Presidents Archives - Page 5 of 9

Presidents Day 2016

Woodrow Wilson was extremely racist — even by the standards of his time.

Presidents Day quiz

From JEOPARDY!:

PRESIDENTIAL MOMS
Rose Fitzgerald
Janet “Jessie” Woodrow
Dorothy Walker
Jane Knox
Hannah Simpson

PRESIDENTS’ MIDDLE NAMES
Hussein; Gamaliel; Abram; Earl; Alan

PRESIDENTS BY WON-LOST RECORD
The only one who went 4-0
2-0: He was twice too much for Adlai
2-1: 1-0 vs. James G. Blaine & a split with Benjamin Harrison
1-0, in a split decision over Samuel Tilden
One of the 2 who went 0-1

PRESIDENTS 101

The most recent left-handed president.
The first president to be born in a hospital; it was in October 1924.
The first to hold an Internet chat with the public.
The first born outside the original colonies, in 1809.

ABC News ‘This Week’ Powerhouse Puzzler
Which four sitting Vice Presidents have been elected President?

ANSWERS BELOW

It’s a Scandal, It’s a Outrage

President Harding’s mistress wasn’t kidding, DNA tests show; see also this and this.
The Nan Britton affair was the sensation of its age, a product of the jazz-playing, gin-soaked Roaring Twenties and a pivotal moment in the evolution of the modern White House. It was not the first time a president was accused of an extracurricular love life, but never before had a self-proclaimed presidential mistress gone public with a popular tell-all book. The ensuing furor played out in newspapers, courtrooms and living rooms across the country.

At Princeton, Woodrow Wilson, a Heralded Alum, Is Recast as an Intolerant One. And Woodrow Wilson was extremely racist — even by the standards of his time.

More fun

Original acrostics on all the states and presidents of the United States, and various other subjects (1868). Click on text to turn pages.

Behind the Lens: 2015 Year in Photographs By Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer.

Quinnipiac poll: Jimmy Carter Surpasses Reagan on Post-White House Work. In December, Carter Said Cancer in Brain Is Gone. The 2016 Presidential $1 Coin Release Schedule excludes the 39th President because he’s still alive.

I went through my draft posts and found this, which I may never have used:

For the premiere episode of Season 7 of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld takes President Barack Obama for a spin in a 1963 Corvette Stingray Split Window Coupe but finds it hard to spirit the leader of the free world off the White House grounds.

The Atlantic magazine had a list of The 100 Most Influential Figures in American History, from 2006. One could argue about the content. Naturally, it’s filled with Presidents:
99: Richard Nixon
55: John Quincy Adams
50: James K. Polk
44: Lyndon B. Johnson
28: Dwight D. Eisenhower
21: Harry S. Truman
18: Andrew Jackson
17: Ronald Reagan
15: Theodore Roosevelt
13: James Madison
12: Ulysses S. Grant
10: Woodrow Wilson
04: Franklin D. Roosevelt
03: Thomas Jefferson
02: George Washington
01: Abraham Lincoln

Another “found” graphic:

Political playing cards, including 2012 Re-Elect Barack Obama Playing Cards.

Now I Know: The President’s Pants (LBJ) and grave robbing (Lincoln) and Triskaideka-Dinner Party.

Friends of the Jensen family of Washington, D.C., know they shouldn’t expect Christmas cards. “Instead, each year Marisa Jensen, her husband, Jeff, and their daughters, Matilda, 15, and Franny, 12, take part in a much more unusual tradition: Presidents Day cards.”

What IS the purpose of Presidential libraries?

Mister, we could use a man like Calvin Coolidge again.

Quora: Who was the first U.S. President?

Obituary: Aaron Shikler, 93; painted portraits of presidents.

Answers

PRESIDENTIAL MOMS
John Kennedy; Woodrow Wilson; George H.W. Bush; James Polk; Ulysses Grant

PRESIDENTS’ MIDDLE NAMES
Barack Obama; Warren Harding; James Garfield; Jimmy Carter; Chester Arthur

PRESIDENTS BY WON-LOST RECORD
Franklin D. Roosevelt; Dwight Eisenhower; Grover Cleveland; Rutherford B. Hayes; Millard Filmore or Gerald Ford

PRESIDENTS 101
Obama; Carter; Clinton; Lincoln

PUZZLER:
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, George H.W. Bush

I♥NY: to vote in 2016 Presidential primaries, register in a party NOW

In New York State, one must be registered and affiliated in a party by OCTOBER 9, 2015 in order to BE ABLE TO VOTE for that major party’s candidate for President in April 2016. .

I came across this website via Facebook, VoteForBernie.org. It does not appear to be authorized by the Bernie Sanders for President campaign. But it had some useful information.

Among other things, it notes whether one had to be a registered Democrat in one’s state in order to vote for Sanders (or Hillary Clinton, or whomever) in next year’s primary/caucus season. And it would likewise apply to Republicans’ ability to vote for their candidates.

Some states allow for Open Primaries. One could vote for, say, Bernie Sanders, regardless of party registration. In Iowa, caucus voters are able to change party affiliation easily.

