There are so many fun facts about U.S. Presidents that aren’t mainstream, like JFK being allergic to Caroline’s pony, Macaroni, and how Teddy Roosevelt’s kids once brought theirs up in the White House elevator.
never having to buy one again, when citizens, after the Civil War, sent him 10,000 boxes in gratitude. No wonder he died of throat cancer in 1885, at age 63.
known as Big Bill, had to have a special bathtub made, 
known as, the Taft Tub. Once, he even got stuck, and had to call for help to get him out. He’s also the only other president besides John F. Kennedy buried at Arlington.
Woodrow Wilson’s handsome face is on a $100,000 dollar bill. Try changing that into singles.
No wonder Betty fell for him.
The one time he sweetly gave it to a little girl, seconds after, was shot in the chest, dying 8 days later.
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Those Wacky Presidents Part Two
Speaking of Theodore Roosevelt, who hated being called Teddy, he created the Oval Office
U.S. Grant smoked 20 cigars a day,
William Howard Taft, tipping the scales at 350,Ā
Gerald Ford worked as a fashion model while at college, appearing on a Cosmo cover.
William McKinley always wore a carnation on his lapel, for luck.
Kind of like that big block of cheese
And I’ll end with, good old, modest LBJ, who was known to unzip his pants to show off, Jumbo, as he called his, well…must I say it?Ā
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Susannah, I love your presidential facts! I always share them with Pookie-Pie. Grant’s cottage, where he came to die, is in Wilton, not far from here. It’s near Saratoga.
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Always thought it was called Mount Mc Gregor. There’s that famous photo of him on the porch wrapped in a shawl finishing his memoirs. By that time, he was so sick, he couldn’t eat because he couldn’t swallow. sigh. But he was determined to complete them so Julia and kids would be solvent for life, and they were. He died less than two weeks after he finished.
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Mount McGregor is a small mountain and the cottage is on its slope. There was also a recently closed prison called Mount McGregor Correctional Facility..
On a field trip to the cottage (around 1973) , Pookie and his best friend rode on top of the train instead of boarding their school bus. They jumped off when it slowed down in Smith’s Basin. As they skidded down the hill on the side of the track, their feet pushed through their sneakers. The sneakers ended up above their ankles! Their shenanigans would have made the news nowadays.
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Pookie is a comic at heart, with beauty skills. What a man!!! š
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I’m just thinking of you writing DT’s fun facts in 10 years … dear lord, it’s making those raccoons seem entirely reasonable.
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I should have included their photos. They were huge. What could one say about DJT that’s interesting. That he almost ruined the country? Hmm. Making a note.
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Just goes to show that Presidents are human just like the rest of us. š
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I’ll say. I could have written about their many quirks and peccadilloes till the cows come home. But I always feel blog posts should be pithy and brief since the average attention span of a reader is a little more than a gnat’s.
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Squirrel!!!
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Come again?
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My attention span. Got distracted. š
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Now I get it. Forgive me if I’m a beat late.
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No worries. In recent months, Iāve read Hamilton and more recently just read a biography of McKinley – he was very interesting and, for a President who has largely been forgotten, had a huge impact on how America became the world power it became. Interesting that the biography didnāt mention the flower in his lapel habit. But then the book hardly touched on his assassination at all.
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Read, Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard about John Garfield. It’s not huge like Chernow’s Hamilton I’m assuming is the one you read, but she’s a kick ass writer. Also penned, River of Doubt about Teddy’s harrowing trip of discovery he almost didn’t come back from. She rocks.
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I will check it out. Yes, it was Chernowās that I read, after seeing the musical. Why do historians have to be so thorough???
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The best Hamilton book is..Alexander Hamilton American by Richard Brookhiser. I call him the Hemingway of Historians his prose poetically spare. I’m was a Hamiltonian freak, way before he became a rock star. Great ya read. Women LOVE men who do. š
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I wouldnāt know what to do with myself if I couldnāt read. Are you kidding me? Itās as needed as air, pizza, and beer.
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Let me tell ya Mark, so many people don’t read. It’s mystifying to me, and sadly true. Too busy Tweeting and checking their Facebook page. A real cryin shame.
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I agree. My kids read a lot until they got out of high school. Not just for school, but recreationally as well. Now, I canāt pay them to read a book. All they do is look at their phones. Itās one of those basic human traits that is going the way of the dodo bird because of technology. Me? I always have something to read with me.
