Interesting Presidential Tidbits

[Racoon]

Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve 2 terms non-consecutively; from 1885-1889 and again from 1893-1897

 

Thomas Jefferson was an accomplished Violinist and amassed over 6,400 books, that served as the basis for the U.S. Library of Congress

[alexander]

FRD's mother forced him to wear a dress until he was five

He was also the only president who was elected 4 times 32, 36, 40, 44

FDR was the first president to fly, and own an airplane

Roosovelt was the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize

He was the first president to ride an automobile and submerge in a submarine

And Martin Van Bauren took $100,000, the sum of the salary as a president for 4 years at the time, at the end of his term in one lump sum :hihi:

[Turtle]

As evidenced by his personal papers, George Washington grew hemp for "medicinal purposes" as well as for cordage. :esheriff:

[alexander]

now the real question, as AliG so elequantly put it is:

Did Washington grow the Kingston superskunk or was it just the normal maui maui?

[Racoon]

Calvin Coolidge was renowned for using few words; he announced his retirement from the presidency in one sentence: "I do not choose to run for president in 1928."

[Racoon]

Q: How many presidents have died in office?

 

A: Eight presidents have died in office (four by assassination):

 

William Henry Harrison, 9th president (1841), died April 4, 1841 from pneumonia.

 

Zachary Taylor, 12th president (1849-50), died July 9, 1850 from food poisoning or cholera.

 

Abraham Lincoln, 16th president (1861-65), died April 15, 1865 by assassination.

 

James Abram Garfield, 20th president (1881), died September 19, 1881 from blood poisoning resulting from doctors probing for an assassin’s bullet with non-sterile instruments.

 

William McKinley, 25th president (1897-1901), died September 14, 1901 by assassination.

 

Warren G. Harding, 29th president (1921-23), died August 2, 1923 from either a heart attack or a stroke depending on the source. Harding’s wife refused to allow an autopsy to be performed.

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president (1933-45), died April 12, 1945 from a cerebral hemorrhage.

 

John F. Kennedy, 35th president (1961-63), died November 22, 1963 by assassination.

[Racoon]

Can anyone confirm or deny this?:

David Atchison was President for a day?

 

http://history1900s.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://ipl.si.umich.edu/div/farq/POTUSFARQ.html

 

President James Knox Polk was scheduled to step down from office at noon on Sunday, March 4, 1849.

 

It seems that President-elect Zachary Taylor was a religious man and refused to be sworn in on a Sunday. It was the Sabbath. Taylor insisted on waited until the following day.

 

The big question arose: Who was going to serve as the President during this twenty-four hour period?

 

Normally, the Vice-President (George M. Dallas at the time) would fill the position, but his term expired along with Polk's. Dallas had actually resigned as President of the Senate on Friday, March 2nd.

 

Under the law, the Presidency then fell to the President Pro Tem of the Senate. You can guess who that was - David Rice Atchison! Atchison had just been elected for an additional term to this office during the closing hours of the Thirtieth Congress.

As a result, Atchison legally became the President for a twenty-four hour period, even though he was never elected to this office or sworn in.