beard.” To wit (minus the beard):

He was super smart too. “He occasionally entertained his friends by writing Greek with one hand and at the same time writing Latin with the other.” Boy, would I have liked to party with him.

Garfield was nominated for the presidency in part because the fractured post-war Republican party (two factions in particular: the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds) couldn’t agree on a nominee. Garfield was the “dark horse.” Also, he had quite the leadership pedigree. He'd been a college professor, college president, lawyer, major general in the U.S. Army, and Congressman.

Four months into his first term, Garfield was shot by a disappointed job seeker, Charles J. Guiteau. The shooting occurred while Garfield was waiting for a train on his way to attend the 25th reunion of his class at Williams College (which I visited many moons ago on a college campus tour of New England with my mom, and which has a James A. Garfield Collection, should you be interested in researching the man further). As President, Garfield had begun filling hundreds of government jobs with his supporters--the Spoils System, which Rutherford B. Hayes supposedly put an end to, rearing its ugly head. Guiteau had wanted Garfield to appoint him as U.S. consul to Paris, which Garfield didn't do. So he shot him. After the shooting, Garfield “lay near death for 80 days.” A single bullet had lodged in his back and surgeons could not find it. “Alexander Graham Bell tried unsuccessfully to locate the bullet with an electrical device.” World Book says that Garfield remained "calm and cheerful." Garfield ultimately died from infection of the wound. Ew. And sad.

Feedback from Ohio's Native Daughter

2010-04-22T08:06:00.001-07:00

A dear friend who happens to hail from Ohio wrote me this a propos Rutherford B. Hayes:

Hayes is the name of the high school in Delaware, Ohio, where you note that Hayes was born. Delaware is a charming small town and until the suburbs started to sprawl like crazy after I left for college, it was really the only town for the next 1.5 hours after my parents' house. They enjoy going there for antiquing, eating a leisurely lunch, going to "mass with the nice priest" (as opposed to their parish), etc.
Interestingly, Hayes' mascot is the Pacers or something similarly horsey, named after a nearby race track? Not very presidential. But in Marion, Ohio, home of Warren G. Harding, their high school mascot is the Presidents. I remember their swim caps having an especially ugly presidential seal of some sort. There's also a Harding high school in Warren, Ohio but their mascot is the Raiders.
We heart our presidents in Ohio. :)

I will venture this hypothesis: in this great nation, there is a school named after every single president, even the miserable ones (see, e.g., here and here). That's presidential love!

Presidential Miscellania

2010-04-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

I saw this play over the weekend and recommend it if you are in New York. Good fun and Martin Van Buren is a riot.

Also, exciting news in currency, if there is such a thing. (via)

#19: Hayes, Rutherford Birchard

2010-04-21T17:28:00.001-07:00

Rutherford B. Hayes
19th President of the United States (served 1877-1881)
Oct. 4, 1822 (Delaware, Ohio) - Jan. 17, 1893 (Fremont, Ohio)

From a good beard to better!

Hayes was the first president to be elected by a margin of only one vote. The election had to be decided by a special congressional commission. During his presidency, he ended Reconstruction (pulled federal troops out of the South) and ended the Spoils System (based his appointments on merit). Otherwise, his was a remarkably unremarkable reign.
“Hayes was a champion speller in elementary school. He later boasted that ‘not one in a thousand could spell me down!’”
During the Civil War, Hayes was quickly promoted. He “distinguished himself in several battles . . . . He was wounded four times and had four horses shot from under him.”
Hayes had a hand in expanding the Library of Congress and he helped found the college that would later become Ohio State University.
Hayes’s wife was the first First Lady to have gone to college. She and her husband introduced the custom of Easter egg rolling by children on the White House lawn.

SIDENOTE: I recently started watching the West Wing. I’m almost through the first season and it amazes me how every episode feels topical and relevant almost ten years after the show first aired. For example, one episode addressed the politics of the census when I filled out my census questionnaire. Another episode addressed the national parks and Yellowstone when I was writing about Ulysses Grant. The latest episode addressed the Easter egg roll while I was writing this entry! Not to mention all the issues (gays in the military, nuclear disarmament, state dinners for visiting dignitaries gone awry) that speak directly to issues faced by the current administration. Insane! Or perhaps merely a sad commentary on how little politics change! But either way, I highly recommend it!!!

BONUS BITS from the “H” volume! (We've already visited the "H" volume--hello there again, Mr. Harrison--but nevertheless I stumbled upon these gems and had to share)

There is an entry devoted to “Hats.” In what context would this be useful? No idea, but it’s delightful to peruse. It includes a feature on “How a Felt Hat Is Made,” as well as an explanation of “Why People Wear Hats.” According to World Book, “people wear hats for three main reasons: (1) protection, (2) communication, and (3) decoration.”
I learned that manufacturers can use the air bladder of a squirrel hake to make glue. Wha????
And I found separate entries for "Hand," "Head" and "Human Body." According to World Book, "HAND is the end of a forelimb, or arm. Hands are specially constructed for taking hold of objects. True hands have opposable thumbs . . . " True hands! Priceless.

#18: Grant, Ulysses

2010-04-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ulysses S. Grant

April 27, 1822, Pt. Pleasant, Ohio - July 23, 1885, McGregor, New York

What a beard!

What's in a name? According to World Book, Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant. Hiram! That is totally going on my short list of names for my as-yet unborn sons. (Kidding, kidding... I don't have such a list, but if I did, Hiram would be way up top.) When he was seventeen, Grant's father found out that a neighbor's son had been dismissed from the U.S. Military Academy. He wrote his congressman to appoint Ulysses as a replacement (little 'Lyss had been going to school at an academy in Ripley, Ohio in the meantime). The congressman agreed, but when he made out the appointment he wrote it for "Ulysses S. Grant," mistakenly thinking the boy's middle name was his mother's maiden name, Simpson. 'Lyss never bothered to change it; "He thought his classmates might tease him about his real initials, 'H.U.G.'" Later, as a military commander, Grant earned the nickname "Unconditional Surrender Grant" after, on his own initiative, he took Fort Donelson in 1862 and refused to give the fort commander any concessions upon surrender. He was later called a "butcher" because he lost so many men in battle.
Grant was the first West Point graduate to serve as president. After graduating in 1843, he fought in the Mexican War (including participating in the capture of Mexico City). He was later stationed in Detroit (hey-yo) and also Sackets Harbor, New York, before being sent to the West to serve at Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory and Fort Humboldt in California. Grant eventually resigned, preferring to return to be closer to his wife and four children. After a series of business failures, he returned to the Army in 1861 to fight for the Union (he freed his only slave in 1859). Grant quickly moved up the ranks from drill captain to colonel to brigadier general to lieutenant commander. He was ultimately named supreme commander of all Union armies by Lincoln in 1864. He led the North to victory and emerged from the Civil War a national hero. In the North, people admired him for his fierce tenacity and in the South people respected him for having given General Robert E. Lee generous terms of surrender.
World Book refers to Grant as "trustworthy" and "shy and retiring." He was a talented horseman. His career outside the army as a young man was marked by business failures. He tried his hand as a farmer, a real estate agent, a landlord, and a store clerk. He was terrible at all of them. His unluckiness followed him after his presidency--in retirement he invested all of his savings (about $100,000) in a banking firm, for which his son, Ulysses, Jr., was a partner. The bank turned out to be run by a dishonest man and the company ultimately failed, leaving Grant almost penniless. In his old age, Grant turned to writing his memoirs for income. Mark Twain became his publisher. The memoirs earned his family $500,000!
Grant's presidency (1869 - 1877) was marked by widespread political corruption--he vowed not to be ruled by professional politicians in his inaugural address and instead appointed personal friends and army officers to government offices. The spoils system quickly thrived and over the course of his two terms in office, government fraud ballooned. During his presidency, Grant presided over two financial panics: Black Friday (spurred by a gold speculation scandal) and the Panic of 1873 (spurred by the failure of several Eastern banks). All the while, Grant continued to accept personal gifts and his cabinet members accepted bribes left and right.
Despite all the scandals, Grant succeeded in reducing the national debt. While he was president, the First Transcontinental Railroad System was completed, which I learned about from a Lucky Luke comic book, "Des Rails sur la Prairie." (Come to think of it, almost everything I know about the American West I learned from either Lucky Luke or the Magnificent Seven.) Grant also presided over the creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872. Hooray for national parks! Hip hip...