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Me too. And it makes us much more interesting people.
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At the moment, Iām reading The Family by Jeff Sharlet – itās about the rise of Christian Fundamentalism and itās expanding role in American politics. A very frustrating read. š
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Wouldn’t do it for me. I’m reading, Paris is Burning, an oldie about Hitler wanting to level Paris and how his generals disobeyed him. Can’t put it down.
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Reading The Family has been a struggle because it is so frustrating how they have perverted what Christās teachings are supposed to be (and Iām a non-believer). But part of the book I have enjoyed is the historical element of it. The book goes back to the 1800s and traces the development of Christian fundamentalist sects during that century and then the political growth during the 1900s. So, thereās a historical element that is interesting.
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Well that’s good. š
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I love it when you do these, Susannah! You are an endless fount of information! LBJ – really? Dude!! McKinley – yowza, for those of you who don’t believe in supersition. Gerald Ford – yummers! Buchanan – you rocked…
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What a nice little review. Quaint and spare, just how we like them. š
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Well… I suppose I could have commented on each and every one but figured I’d save you the pain by choosing just three š
Quaint, eh? Don’t think that descriptive has ever been applied to me. I’ll take it.
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A nice word; charming, sweet, old-fashioned and old world. We can say that about you.
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It is a very nice word – it’s going into the file!
And that is rather sweet of you to say. I’m good with being a modern old-fashioned š
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Me too. It’s a nice persona.
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š
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An enjoyable post, Susannah. Thanks.
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From history lover to history lover.
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Yup. š
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Taft began the tradition which became known as the “first pitch” as he was the first President to do so. And yanno, I eat jelly beans very rarely but I oftentimes remember Reagan when I do so. As for that guy we currently have in the oval office, I’ll never forgive the NFL for keeping him out as an owner, because then, maybe we wouldn’t have had to deal with all his nonsense now. I guess the NFL owners knew something the rest of the country was slow to catch on to.
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All those guys know one another so word was out. I did know Taft threw out the first baseball and was quite the elegant golfer despite his girth. Ever read The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin? It’s all about him and Teddy, they’re on and off relationship. A great read.
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Kearns talked about Taft’s golf game, and about how Teddy found it boring as all get out, LOL.
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So you did read it. Teddy doesn’t come off very well, but Taft does. Felt rather bad for him the way TR bullied him, and when he didn’t allow it, Teddy turned on him. I remember reading in the book how he cried at Teddy’s funeral. sigh
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I was thinking about Team Of Rivals recently, and how that kind of leadership is harder to find these days than a three dollar bill.
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That was another great read. Lincoln was really something.
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Abe didn’t know the word ‘consensus’. He invented it.
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He got such a bum deal. All that stress. A crazy wife. He deserved better.
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Just looked up consensus…a general agreement…could double entendre there if you slip Grant in as the general. š
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I won’t take it for . . . umm . . Grant-ed
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You’re being awfully civil, generally speaking.
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Did you know Grant was supposed to accompany Lincoln to the theater on the night Abe was shot?
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I did. Julia couldn’t stand Mary, and refused to go…saving her Mister’s life, since he was on Booth’s hit list. š
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I had a feeling you’d know that. š
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Frankly, that’s not a common known fact, so I Grant you applause for your ardent reading of American history. š
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Mary Todd’s less than subtle nature made sure the Grants were not going to be in attendance that night.
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My favorite part is the extent in which they took it. They left town. That was the excuse they followed through on. It’s really mind blowing when you consider what happened that night. Seward certainly was never the same after he was attacked and would have died if his son didn’t fight off Lewis Powell who hurt him as well. Julia may have had a premonition she wasn’t even aware of. sigh
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I am the biggest alternate history buff. Always pondering the what if’s of a given event. Of course, most of the time it’s because the said event left us worse off. Which is why I set forth on these imaginary hikes. Because broken china . . it’s still china to me.
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I see. History just floats my boat. I’m always so surprised by it. Been reading, Is Paris Burning, about when we marched into Paris saving it from destruction. It’s such an amazing story, and the writing….oh my. š
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The Nazis did their damndest in trying to tear that city to the ground, pulse and all.
It’s why I often look at history’s side and think to myself that it works this way: If you are looking to OWN something, you’re probably not going to win in the end. But if you persist by way of humility and respect for the things you get to borrow? That right there is the formula.