Others have Semi-Closed Primaries or Caucuses. These states allow people NOT enrolled in a party to participate in either the Democratic OR Republican primary/caucus, but not both.

The rest, such as New York, are Closed Primary or Closed Caucus states, which means only Democrats can vote for Democratic candidates, and only Republicans for the GOP roster.

The VoteForBernie site also indicates when one must register in order to be eligible to vote in the primaries or caucuses. For most states, it is 30 days or less before the balloting, though, e.g.., it’s two months beforehand in Colorado, and three months in Connecticut. (As of this date, there is one obvious error, which I requested be rectified.)

What is it in New York State, I wondered? The primary is tentatively scheduled for April 19, 2016; when I called the state Board of Elections this week, the person couldn’t say definitely, because of some state action that had not yet happened. But REGARDLESS of the voting date, in order to vote in either the Republican or Democratic Presidential primary in 2016, one must be REGISTERED in THAT party by 25 days before the 2015 general election.

In other words, one must be registered and affiliated with a party by OCTOBER 9, 2015, six full months before the primary. This is, by far, the earliest cutoff date in the country. New Yorkers, you have a little more than a month to register for a party. If you miss the deadline, you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE for the major party’s candidate for President.

The falling leaves, and other parts

Alexander Hamilton was the most significant immigrant in early US history.

You can blame Jaquandor for much of this post. A bit ago, he linked to this lovely poem about an old maple tree coming down.

I don’t think I pay attention to the trees, or nature generally, enough. A few months ago, a huge branch fell from our tree, a maple as it turns out, in the farthest part of the back yard. The massive branch, too heavy for me to move, barely missed the shed, but it turned into an accordion our compost container.

Just recently, the branches have been removed, and the tree is now clipped, but still massive. The last time said the tree was trimmed, we were told it may need to come down altogether in a few years if the clipping doesn’t help it regenerate. That’d be too bad, for it provides great shade.

Meanwhile, nearer to the house, an oak tree has sprung up. It wasn’t even there when we moved in in 2000, and we didn’t plant it, but it is thriving nonetheless.
***
Also, Jaquandor did one of his random Wednesday Conversation starter questions. To wit:

“Should we get rid of the dollar bill in favor of a coin?
“And what changes would you make to US currency in general?”

Yes to the dollar coin (which Americans seem to have rejected). This still bugs me. The US Mint continues to make the Presidential dollar coins, four each year. 2015 brings Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, which I’ll buy in November from a vendor at thrice face value because they are no longer distributed to the banks.

Take Jackson off the $20 bill and put Harriet Tubman on it.

Leave the damn $10 bill alone; Alexander Hamilton was the most significant immigrant in early US history, he was a founding father, I attend what was his church (albeit a different building), AND they’ve made a cool, hip hop Broadway musical about him. (The junior senator from our state agrees about Hamilton and the $10.)

Someone else suggested getting rid of the penny, which cost way more than its face value to mint; I’d be good with that as well. Canada has one dollar and two-dollar coins, as well as no more pennies, which pretty much ensures that the United States will maintain the status quo.
***
When I visit Blogger blogs to make comments, usually for ABC Wednesday, I HATE the setting by which one has to verify one is not a robot by picking all the steaks, or salads, or whatever. The pics are small enough that it is really a hassle.

And it’s worse when the instructions are in, e.g., French. I had to pick out the “boisson”, which, oddly, I remembered from high school French as some sort of drink, but still.

I also hate the ones that ask me to do a math problem, and the word numbers are in, German. I guessed it was four plus two, but it’s likewise a pain.

Presidents Day 2015

Q: Has the gun with which Oswald shot President Kennedy been returned to the family?

President Calvin Coolidge was designated Chief Leading Eagle of the Sioux tribe when he was adopted as the first white chief of the tribe at the celebration of the 51st anniversary of the settlement of Deadwood, South Dakota, August 9, 1927. This designation came as a result of Coolidge signing the Indian Citizen Act on June 2, 1924, which granted “full U.S. citizenship to America’s indigenous peoples.”

The bill happened in part as a result of World War I when “The Indian, though a man without a country…, threw himself into the struggle to help throttle the unthinkable tyranny of the Hun.”

I was unfamiliar with this picture until I saw it on the news around Christmas 2014, when it mentioned the risk of Chief Executives wearing things on their heads other than hats, and cited the headdress that the current President was wearing recently, pictured below.
***
Speaking of World War I, from Now I Know:

One of the more positive aspects of American presidential politics is the relatively orderly, entirely peaceful succession process. Every four years, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, voters across the nation go to the polls and cast their ballots. Those votes are translated into votes for… electors, and a few weeks later, those electors cast the votes which actually determine who is going to be inaugurated into the office of the President… Even though the campaign can be acrimonious, to date at least, no sitting president has ever attempted to disrupt this process.

But there was, almost, an exception. In 1916, incumbent President Woodrow Wilson faced a challenge from Republican Charles Evans Hughes…

Which US presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize?