Bonus drawing!
(that is a tree trunk Grant is leaning against, for your information)

#17: Johnson, Andrew

2010-03-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Andrew Johnson
(Dec. 29, 1808, Raleigh, NC - July 31, 1875, Carter Station, Tennessee)

Mr. Johnson was the first president to be impeached; he was the first and only president who had never gone to school (he was a tailor by training); he was the first president to grant a reporter a formal interview; and he was the first and only former president to serve as a Senator (he ran and won in 1874, six years after his term as president ended).
Even though Johnson was a completely self-taught man (well almost completely--his wife taught him arithmetic and how to write), he diligently worked his way up the political ladder: from town alderman in Greenville, Tennessee, to the Tennessee House of Representatives, to Governor of Tennessee, to U.S. Senator, to Military Governor of Tennessee during the Civil War and finally to Vice President in Lincoln's second term (though notably Johnson owned 8 slaves, often advocated a "middle ground" on the slavery issue--sort of like being "kind of pregnant" or "very unique"--, and he was a Democrat on the Republican ticket). The World Book account of Johnson's inauguration bears quoting directly:

He had recently recovered from an attack of typhoid fever, and was still weak. On his way to the ceremony in the Senate, Johnson stopped to rest. He drank some whisky, thinking it would strengthen him. In the heat of the Senate chamber, and because of his weakened condition, Johnson became tipsy. His jumbled speech embarrassed even his friends. For many years, Johnson's opponents accused him of drunkenness, but the accusation was unjustified. Lincoln remarked: 'I have known Andy for many years; he made a bad slip the other day, but you need not be scared. Andy ain't a drunkard.'

The morning after Lincoln's assassination, Johnson took the oath of office in his hotel room. In the four-year term that followed, he fought Radical Republicans intent on punishing the South. This resistance led to his tremendous unpopularity and eventual impeachment (though the Senate acquitted him in the impeachment trial). One of his lawyers at his impeachment trial wrote: "He is a man of few ideas, but they are right and true, and he could suffer death sooner than yield up or violate one of them." How's that for a backhanded compliment! During the trial, Radical Republican voters threatened Senators who did not vote in favor of impeachment. One voter, for example, warned, "Any Republican Senator who votes against impeachment need never expect to get home alive." My, my. Politics can get quite ugly.
During Johnson's presidency, the U.S. acquired Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867. The deal was negotiated by Secretary of State William Seward--many American called Alaska "Seward's folly" for years thereafter. Recently, Discovery confirmed that it had finalized a deal with Sarah Palin to do an eight-part travelogue show about her home state. Although the series is not yet in production, the cost is estimated at about $1 million per episode. So that would be about $8 million. I can do math.

And that, my friends, is all I have to say about Andrew Johnson.

#16: Lincoln, Abraham... bio

2010-03-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

I lost the “L” volume for two weeks! I know, I know… excuses, excuses. But seriously, I couldn’t find it to finish reading the mammoth entry on Lincoln. While presidents like James “Blech” Buchanan get like 3-page entries, Honest Abe gets 17 and a half pages! That’s longer than any president so far.

Things I like about Lincoln:

He Was A Bad Lawyer! Not really bad, but as a lawyer Lincoln argued better and more convincingly when he himself was convinced that his client was right. This somehow charms me… it’s a weakness as far as lawyering goes, but it also seems like the result of having a strong moral compass—an admirable quality.
He Was A Serial Loser! Lincoln lost plenty of political campaigns before winning the presidency: he lost a campaign for state legislature in 1832 (but won when he ran again in 1834 on the Whig ticket); he lost the Whig nomination for Congress in 1843 and again in 1844 (but won when he presented himself in 1846); he lost the nomination for Congress again in 1854 (but succeeded in getting a colleague who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act elected); he won the nomination but lost the election for U.S. Senate to Stephen Douglas in 1858… and finally won the presidency in 1860 without actively campaign for himself! It was considered unseemly at the time for presidential candidates to campaign.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates—Enough Said! The story of Lincoln's debates with Douglas during their race for Senate is inspiring. Compared to modern political debates (over-produced, glossy, lacking in substance, filled with nonsense about flag pins and Joe the Plumber) these debates seem AWESOME. They actually debated real, hard issues (e.g. slavery) in front of real people (i.e. not neutered audiences). According to World Book, both men also toured extensively making speeches on their own while doing the debates. “Before the exhausting campaign ended, Douglas’ deep bass voice had become so husky that it was hard to understand him. Lincoln’s high, penetrating voice still reached the limits of a large audience.” The debates made Lincoln famous across the nation.
Insane Presidential Power Grabs! Lincoln took the oath of office and became the 16th president of the United States on March 4, 1861. Civil War broke out on April 12, 1861, with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Lincoln responded within two weeks by proclaiming a blockade on Southern ports, expanding the army beyond the limits of the law, suspending habeas corpus in areas where Southern sympathizers were active, and ordering the spending of federal funds without waiting for congressional appropriations. All this to prevent the Union from breaking into pieces. That Abe Lincoln fella was a ballsy man. Ballsy, I tell you!
He Was Accessible! As president, Lincoln saw everyone who called upon the White House--including widows and soldiers--and he insisted on writing most of his own letters and all of his speeches. He also made frequent visits to army hospitals (World Book says these visits “tore his gentle heart”).

Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in late 1862, freeing slaves in Confederate territory. The proclamation didn’t have an immediate effect, since mid-war there was no way for federal officers to enforce it, but it had tremendous long-range effect, paving the way for the Thirteenth Amendment. By 1864, when Lincoln was up for reelection, his popularity had seriously waned—but a series of Union victories turned popular opinion and Lincoln was elected to a second term. He took his second oath of office on March 4, 1865—his face, “gaunt and deeply lined,” bore the effect of four years of war. The war ended on April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Lincoln was assassinated a little over a week later on the evening of April 15, 1865 while attending a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a prominent stage actor. After Lincoln’s death, “even his enemies praised his kindly spirit and selflessness. Millions of people called him ‘Father Abraham.’”

Falling behind

2010-03-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

Losing... steam...

Must... carry... on...

In the meantime, I offer you this, courtesy of this fellow. Presidential humor! What what.

#16: Lincoln, Abraham

2010-03-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

Abraham Lincoln

February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865

Abraham Lincoln looms large in our presidential mythology (and on a certain craggy cliffside in South Dakota). I drew him while watching the Oscars. I didn't have time to write up my World Book bullet points--how to sum this man up?! So I'm posting just this for now. Such a large forehead! At least I got the beard and the quasi-pout right.

#15: Buchanan, James

2010-02-27T05:04:00.000-08:00

James Buchanan

April 23, 1791 (Gettysburg, Pa.) -- June 1, 1868 (Lancaster, Pa.)