You think the current iteration of our nation’s leaders are missing the boat on this ideal?
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Paris certainly, because of its beauty, did very well for herself considering what might have happened.
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The good guys wield mighty fists when it comes time to roll up the sleeves and get to it. And a chin, Paris has quite the chin.
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I have 30 pages left and don’t want it to end. It’s quite a tale.
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I enjoyed the trivia. I should read it again to double the pleasure. There is no way I’ll remember half of it, but it was riveting reading.
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Riveting reading…a nice Anne alliteration š
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I’m laughing lightly.
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I’m laughing, sunny side up.
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Don’t egg me on!
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I’m at HOME, FRIED, so please go OVER EASY.
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SCRAM BULL!! Get out of the pasture!!
Actually, there were four calves that squeezed through the fence into the horse pasture behind our house. DW, the horse, chased them back to the fence.
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Does DW make house calls? There are a few cows in my life that need chasing.
Must you be so HARD BOILED? Wouldn’t want you to get POACHED.
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I need not bEGG. SALAD days are over.
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Maybe you’re just DEVILED?
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I think I’m bedeviled by all your good puns. You had me two for one all morning.
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Now I have EGG on my face. Sigh
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You’re all WHITE. It will wash off.
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And set? š
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Oops! My brain has quit working. That’s not an excuse. It’s a statement of fact.
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I’m not challenging enough for you, my wordplay not being up to par. I do try. Please don’t feel you have to play anymore. I’ll understand. However, thanks to you, I’ve gotten a hair better. š
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Your wordplay is always in top form. I tell my family my brain is not reliable after six in the evening. Speaking of hair — my theory is that my hair pulls on my brain when it gets too long. I may have to wait until lockdown is over to be fully functioning again. I miss my brain.
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Mine is too. Our brains are on the lam.
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That reminds me of the time I was driving with a serrated knife. I was INCAR,CERATED knife beside me.
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I hope you saw that FORK in the road.
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I didn’t see the fork in the road because I was having a “discussion” with Larry. I wanted to CUTLERY down to size.
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Too bad because what I heard was…Lery loves to SPOON beneath a SILVERy moon CUTTING everyone up, besides.
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Oh! I thought Lery had a stainless reputation.
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I heard, he’s a man of STEEL.
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Is his middle name Rob?
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His name is Thievey…That’s Stevie with a lisp. I know, that’s way outta the box.
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I FELON it quickly, so it was a good one.
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You got me…you win the round. You should leave your mind to science. sigh…FELON…how could I top that.
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I could not have come up with another one in that line, so I call it a tie.
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Tie my shoes won’t cha. You won, fair and square. I’m now approaching the net to shake your hand. The fans are calling your name…ANNE ANNE, while I head to the locker room where a Smurf just handed me a towel.
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I’m blue with envy.
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Better than seeing red.
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Correction. I should have said I was in a Smurf- blue funk, and now I’m green with envy. I guess eggs aren’t the only things that are scrambled. My brains are, too.
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Change them to over easy, and in France, brains are a delicacy.
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And that’s not just a bunch of tripe!
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You know how Frogs are with their legs.
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Sheesh, Lorraine! Oh, you’re not Lorraine. Sorry.
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Oh crepe, I’m Suzette.
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We’ve got to stop with this one. You had the perfect pun for the occasion. I’d like to baguette and take it home.
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I do eclair, I’ll wine a bit. Nuit Nuit.
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You are extremely sharp today.
Shall we play Parcheesi while we eat our macarooni?
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Such a Monopoly, but I guess, that’s the game of Life. š
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It’s a Risk we take as we cross Bridges.
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Bridges…Oh Lloyd-y. !
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I’m making a fool of myself…match point madam.
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You’re not making a fool of yourself. You’re stretching me to the limit.
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Hope you’re not RACKing with sobs.
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I can’t think of a comeback to rack. I could have googled instruments of torture, but I’d really rather steer my mind to happier thoughts. Have a happy day!
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Sorry, I have been reading about the Reign of Terror, so please excuse me.
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Lots of fun tidbits there, Susannah. Of course I just love history, so Iām hooked.
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Me and you both. Love the idea of those raccoons sashaying around the house. Imagine…like cats.
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ā¦..and then you elect Trump! What went wrong?
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I didn’t but, yes…you have a point.
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