Secretaries of State who became President:

Thomas Jefferson (3) under George Washington (1)
James Madison (4) under Jefferson (3)
James Monroe (5) under Madison (4)
John Quincy Adams (6) under Monroe (5)
Martin Van Buren (8) under Andrew Jackson (7)
James Buchanan (15) under James K. Polk (11)

And none since unless Hillary gets elected President.

From The Weird, Embarrassing, Fascinating Things People Asked Librarians Before the Internet:
Q: Has the gun with which Oswald shot President Kennedy been returned to the family?
A: No. It’s at the National Archives and Records Administration building in College Park, Maryland.

Lyndon Johnson was a civil rights hero. But also a racist.
***
I’ve wondered why Bill Clinton, only the second President in American history to be impeached, got to be so popular by the end of his second term. I think Dan Savage of Savage Love hit upon it:

Here’s the takeaway from the Bill and Monica story: An out-of-control special prosecutor appointed to investigate the suicide of a White House aide wound up “exposing” a series of [sex acts] that President Bill Clinton got from a White House intern. Problematic power differential, yes, but consenting adults just the same. Politicians and pundits and editorial boards called on Clinton to resign after the affair was made public, because the American people, they insisted, had lost all respect for Clinton. He couldn’t possibly govern after the [detailed sex acts], and the denials (“I did not have sexual relations with that woman”). Clinton refused to resign and wound up getting impeached by an out-of-control GOP-controlled Congress…

But guess what? The American people weren’t [ticked] at Clinton. Clinton’s approval ratings shot up. People looked at what was being done to Clinton — a special prosecutor with subpoena powers and an unlimited budget asking Clinton under oath about his sex life—and thought, “…I would hate to have my privacy invaded like that.” People’s sympathies were with Clinton, not with the special prosecutor, not with the GOP-controlled/out-of-control Congress.

Presidential Libraries and Museums for every President from Herbert Hoover through George W. Bush

Handsome Franklin Pierce by Nik Durga

Behind the Presidents: at Mount Rushmore

The youngest Presidents: 26, 35, 42, 18, 44, 22, 14, 20, 11, 13
***
Lots of different “worst” lists:

Indian-Killer Andrew Jackson Deserves Top Spot on List of Worst U.S. Presidents

10 reasons why Ronald Reagan was the worst president of our lifetime

The Worst Presidents, which includes all the Presidents between #9 and #18, except #11 and #16; plus three 20th century picks

Obama’s last two years as President

This Democratic President has fulfilled the GOP campaign promises.

Undoubtedly I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating:
1. I don’t support all of Barack Obama’s actions as President. But:
2. When they just make up stuff, it’s counterproductive. Reportedly, Obama is going to dismantle the Marine Corps, which is so obviously false that it is amazing it gets any traction.

What I like about President Obama is that he recognizes income inequality is a problem, even though it’s often hard to do anything about it in this political environment. This belief is behind his support for the very modest increase in the minimum wage to $10.10, and his support for free community college for qualified students, which will – down the road – also help minimize student debt.

When he was down in the polls in the fall of 2014, there were great exaggerations about how bad his approval ratings were historically. Now that he’s beginning to get credit for the nation’s economic turnaround, FOX News and others are bashing the mainstream media with “getting ahead of themselves”. This satire piece is not far off.

But the evidence is clear that the country is already better off economically than the Republicans running in 2012 had promised to achieve by 2016. In other words, this Democratic President has fulfilled the GOP campaign promises.

Interestingly, the loss of the US Senate to the Republicans seems to have energized the President. For instance, he was very funny on the Colbert Report.

More substantively, he desires to open relations with Cuba. He still wants immigration reform, taking action just like his recent predecessors.

Uh, oh: Obama pardons turkey in stunning abuse of executive power.

I’m fascinated by his optimism that the nation is less racially divided today than when he took office six years ago. And he may be right. Perhaps his ascending to the highest office has merely picked at that scab of racism in America that has always been there. This would explain, for instance, Rudy Giuliani’s claim that Obama launched anti-police ‘propaganda’ over the last few months, which rates Four Pinocchios.

A religious writer and former Republican wrote last month about slow motion lynching of President Obama, which I recommend you read BEFORE dismissing it.

I do think this is true: “The president came to Washington thinking he could change Washington, make it better, unite it and the nation. He was wrong. As he ascended, the tone of political discourse descended, as much because of who he was as what he did.”

When the Secret Service arrested a man who threatened to behead President Obama, he was using the racist Tea Party rhetoric still all too common in this country. The President can’t even quote the Bible without criticism from FOX News.

Sometimes it takes Canadians. From 2013: America – He’s Your President for Goodness Sake! Much more recently: You have NO idea just how good you have it.

So I support President Obama, at least in relation to the Republicans, while still criticizing when appropriate. I do believe his heart is in the right place on some basic issues. In addition to what’s been mentioned, I think he is trying to break down gender stereotypes. Surely, he has refused to support DOMA and repealed DADT, two federal laws that discriminated against gay marriage.

It’ll be an interesting two years, and I would not be too quick to assume he’s going to be in “lame duck” mode any time soon.