If there were a teleplay about Buchanan's life,

John Lithgow would have to play him.
(Please disregard the puppies on the bottom of this drawing--
I couldn't find white paper and had to resort to a
notepad with puppy art across the bottom.)

Buchanan presided ineffectually over the terrible years right before the Civil War (1857-1861). For this he wins the dubious distinction of being one of our worst presidents. Buchanan's hit list of horrors included refusing to oppose slavery--indeed he supported the infamous Dred Scott decision, and letting seven of the fifteen slave states secede in 1860-61, believing that war would only encourage more states to secede and would impede eventual peaceful settlement. He believed that "if left alone the . . . Confederate states would soon disagree among themselves, and move toward reunion." He was the original King of Wishful Thinking.

Buchanan was born in a log cabin in Pennsylvania, son of Irish-Scot immigrants. He worked in his Dad's general store. He went on to enjoy a lengthy career as a lawyer, Congressman, and diplomat before ascending to the presidency as the Democratic party's least offensive choice for the nomination (he was abroad when the Bleeding Kansas episode occurred, so he had the benefit of having said nothing on the record about the slavery issue).

Buchanan was the only bachelor president. He fell in love with a girl in his younger years, and got engaged. However, after a misunderstanding (World Book is frustratingly vague on this point), the young lady left Buchanan to go stay with her sister in Philadelphia. She died soon thereafter. Gossips suggested it was suicide (gasp!). In the White House, Buchanan's niece and ward, Harriet Lane, served as his hostess. She threw many balls and receptions. "Buchanan added a conservatory to the White House to provide flowers for these affairs. The most spectacular parties centered around the visit of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of Great Britain. The prince brought such a large party that Buchanan had to sleep in a hallway to provide proper quarters for his guests."

Because Buchanan had one eye that was near-sighted and one that was far-sighted, he had a peculiar habit of tilting his head so that he could see better. Hence the wonky look in his official portrait.

THE WORLD OF PRESIDENT BUCHANAN: During Buchanan's presidency, the population of the US was about 32 million. The first Atlantic cable was laid between Newfoundland and Ireland in 1858--it failed and was not replaced until 1866; Darwin published his theory of evolution in 1859--a movie about his life would fail at the box office 151 years later; and the Pony Express system carrying mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, was established in 1860.

Bonus from the "B" Volume: SIZES OF BEARS
(in descending order, from largest to smallest, with average adult length)

Alaskan Brown Bear - ursus arctos middendorffi, 9 feet
Polar Bear - thalarctos maritimus, 8.75 feet
Grizzly Bear - ursus arctos horribilis, 8 feet
American Black Bear - euarctos americanus, 5 feet
Asiatic Black Bear - selenarctos thibetanus, 5 feet
Sloth Bear - melursus ursinus, 5 feet
Spectacled Bear - termarctos ornatus, 5 feet
Sun Bear - herlarctos malaynus, 3 feet

Bow tie 'round my neck / That's why they call me the gangsta mack / In the Cadillac! Yeah!

2010-02-26T05:35:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that so far almost every president has worn a similar type of necktie. They aren't exactly bow ties of this variety, or this, but more like long scarves wrapped around the neck and tied in a bow. Obviously, the sartorial choices of our nation's forefathers aren't really a central point of interest for most historians (so what this is a propos of, I'm not exactly sure--but then again, this blog wasn't created in the pursuit of great historical truths). Still it got me thinking about neckties. How did this particular fashion persist for over half a century, while women's fashion seems to evolve more dramatically in the same period? Maybe they served a function-- like holding up collars, before good starch or collar stays were easily available? Or maybe the White House was drafty and these types of neckties warded off the humid morning chill in Washington? Or maybe they were just about vanity? Ah, to be a costume/textile historian! Where did I go astray?

This morning, I spent about ten minutes trying to teach myself how to do this:

I think I've got it down.

On the MTV show "Teen Mom," there was a necktie-related scene that brought me to tears. For the record, I don't think I've ever watched an entire "Teen Mom" episode start-to-finish because I find it too emotionally taxing and I find our nation's fascination with teen pregnancy (see, e.g., here) borderline creepy. Nevertheless, in this particular episode, one young father, Tyler, is getting ready to take Catelynn (his baby mama) out to a fancy dinner, where he plans to propose to her. When he talks to Catelynn's mother to ask for her blessing, the mother sagely advises him not to throw up. (A bit of background: this couple gave up their baby in a semi-open adoption, much to the dismay of their respective families.) Catelynn has braces and an asymmetrical 'do. Tyler looks like he hasn't hit puberty yet, and wears his hair in a spikey buzz, somewhat reminiscent of this young fellow. They both appear heartbreakingly young, which I suppose they are. For this special occasion, Tyler has put on a suit and Catelynn wears a prom dress, loads of sparkly make-up and mascara. When Tyler tries putting on a necktie he realizes that he doesn't know how to do it. Neither does his father (an ex-con, with a seriously amazing mullet). Eventually, Catelynn steps in to help, using an Internet video as a guide. The moment is unexpectedly tender: the necktie as symbol of aspiration for a more stable future. Two young people, forced prematurely into adulthood, taking on the trappings of adulthood on their own terms...

That is all for the necktie digression. The next president in the line-up, James Buchanan, sports a similar necktie to his predecessors but it's white! How dramatic. I take my kicks where I can get them.

Addendum - "The World of President Pierce"

2010-02-24T19:06:00.000-08:00

World Book does a fun feature for each president: a blue call-out box entitled "THE WORLD OF PRESIDENT [X]" which includes all sorts of things that were happening in the years of said president's reign. Pierce's blue box (1853-1857) includes these gems which I failed to mention:

The Republican Party was organized between 1854 and 1856! There is a lively graphic of an elephant holding a sign that says "G.O.P." I fear that I am a bad democrat because I often have pangs of envy over the Republican mascot. Donkeys are great and all, but elephants are way awesomer! They eat trees! And are totally fascinating (this link is a bit sad, but engrossing if you have time to read it).
The Soo Canal connecting Lake Superior with Lake Huron opened to shipping in 1855. I am a bad Michigander. I didn't even know that a canal connected these two lakes, though now that I know it makes sense. I do know my important mnemonics, e.g., HOMES.
From 1853-1856, Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia fought against Russia in the Crimean War. I know nothing about this era of history: I'm adding "Crimean War" to my list of non-fiction literature topics I plan to explore as soon as I get to the bottom of the books stacked on my nightstand. Already on the list: the French quasi-presidential system and Robert Moses.
In 1854, about 400,000 immigrants arrived in New York--these immigrants were not greeted by the Statue of Liberty. The copper lady wasn't completed until July 1884 in France, and she wasn't erected at her current location until October 28, 1886, when she was unveiled by President Grover Cleveland, but I'm getting waaaaay ahead of myself.
Finally, Mr. Bessemer, an English engineer, invented the Bessemer converter in 1855. What's the Bessemer converter, you ask? Well, according to wikipedia, it was used in the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. What's pig iron, you ask? I'm getting sleepy, oh so sleepy...

#14: Pierce, Franklin

2010-02-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Franklin Pierce

Our Fourteenth President (1853-1857)

November 23, 1804 (Hillsborough, NH) – October 8, 1869 (Concord, NH)

Jon Hamm as Franklin Pierce!

"The personal good looks of Pierce and his brilliant speaking manner impressed all who met him." He was a lawyer who served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and later, at 33, was the youngest Senator in the U.S. Senate. When elected president at 48, Pierce was the youngest president up to that time (woohoo).
However, Pierce supported the Compromise of 1850 and, as president, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which made slavery possible in a large part of the West (boo), and also led to armed clashes among slavery and anti-slavery people (the so-called "Bleeding Kansas" chapter in our nation's history).
Pierce's home life was super depressing: his wife suffered from tuberculosis and "melancholy." The couple lost two of their three sons. Most notably, Pierce's 11-year old son was killed in a railroad accident two months before Pierce's inauguration--"Mrs. Pierce collapsed from grief, and did not attend her husband's inauguration."
After Pierce lost the presidency (his political usefulness was destroyed by his handling of the slavery issue), he started drinking and became a big critic of Abraham Lincoln (double boo).

Ball of Fire

2010-02-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

Much like the furniture sale at Art Van, my Presidents Day wishes are being held over until today... so Happy Presidents Day! I was sick this last week and not able to muster much energy for this admittedly ambitious (inane?) project. But then, dear readers (mom and dad), I happened to catch one of my very favorite movies on television: Ball of Fire, the 1941 Howard Hawks/Billy Wilder classic, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. I have love, love, loved this movie since I was 16 years old. I first saw it while volunteering at a nursing home run by nuns--who incidentally tried more than once to lure me into their order with gifts of little gold-plated guardian angel pins. At this nursing home, many of the old lady wards suffered from dementia, but would gladly wile away hours watching American Movie Classics, with occasional commentary by Nick Clooney, father of George and a fox in his own right. This particular classic film is about eight professors writing an enclycopedia (!) who, upon reaching the "S" volume, discover that they must venture outside their ivory tower in order to complete an entry on "slang." The youngest professor (and the resident lexicographer/grammarian) meets and is instantly enchanted by Sugarpuss O'Shea, a nightclub singer and girlfriend to a local mob boss. Worlds collide and hijinks ensue. It's magical! And hilarious! Two thumbs up! The movie reminded me why I acquired this old set of World Book in the first place: namely, the charm of something so completely obsolete. Just imagining a team of gray-haired, rolly-polly professors, slaving away at something that is already a superannuated relic before it even hits the printing press somehow warms my heart. The movie also reminded me how much I love any story in which the protagonist is essentially a group of persons. Here the professors each offer vital expertise in different areas: Freudian psychoanalysis, botany, Greek mythology... In the end, the combination of this knowledge is what saves the group from imminent danger. Sort of like The Goonies or X-Men. Ai ai ai. Weak analogy. So weak.

Later, I'll be adding an entry for Franklin Pierce, numero catorce, a "doughface" and the only president from New Hampshire. Frankly (and with apologies to the Fillmore/Pierce/Buchanan fans), these antebellum presidents are starting to bore me, but I'll press on. Mr. Lincoln awaits just around the corner.

#13: Fillmore, Millard

2010-02-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

Millard Fillmore, our Thirteenth President
January 7, 1800 (Locke, New York) - March 8, 1874 (Buffalo, New York)

Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850, the series of laws passed by Congress that abolished the slave trade in the District of Columbia, admitted California as a free state, and organized the territories of Utah and New Mexico with no reference to slavery. It also established a stricter fugitive slave law. This Compromise is credited with staving of civil war for ten years, but it also was a huge concession to the South.
Fillmore was a self-made man. He spent part of his childhood as a clothmaker's apprentice. The master treated him so badly "that the boy once threatened him with an axe." At age 19, Fillmore bought his freedom from the apprenticeship for $30. He also bought the first book he ever owned: a dictionary. He went on to study law with a local judge.
Fillmore was elected with Taylor on the Whig ticket. They won in part because the slavery issue split the Democratic vote--many voted with the Free Soil party. Fillmore took office when Taylor died: the second vice president to inherit the presidency in this way.
Fillmore married one of his teachers, Abigail Powers, the daughter of a baptist minister. "He was 19 and she was 21, and they fell in love." They had two children and lived in Buffalo. Mrs. Fillmore died one month after her husband left office (he was not re-elected). He remarried five years later in Buffalo, where he continued to be active in politics, opposing Abraham Lincoln's policies.
During Fillmore presidency, "Amelia Bloomer wore long pantaloons to draw attention to the woman suffrage movement. Many of her followers copied her costume, and they became known as 'Bloomer Girls.'" Also, school attendance became compulsory in Massachusetts--the first law in the country of its kind.

#12: Taylor, Zachary

2010-02-05T19:52:00.001-08:00

Zachary Taylor
November 24, 1784 (Barboursville, Virginia) - July 9, 1850 (the White House!)

Zachary Taylor "served his country for 40 years as a soldier and for 16 months as President": he fought in the War of 1812, was promoted to Major, then sent to Florida in 1837 to fight the Seminole Indians, and in 1846 he went to the Rio Grande with thousands of troops to fight in the Mexican War, then was elected prez in 1849. He died in office in 1850 and was succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore.
Zachary grew up on "the dark and bloody ground" of Kentucky's frontier. No schools, some tutors. He "gained much practical knowledge by working on his father's farm."
Taylor won the presidency on the Whig party ticket. During the campaign, neither the Democrats nor the Whigs talked about the slavery issue--only the Free Soil Party led by former president Martin Van Buren campaigned on it.
Under Taylor's presidency, debates over slavery heated up and came close to bringing about civil war. Southerners demanded compromise before California could be admitted to the union. Taylor refused and as a result California was not admitted until Fillmore succeeded to the presidency.
Mrs. Taylor did not like the fact that her husband ran for President. "She viewed it as a plot to deprive her of his company." She did not participate in social life at the White House, so hostess duties passed to her daughter Betty.

I also learned that a Tayra (TY ruh) "is a large member of the weasel family. It lives in tropical forests from Mexico to Argentina. . . . Tayras wander through the forests . . . eat birds, small mammals, and fruits."

Polk Addendum

2010-01-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

I forgot this!

#11 Polk, James K.

2010-01-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

New format: I think I'm going to do five bullets (tops!). The goal? Maximum readability. Maybe by week forty I'll be tweeting entries.

Today... James K. Polk!

November 2, 1795 (Pineville, North Carolina) - June 15, 1849 (Nashville, Tennessee, of cholera)
President #11, 1845 - 1849

Polk oversaw the greatest territorial growth of the US, including winning the Mexican War and adding Texas to the Union. During his presidency, covered wagons rolled across the Oregon Trail and forty-niners hunted for gold in California.
Polk's era as president was the "Fabulous 40's." "The country seethed with excitement, energy, and prosperity." (Seethed!)
The national scene had a seedy underbelly too: reformers called attention to the hardships of child laborers, the poverty of immigrants, and slavery.
Mrs. Polk became the first wife of a President to serve as her husband's secretary. Over the course of his career, she looked over and approved his writings. She managed a plantation on the Yalobusha River for 42 years after his death.
Polk is the first President not to seek reelection. He retired at the end of his first term.

The "P" volume includes a handy reference for: Polled Cattle. See Cattle (Horns; Beef Cattle).
And for: Polka. See Dancing (Folk Dancing; The Rise of Romanticism).

Recap

2010-01-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

The entries have gotten long-winded and unwieldy, so I'm rethinking this project a little. In the meantime, here's a recap of the first 10 presidents, the first fourth of this enterprise!

1. George Washington - Revolutionary War hero, our first President

2. John Adams - accomplished statesman

3. Thomas Jefferson - father of the Declaration of Independence

4. James Madison - shaped the system of Separation of Powers

5. James Monroe - oversaw grand expansion and Missouri Compromise

6. John Quincy Adams - didn't get much done

7. Andrew Jackson - opposed the Bank of the US, drove the Indians out

8. Martin Van Buren - presided over the first major recession, refused government aid

9. William Harrison - died after 30 days in office

10. John Tyler - wigged out the Whigs by going his own way

#10: Tyler, John

2010-01-17T18:24:00.000-08:00

John Tyler
March 29, 1790-January 18, 1862

Tyler was long considered a bad president. (And I am a bad blogger for falling behind again.) Theodore Roosevelt said of him: “Tyler has been called a mediocre man, but this is unwarranted flattery. He was a politician of monumental littleness.” (What wit!!?) According to World Book, Tyler earned this reputation by being soft-spoken, but stubborn. He was the first Vice-President to become President upon the death of a Chief Executive. He was elected on the Whig party ticket alongside Harrison. After Harrison’s death in 1841, 30 days into his term, Tyler assumed the presidency. He proceeded to veto almost every important bill that was presented to him. When he blocked a call for a new Bank of the United States, an armed mob marched to the White House. “Hoodlums shouted insults at the President and hurled rocks through the windows. Tyler calmly issued guns to the White House servants and stood firm against the mob. The rioters melted away.” The Whigs shortly thereafter disowned Tyler, and in 1843 tried unsuccessfully to impeach him.

During Tyler’s presidency, China opened its ports to world trade, the YMCA was organized in London (laying the groundwork for one of the great disco classics of the modern era), and the Oregon Trail opened the way for settlement of the Pacific Northwest (laying the groundwork for many a wasted hour in sixth grade social studies classes circa 1992).

On Tyler’s last day in office, March 1, 1845, he signed a bill admitting Florida to the Union. The House and Senate passed a joint resolution admitting Texas as well, though it did not formally join the Union until December 29, 1845, under Tyler’s successor James K. Polk.

Tyler was married twice and had way too many kids. With his first wife, he had eight children. Mrs. Tyler died during her husband’s presidency, and Tyler remarried 22 months later. He was the first president to be married while in office. Tyler and wife #2 met on a ship watching the firing of a new naval gun. The gun exploded, killing eight persons, including David Gardiner. Tyler had been courting Gardiner’s daughter Julia. The death of Gardiner brought Tyler and Julia together (this is somehow distasteful to me--it seems vaguely predatory--but it's not nearly as creepy as the last minute of this). Tyler and Julia married and had seven children.

After leaving the presidency, Tyler retired to Virginia, his home state, where he lived until just before the Civil War. In 1861, Tyler participated in a secession convention, and voted in favor of Virginia leaving the Union. He won a seat to the Confederate House of Representatives, but died before taking office.

#9: Harrison, William Henry

2010-01-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

William Henry Harrison
February 9, 1773 - April 4, 1841

At 68, William Henry Harrison was the oldest man to become president and the first to die in office. He was a Virginian, but perhaps better known as a leader in the new Northwest Territory, where he pushed to have a bill passed dividing western lands into tracts small enough for even a poor person to buy. He later was named governor of the Indiana Territory, where he set up a seat in Vincennes (I've driven by Vincennes!!). On the one hand, Harrison sought to "protect" the Indians' welfare, in a paternalistic way (e.g. banning sale of liquor to Indians, forced smallpox innoculations). But on the other hand, he later set out to drive Indians from treaty lands, shattering Indian forces in the Battle of Tippecanoe, 1811. After serving as brigadier general, major general, U.S. Representative, and Senator, Harrison was named the first U.S. Minister to Columbia in 1828. His blunt-spoken ways were a hindrance: he told Simon Bolivar not to become a dictator, and Bolivar took offense.

I've composed this lame little limerick about Harrison's short-lived presidency, 1841-1841:

Good Willy H., “Old Tippecanoe,”
Spent too long outside and caught the flu.
He worked thirty days,
Temperature ablaze,
Then gently died, without much ado.*

*Actually, there was some ado: Congress had to sort out an order of succession.

#8: Van Buren, Martin

2009-12-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

Martin Van Buren
December 5, 1782 - July 24, 1862

Martin Van Buren presided over the nation's first great depression, the Panic of 1837 (hence, his portrait on an old Talk of the Town article about the fall of the Big Three, from about a year ago). Many of the problems that caused the panic began under Andrew Jackson's presidency. Failure to properly regulate the sale of public lands to actual settlers led to wild speculation; "even clerks and shoe-shine boys" bought up property. When the bubble burst, the ensuing panic "brought financial ruin and misery to millions. Many turned to the government for help, but Van Buren refused all public aid. He believe in Thomas Jefferson's theories that government should play the smallest possible role in American life. . . . [D]uring the three years of panic, Van Buren bore the anger of a disappointed people. His enemies called him 'The Little Magician' and 'The Fox of Kinderhook.'"
Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York. His father ran a truck farm (?) and a tavern. "As a child, Martin enjoyed listening to tavern patrons as they argued politics in the Dutch language."
Martin started studying law at age 14. He first took part in a court trial at 15. "Another lawyer from [his mentor's practice] had tried the case. As he was about to sum up his arguments, he turned to Martin and said: 'Here, Mat, sum up. You may as well begin early.' The boy was rewarded that day with a silver half dollar. He soon became a familiar sight in the village court."
Martin married a distant cousin, Hannah Hoes. They had four sons. Mrs. Van Buren passed away 18 years before her husband entered the White House. The four Van Buren boys, by then all young men, were admired by the people of Washington for their modesty and charm. One son later served as White House Secretary, and a second son became attorney general of New York.
Before being elected to the presidency, Van Buren served in the U.S. Senate where he fought to pass a law abolishing imprisonment for debt, "a social evil of the time." He also introduced a bill forbidding the importation of slaves into Florida unless they were owned by settlers.
Van Buren served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State, then Vice President. In the election of 1836, Van Buren easily won the Democratic nomination, coasting in part on Jackson's popularity.
"In Van Buren's time, Washington, D.C., was still a city of muddy streets and few trees. One traveler said: 'It looks as if it had rained naked buildings upon an open plain.'" (such fantastic imagery!)
During Van Buren's presidency: (1) the population of the U.S. approached 18 million; (2) Queen Victoria succeeded to the British throne; (3) the first photograph made in the U.S. was made; (4) and the Underground Railroad became increasingly active.
In the election of 1840, Van Buren had grown unpopular and was easily defeated by William Henry Harrison, who used the slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." After leaving office, Van Buren remained active in politics for more than 20 years. In 1848, the antislavery Free Soil party nominated him for President. He lost.
Van Buren died in Lindenwald, New York, on July 24, 1862. It seems a lovely place to visit if ever you are in the Hudson River Valley.

#7: Jackson, Andrew

2009-12-22T20:07:00.001-08:00

Andrew Jackson
March 15, 1767 - June 8, 1845

Andrew Jackson was tall and
lean, with bright blue eyes.

I fell a little behind this month--too much travel, Christmas shopping, etc. Nevertheless, here we are.

Andrew Jackson had a big personality. He's either a badass or a monster--more likely both. He reshaped the American presidency. He was a strong president, the first to appeal to the people directly, over the heads of Congress. He was the first president to be born in a log cabin, the first frontier president (born in the Carolinas, raised in Tennessee.... hmmm Dolly....), and the last president to have fought in the Revolutionary War. He famously opened the White House to the masses upon his inauguration, so that the celebration was truly a people's party.

Andrew Jackson, all I'm askin':
Show us the wheel and give us the wine*

Jackson had a hair-trigger temper. He was a fighter from an early age: at the age of 11, Andrew was sent to boarding school where, according to World Book, "sports and cockfighting occupied more time than studying. He wrote a 'Memorandum' on 'How to feed a cock before you fight.'" Jackson joined the mounted militia of South Carolina in the Revolutionary War when he was 13 years old. He and his brother were captured by British troops in 1781. When young Andrew refused to shine the boots of a British officer, the Brit "lashed out at Andrew with his sword, and the youth threw up his left hand to protect himself. The blade slashed Andrew's hand to the bone and cut him badly on the head. He carried scars from the wounds the rest of his life." By age 14, Andrew was orphaned--his mother died of small pox during the war and his father had died when Andrew was only 3.
Jackson studied law in the office of Spruce Macay, a wealthy Carolinian. He established a reputation as "the most roaring, rollicking, game-cocking, horse-racing, card-playing, mischievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury. . . . Professional standards for lawyers were not high in those days, and Jackson was admitted to the bar in 1787 at the age of 20." He built his practice as a frontier lawyer, prosecuting settlers delinquent in paying their bills.
Jackson married Mrs. Rachel Donelson when she was separated from her husband. This act of bigamy bit Jackson in the ass in the bitter presidential election of 1828: his opponents called Jackson a "paramour husband," and his wife a "convicted adulteress." These political attacks on his wife made Jackson depressed. When Mrs. Jackson died of a heart attack shortly thereafter, Jackson said: "May God Almighty forgive her murderers as I know she forgave them. . . I never can."
Andrew Jackson's nickname was "Old Hickory," because he was so tough. According to the Jersey Shore Nickname Generator, Jackson's Shore nickname would have been "Juice Springsteen."
The defining issue of Jackson's first term was his opposition to the Bank of the United States, which he believed was unconstitutional and had failed to establish a "uniform and sound" currency. He vetoed the bill re-chartering the bank, and Congress upheld the veto. In his second term, Jackson ordered the Secretary of the Treasury to remove the government's deposits from the Bank and place them in state banks.
Jackson is the only president to have paid off the national debt.
Jackson presided over the forced migration of Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw and Chicksaw Indians westward, in which many died. Another ugly chapter in this nation's history.
The election of 1832 was the first election in which presidential candidates were selected by national political conventions. Jackson's opponents referred to him as a "jackass," which Jackson later co-opted as the symbol of the Democratic party.
Jackson kept his collection of race horses in the White House stables.
After seeing his buddy Martin Van Buren sworn in as President in 1840, Jackson moved back to his plantation, the Hermitage, about 12 miles from Nashville. "On June 8, 1845, Jackson fell unconscious. He died that evening."

And with that, Happy Christmas!

post script
For Christmas today I received a beautiful piece of ledger art, that my mom acquired from a North Dakotan artist at a pow-wow. It is an extraordinary reminder, given the horrible treatment of American Indians by most U.S. presidents (in particular Jackson), that pieces of Indian culture and heritage survive and thrive in some parts of the country today.

#6: Adams, John Quincy

2009-12-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

John Quincy Adams
July 11, 1767 - February 23, 1848

World Book says John Quincy Adams was an aloof man.

Does that explain this large forehead and these snotty
looking eyebrows? Adams was said to be affectionate
with close friends, but more reserved towards others
(I can relate to that). He once referred to himself as
"an unsocial savage."

John Quincy Adams was the 6th president of the United States. He served as Commander in Chief from 1825 to 1829. World Book doesn't seem to think there was anything particularly special about him, apart from helping negotiate the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812 well before he was even President. He gets an acrostic:

Just like his dad, John Quincy Adams only served one term as President.
"Old Man Eloquent" was his nickname, because he spoke so well--though "his shrill voice often broke when he became excited."
Harvard allowed Adams to join its junior class in 1787, after he'd "attended schools in Paris, Amsterdam, and Leydon as his father moved from one diplomatic assignment to another."
Not long after Harvard, John read law for three years, but closed up his private practice because he had too few clients. He became a political journalist, then a politician instead.

Quite unexpectedly, John met his future wife Louisa Catherine Johnson, while on assignment for George Washington in London--she was the daughter of the American consul general.
"Unmanageable" is how John's peers in the Massachusetts Senate called him; John often voted with the Democratic-Republicans, though he considered himself a Federalist.
Intent on staying out of public life permanently after having served as an ambassador and diplomat for the first four presidents, John's plans were foiled when President James Madison persuaded him to again accept a post as minister to Russia.
Next, James Monroe called John to serve as secretary of state; John gets credit for shaping the Monroe Doctrine well before Monroe announced it.
"Cockboat" is the term John used to describe what the United States was becoming without the Monroe Doctrine; he advocated against merely falling in line with British foreign policy vis-a-vis Austria, Prussia, and Russia (the Holy Alliance) after the fall of Napoleon. John declared that America must not "come in as a cockboat in the wake of the British man-of-war."
You better believe George W. Bush isn't the first president to squeak into office: the House of Representatives had to choose one of three men in the Election of 1824, when none had won a majority of the electoral votes, though Andrew Jackson had won the most.

Acrostics suck when someone has a really long name.
Despite trying really hard to push through a program of road improvements and construction of weather stations (!), President Adams' efforts were rebuffed by Congress.
An abominable tariff was passed while Adams was president, sort of as a response to the shift from manufacturing to farming as the chief activity in most New England states and Southerners hated it.
Mrs. Quincy Adams suffered ill health during her husband's term (what is it with sickly first ladies?!), but nevertheless "arranged a brilliant series of parties during the visit of the Marqis de Lafayette in 1825."
Some people die at home in their beds, while others, like John Quincy Adams, die in Congress. Adams was re-elected post-presidency to the House of Representatives. He suffered a stroke at his House desk, and was carried to the Speaker's room. His final words were: "This is the last of earth. I am content."

#5: Monroe, James

2009-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

James Monroe
April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831

Man oh man. This drawing made me mad!
It started out as a charcoal subtractive drawing,
which I usually have a hard time with.
Then I used some conte crayon.
Then I gave up, because Mr. Monroe
started to look wonky.

Hello December! James Monroe brings me to my second “M” president in a row, which means that I was stuck browsing the “M” volume for two weeks. On the plus side, the "M" volume is the home of Michigan. I digress... on to Mr. Monroe:

Monroe has a whole doctrine named after him. Basically he told European countries to back off and cease their colonizing efforts in the Americas.
He was "tall and rawboned, and had a military bearing." He was yet another Virginian (yawn).
As a boy, Monroe had to walk to school through the forest. "He often carried a rifle and shot game on the way." Later, Monroe dropped out of college to join the army during the Revolutionary War. He saw lots of combat action and became an accomplished army officer.
Monroe became president after more than 40 years of public service! Senator, governor, ambassador, secretary of state, secretary of war... actually he was secretary of state and secretary of war at the same time for a stretch because the original secretary of war under Madison was forced to resign in 1814 for "neglect of duty"-- for letting Washington burn upon the advance of British troops (see Madison, James and War of 1812).
America was growing, growing, growing under Monroe's presidency. "Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson on a military acquisition of Florida from Spain." (World Book includes a ridiculous illustration of a dude in knickers handing over a pie-sized Florida to another dude in knickers.) World Book omits that Jackson was also charged with preventing Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. World Book does say that Jackson, upon Monroe's orders, raised a militia and put down a Seminole Indian uprising in Georgia (or the First Seminole War). Jackson chased the Seminoles into the Everglades.
In 1818, Monroe also oversaw the Missouri Compromise: "This law permitted slavery in Missouri, but banned it from the rest of the Louisiana Purchase region north of the southern boundary of Missouri. Monroe avoided interfering with [the Congressional] debates. But he made it known that he would not sign a bill placing any special restraints on Missouri's admission to the Union." The Missouri Compromise figured prominently in this sad story, several years later.
During Monroe's presidency, "the first public high school in the United States opened its doors in Boston, Mass., in 1821." I am a product of a public high school.
In the White House, the first lady, partly due to her ill health, "received only visitors to whom she had sent invitations. [How topical!] She refused to pay calls, sending her elder daughter . . . in her place. Soon all Washington buzzed about the 'snobbish' Mrs. Monroe."
After Monroe left office in 1825, there were no clear successors to the position and four candidates duked it out for the presidency. Monroe's wife died in 1830. Like his friend and mentor Thomas Jefferson, Monroe experienced financial distress in his old age. He moved to New York City to live with his daughter and her husband. And he died there on July 4, 1831. The third president (after Jefferson and Adams) to die on our country's independence day! Spooky.

#4: Madison, James

2009-11-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

James Madison
March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836

James Madison says, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Today is Thanksgiving and I am grateful for the health and happiness of my loved ones, and for the many opportunities this country has afforded me. Now, on to this week's forefather:

James Madison may have been the “Father of the Constitution,” but he was also “small and frail,” according to World Book.
His presidency was marked by one tremendous mistake (as far as I can tell): the War of 1812. Also during Madison’s presidency, (1) the country got its national anthem, the Star Spangled banner, (2) road and canal projects, as well as a new land system hastened settlement of the West, and (3) Madison’s wife Dolly served ice cream in the White House for the first time.
Madison was from Virginia and he was buddy-buddy with another famous Virginian, Thomas Jefferson. (Virginia is a president-making machine! Three out of our first four presidents came from that state. Virginia is also for lovers.) Both Jefferson and Madison were slave-owners. Both Jefferson and Madison fought for separation of church and state in Virginia, even though they were devout men. After graduating from Princeton, Madison even spent "six months studying Hebrew, philosophy, and other subjects that showed his deep interest in religious questions. A weak speaking voice prevented him from taking up a career as a minister.” Later, Jefferson and Madison co-founded the Democratic Republican party, working to limit the power of federal government. Madison also served as Jefferson’s Secretary of State.
During Madison’s tenure as president, “Denmark gave Norway to Sweden.” Wait, what?
Also, while serving in Congress, Madison “advocated many . . . measures to stabilize and dignify the government.” Hmmm, not sure what dignification of government entails, but I guess I'm for it.
Madison is credited with shaping the Constitution and the system of separation of powers that we now take for granted. His account of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Notes on the Federal Convention, is the only record of what was said and debated. In addition, Madison played a big part in crafting the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. World Book says twice that Madison was the ablest statesman of the era.
When Madison was elected president in 1809 (beating his opponent, C.C. Pinckney, 122 electoral votes to 47!), Great Britain and France were trampling all over the rights of Americans on the high seas. Also, the peace treaty with Tripoli had basically fallen apart, and pirates were again attacking American ships on the Barbary Coast again. Facing pressure from a new crop of nationalist southerners, and having failed to find a peaceful resolution of this untenable situation, Madison declared war June 18, 1812. Bad news bears. Americans were basically beat on every front, and the British managed to invade Washington and set fire to the White House. “Dolly Madison fled the White House so late that British soldiers ate a hot meal she had prepared.” When the Treaty of Ghent was ratified in February 1815, ending the conflict, it satisfied none of the problems that started the war—only succeeding in preserving American territorial integrity.
Nevertheless, World Book says that the War of 1812 was followed by “the era of good feeling”—a growth of nationalism. Albert Gallatin, Madison’s Secretary of the Treasury, said that the War of 1812 brought the country together: “The people . . . are more American; they feel and act more as a nation.”
My favorite quote in the article comes from Washington Irving, writing about the presidential couple: “Mrs. Madison is a fine, portly buxom dame who has a smile and a pleasant word for everybody . . . as to Jeemy Madison—ah! poor Jeemy!—he is but a withered little apple-John.” Withered little apple-john indeed.

Thanksgiving family fun (guest drawer)! My sister kindly drew this additional picture of James Madison to contribute to this site. We both agreed that the portrait we were drawing from looked funny (it's not the drawings, I assure you).

Interlude

2009-11-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

A friend just sent me this, from the New York Times. A photographer is compiling a series of portraits of people who share presidential names. It's wonderful!

Another friend wrote to say that he had once tried memorizing all the presidents by investing in a placemat and mug. It did not work. In our house growing up, we had placemats with the flags of the world, a world map, a US map, and the American Sign Language alphabet. I can spell my name in American Sign Language, but this skill has not served me well.

#3: Jefferson, Thomas

2009-11-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

Thomas Jefferson
April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826

I started reading the article about Thomas J this past weekend when a friend was visiting, but then put it down and am just now getting around to writing up the bits I learned. Here goes:

In addition to being an all-around Renaissance man (the World Book is super gushy about Jefferson), some of Jefferson's many inventions included "the swivel chair and the dumb-waiter."
Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was approved by his fellow committee members with few changes and adopted by Congress as written. "Jefferson said his object was 'to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent . . . Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind . . ." It is a very fine piece of writing.
While serving in the Virginia House of Delegates, Jefferson sponsored a bill abolishing entail, and later helped outlaw primogeniture, basically making property more alienable and opening the door to political participation for people (read = white men) other than the landed gentry. Even though those things basically don't exist in American law anymore and haven't existed for a loooong while, I still had to learn about them in law school. Alienable property = good stuff. Property law 1L year = lamesauce.
Jefferson allegedly wooed his wife Martha with music. "Two rival suitors came to call one day, but left without a word when they saw [Thomas and Martha] playing a duet on the harpsichord and violin." Is a harpsichord sexy?
As a couple, Thomas and Martha had six children, only two of whom lived to maturity. Martha died after only 10 years of marriage, and Jefferson was so grief-stricken that he withdrew from public life for a year. His daughter wrote many years later: ". . . the violence of his emotion . . . to this day I dare not describe to myself." (Later, as president, Jefferson thought the White House was a lonely place, so his daughters would sometimes come stay and be hostesses.)
World Book credits Jefferson with: (1) piloting through Congress the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War; (2) laying the groundwork for the Northwest Ordinance of 1787; (3) urging his friend James Madison to introduce the 10 constitutional amendments that became known as the Bill of Rights; (4) sending Lewis and Clark on their expedition, then sealing the deal on the Louisiana Purchase; (5) devising the decimal system of currency we still use today; and (6) founding the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia. No small feats.
While serving as Secretary of State for President Washington, Jefferson opposed Alexander Hamilton's plans to encourage shipping and manufacturing. "Jefferson wanted the United States to remain a nation of farmers." He was strongly anti-federalist (anti-centralization of the federal government) and people like Hamilton and John Adams were his political foes. Later, Jefferson and Adams became buddies again.
Jefferson was sort of elected president in 1800. All the Republican electors had cast one vote for Jefferson and one vote for his running mate Aaron Burr of New York (electors cast two votes back then, and the runner-up would be VP). It meant that technically, both Jefferson and Burr were elected President. Embarrassing! The House of Representatives had to settle the matter. Burr became VP. In Jefferson's second term, Burr was a big headache. He killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, then got involve in some shady dealings (though he was ultimately acquitted on charges of treason, much to Jefferson's dismay).
As president, Jefferson avoided public speaking because he was bad at it. He was the first president to send his annual message to Congress, rather than deliver it in person. "Later presidents followed this procedure until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson resumed the practice of appearing before Congress."
In an effort to eliminate some of the formality from the White House, "Jefferson began the practice of having guests shake hands with the President, instead of bowing."
This very big thing happened when Jefferson was president.
Jefferson waged war against pirates, sort of like we do today!
When he left the presidency, Jefferson wrote, "Never did a prisoner released from his chains feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power." World Book makes only one mention of the fact that Jefferson was a slave owner: "Jefferson was 14 years old when his father died. . . . He inherited Shadwell [the family farm] with its 30 slaves and more than 2,5000 acres of land."

The "J - K" volume is skinny, but it contains Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, so I'll be revisiting it.

Also, this volume contains kidney bean, Jews, Jesus Christ, and Kansas.

#2: Adams, John (second try)

2009-11-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

I tried to draw him again. It's marginally better, and for some weird reason the photo makes it look like I used a fleshy color, when in fact it's just pencil on white paper.

#2: Adams, John

2009-11-08T19:53:00.000-08:00

John Adams
October 30, 1735 - July 4, 1826

This is not a good drawing, so I am attaching it in a small format. He looks like he's wearing blush and lipstick, but I was going for "ruddy." I was using the portrait in the World Book as a model: it is an oil painting of Adams by Mather Brown, done in 1788 (well before he was president). I drew this with a Reeves HB pencil. I think I should have tried again, but I was running late to go to my upholstery class.

Things I learned:

John Adams graduated from Harvard College in 1755, ranked 14th in a class of 24. "In those days, a student's rank indicated social position, not scholarship, and Adams was one of the best scholars in his class."
While Adams was in office (1797-1801), two new territories were organized (Mississippi and Indiana), the Eleventh Amendment was adopted (limiting the power of the federal government), and "Andre Garnerin of France made the world's first parachute jump from a balloon." (World Book doesn't say whether Garnerin survived.)
Adams did a terrible thing: he presided over the adoption of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were later repealed. "Historians agree that the acts were unwise."
Adams was the first president to live in the White House, "the Executive Mansion." Abigail Adams wrote her sister: "As I expected to find it in a new country, with houses scatterred over a space of 10 miles, and trees and stumps in plenty with a castle of a house--so I found it." When the Adams moved in, the house was not yet finished. "Mrs. Adams had to dry the laundry in the East Room, because no drying yard had been provided."
Adams and Thomas Jefferson became great friends when they met in Congress in 1775. "Their friendship cooled steadily after about 1790, because they differed on the meaning of the French Revolution. But they forgot their political quarrels after retiring from public life. By a remarkable coincidence, both men died on July 4, 1826. Adams' last words were: 'Thomas Jefferson still survives.'"
According to the 1981 World Book, Adams lived longer than any other President: he died four months before his 91st birthday. I checked though and both Reagan and Ford died at age 93.

The "A" volume is very fat. Other articles in the "A" volume:

Affenpinscher: "The Affenpinscher is often called the Monkey Dog."
Adolescent: "Adolescent is a person who is no longer a child but not yet an adult." Sub-sections in the"Adolescent" article include "Growth and Development," "Special Problems of Adolescence: Attitudes Toward Schooling, The Use of Drugs, and Delinquency," and "Preparation for the Future."
Advertising: This article includes an illustration of a Hertz ad that shows OJ Simpson running in a suit with a briefcase and the slogan "Need a car fast? Come to Hertz. The Superstar in rent-a-car."
Also, Africa, Arabs, Atonement, Asbestos, and Austria, my mother's homeland!

#1: Washington, George

2009-11-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

George Washington February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799

This is a blind contour line drawing.

Things I learned from the encyclopedia (italics throughout are mine):

Washington's friend George Mercer wrote of him in 1760: "He may be described as being straight as an Indian, measuring 6 feet 2 inches in his stockings, and weighing 175 pounds . . . A large and straight rather than a prominent nose; blue-gray penetrating eyes . . . He has a clear through rather colorless pale skin which burns with the sun . . . dark brown hair which he wears in a queue. . . . His mouth is large and generally firmly closed, but which from time to time discloses some defective teeth . . . "
Washington had a difficult mother, who refused to let him go away to become a sailor, crushing his teenage dreams.
Before his military career, George made his fortune as a surveyor of the Shenandoah Valley and he liked arithmetic. His first expedition (and first long trip away from home) was with Lord Fairfax, the largest landowner in Virginia. "The month-long expedition set out on horseback in March, 1748. Washington learned to sleep in the open and hunt for food. By the time he returned to Mount Vernon, he felt he had grown into a man. He was also now shaving."
Between the ages of 16 and 42, he continued to make money as a country gentleman (farmer, businessman, popular legislator, and a county court judge). He was ahead of his time in using certain farm methods, such as crop rotation and prevention of soil erosion. He also used the refuse from his fishing operation to fertilize his fields.
After Washington's first major battle in the French and Indian War, he commented that he liked the swishing sound of bullets.
The Virginians that Washington recruited to serve under him in his early military career were described by a British officer as "an extremely bad collection of broken inn-keepers, horse jockeys, and Indian traders." A motley crew.
Some of his contemporaries in the colonies and in England had funny names, e.g., Governor Dinwiddie. The man who invented the legend of Washington cutting down the cherry tree was a clergyman named Mason Locke "Parson" Weems.
(Why you should always dress for the job you want:) At the First Constitutional Congress, Washington didn't do much. At the Second Continental Congress, the early battles of the Revolutionary War had already happened in Massachusetts. "To express his desire for action, Washington began wearing his red and blue uniform of the French and Indian War. He was appointed to one military committee after another." And ultimately, he was elected Commander in Chief.
Washington's first inauguration took place in New York City, at Federal Hall, on the corner of Broad and Wall Streets. His second took place in Philadelphia. And by the time he left office, plans were underway to build a new capital, in a federal district located on the Potomac River.
During his two terms in office as the first president of the new nation, Washington presided over the Neutrality Proclamation (staying out of the the conflict between France and Great Britain), the Whiskey Rebellion (flexing federal muscle), a cabinet scandal (his Secretary of State Edmund Randolph was accused of treason), and the rise of political parties (the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans). He was very busy. When it was suggested in his second term that he should be impeached because he had overdrawn on his $25,000 salary, "Washington's feelings were very hurt."
He died in retirement of what historians now believe was a streptococcal infection of the throat. He was bled three times, before he finally said to his doctors, "You had better not take any more trouble about me, but let me go off quietly. I cannot last long." According to World Book, "At around 10 p.m. [on December 14, 1799], Washington whispered: 'I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my body be put in the vault less than two days after I am dead. Do you understand me?' His secretary answered: 'Yes, sir.' Washington said: ' 'Tis well.' He felt his own pulse. Then he died."

An introduction

2009-10-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

I am embarking on a quixotic journey to draw the first forty U.S. presidents in the next forty weeks. As I draw them, I will be reading about each fellow (and sadly, they've all been fellows) in my newly acquired, old set of World Book Encyclopedia, and posting interesting tidbits here.

Why forty? Three reasons:

(1) My new, old set of World Book Encyclopedia was published in 1981. I got the complete set (including an atlas!) for free from a nice family in Ypsilanti. 1981 is the year Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, was elected. Thus, the project is in part circumscribed by the limits of my primary source.

(2) 1981 is also the year I was born. I have meaningful memories of all the presidents that followed Reagan. This project therefore allows me to explore the 40 presidents that preceded my life as a sentient and politically aware being.

(3) Finally, and perhaps most important, I am in Michigan, in my current job (as a law clerk) for about 40 more weeks. As much as the job presents interesting new challenges, I worry that other parts of my brain are suffering for lack of creative stimuli. These 40 weeks are a finite period within which to try something new and to practice my rather rudimentary drawing.

A word regarding accuracy: I am not an artist, nor do I pretend to believe that the 1981 World Book Encyclopedia is an authoritative source on these historical figures. Accuracy isn't really the point.